The protective function of forests for water quality and water-related hazards, as well as adequate water supplies for forest ecosystems in Europe, are potentially at risk due to changing climate and changing land-management practices. Water budgets of forest ecosystems are heavily dependent on climate and forest structure. The latter is determined by the management measures applied in the forestry sector. Various developments of forest management strategies, imposed on a background of changing climate, are considered in assessing the overall future of forest-water interactions in Europe.

Synthesizing recent research on the interactions of forest management and the water regime of forests in Europe and beyond, the book makes an important contribution to the ongoing dialogue between scientists dealing with different scales of forest-water interactions. This collaborative endeavour, which covers geographic and climatic gradients from Iceland to Israel and from southern Spain to Estonia and Finland, was made possible through the COST Action "Forest Management and the Water Cycle (FORMAN)", which was launched in 2007 (http://www.forestandwater.eu/).

The book will be of particular interest to the research community involved in forest ecosystem research and forest hydrology, as well as landscape ecologists and hydrologists in general. It will also provide reference material for forest practitioners and planners in hydrology and land use.

Contenu

Forest Management and the Water Cycle - Introduction to the Challenge.- Acknowledgement.- Section 1: Forest and water - tree to small catchment processes in a changing environment.- 1.0 Introduction.- 1.1 Hydrological effects on below ground processes in temperate and Mediterranean forests.- 1.2 Above ground processes - anticipating climate change influences.- 1.3 Field studies of whole-tree leaf and root distribution and water relations in several European forests.- 1.4 Forested water catchments in a changing environment.- 1.5 Forest development in the European Alps and potential consequences on hydrological regime.- 1.6 Effects of Climate Change on the vulnerability of Norway spruce stands - soil hydrological constraints for forest management in Austria's lowlands.- 1.7 Observed Climate Change in Croatia and its impact on the hydrology of lowlands.- 1.8 The Case of Yatir Forest.- 1.9 How Mediterranean deciduous trees cope with long summer drought? The case of Quercus pyrenaica forests in Western Spain.- Section 2: Forest structures, management and water fluxes.- 2.0 Introduction.- 2.1 Changes in Forest Cover and its Diversity.- 2.2 Afforestation strategies with respect to forest-water interactions.- 2.3 Tree Species' Tolerance to Water Stress, Salinity and Fire.- 2.4 Overland flow, soil erosion and stream water quality in forest under different perturbations and climate conditions.- 2.5 Forest Management Effects on Below-ground Hydrological Processes.- 2.6 Adjustment of forest management strategies to changing climate.- Section 3: Scales and Approaches for Forest - Water Interactions.- 3.0 Introduction.- 3.1 Forest Management and the Water Cycle: An Integrated Introduction to Scaling.- 3.2 Multidimensionality of Scales and Approaches for Forest - Water Interactions.- 3.3 Fundamentals of Model Scaling in Forest Ecology.- 3.4 Up- and Downscaling Model Approaches for Water Relations in Forest Management from Plot to Landscape Level.- 3.5 A SmallCatchment Scale Approach for Modeling Effects of Forest Management on Water Cycle in Boreal Landscape.- 3.6 Large Scale Approach to Forest and Water Interactions.- 3.7 Model-Based Assessment of Forest Land Management on Water Dynamics at Various Hydrological Scales - A Case Study.- 3.8 Typological Up-Scaling of Wooded Peatlands.- 3.9 Difficulties of Scaling in Forest and Water Management in Urban Areas: Social and Institutional Dimension.- Synthesis and Outlook.