Frontiers in Forests and Global Change,
Journal Year:
2022,
Volume and Issue:
5
Published: April 28, 2022
Active
forest
management
is
applied
in
many
parts
of
the
western
United
States
to
reduce
wildfire
severity,
mitigate
vulnerability
drought
and
bark
beetle
mortality,
more
recently,
increase
snow
retention
late-season
streamflow.
A
rapidly
warming
climate
accelerates
need
for
these
restorative
treatments,
but
treatment
priority
among
patches
varies
considerably.
We
simulated
four
scenarios
across
3,450
km
2
Wenatchee
River
basin
eastern
Washington,
States.
used
a
decision
support
tool
(DST)
assess
trade-offs
synergies
within
treatments
on
risk
smoke
emissions,
water
yield
retention,
biomass
production,
economic
return.
Treatment
emphasized
prescribed
burning
(
BurnOnly
),
production
MaxBiomass
gap-based
thinning
optimize
IdealWater
principle-based
restoration
scenario
RA1
).
Fire
hazard,
metrics
were
evaluated
using
Forest
Vegetation
Simulator,
yields
modeled
Distributed
Hydrology
Soil
Model.
Simulations
summarized
both
patch-
(10
1
–10
ha)
subwatershed-
3
4
scales,
effects
against
an
untreated
baseline
landscape.
logic
models
rank
effect
sizes
by
along
continuum
between
−1
(no
or
weak
effect)
+1
(large
effect).
All
produced
benefits
one
ecosystem
services
led
synergistic
hazard
reduction.
Tradeoffs
resource
clear
wilderness
where
reliance
without
mechanical
increased
costs
eliminated
potential
recovery.
The
improved
fire
streamflow,
lower
compared
other
treatments.
showed
strongest
overall,
demonstrating
ability
capture
multiple
through
spatially
explicit
thinning.
Our
study
provides
framework
integrating
strategic
tactical
that
evaluate
tradeoffs
gained
varied
approaches.
demonstrate
utility
modeling
enhance
large
landscapes.
Journal of Forestry,
Journal Year:
2020,
Volume and Issue:
118(2), P. 172 - 192
Published: Feb. 12, 2020
Abstract
In
coniferous
western
forests,
recent
widespread
tree
mortality
provided
opportunities
to
test
the
long-held
theory
that
forest
cover
loss
increases
water
yield.
We
reviewed
78
studies
of
hydrologic
response
standing-replacing
(severe
wildfire,
harvest)
or
nonstand-replacing
(drought,
insects,
low-severity
wildfire)
disturbances,
and
reassessed
question:
Does
yield
snowpack
increase
after
disturbance?
Collective
results
indicate
postdisturbance
streamflow
may
increase,
not
change,
even
decrease,
illuminate
factors
help
improve
predictability
disturbance.
Contrary
expectation
reduces
evapotranspiration,
making
more
available
as
runoff,
evapotranspiration
sometimes
increased—particularly
following
disturbance—because
(a)
increased
evaporation
resulting
from
higher
subcanopy
radiation,
(b)
transpiration
rapid
growth.
Postdisturbance
depends
on
vegetation
structure,
climate,
topography,
new
hypotheses
continue
be
formulated
tested
in
this
rapidly
evolving
discipline.
Abstract
In
seasonally
dry
Mediterranean
regions,
forest
ecosystems
are
well
adapted
to
water
stress.
However,
extended
droughts,
or
droughts
that
warmer
more
frequent
than
they
have
been
in
the
past,
can
large
consequences
on
availability,
productivity,
and
mortality.
Forest
density
reduction
offers
a
strategy
for
potentially
mitigating
these
effects
may
not
only
improve
health
but
also
increase
streamflow.
While
recent
focused
attention
strategies,
there
is
great
uncertainty
how
changing
structure
alters
availability
both
remaining
trees
downslope
provision,
particularly
during
semi‐arid
forests.
To
help
disentangle
sometimes
conflicting
findings
from
case
studies,
we
present
review
an
eco‐hydrologic
perspective
considers
much
use
(hydrology)
affects
ecophysiology
(ecology).
This
helps
build
conceptual
model
of
mechanisms
through
which
changes
composition
influence
mortality
patterns,
Mediterranean‐climate
after
droughts.
Ultimately,
this
guide
assessing
when
where
will
be
likely
achieve
desired
management
objectives.
article
categorized
under:
Human
Water
>
Governance
Rights
Science
Quality
Water Resources Research,
Journal Year:
2025,
Volume and Issue:
61(4)
Published: April 1, 2025
Abstract
Forest
thinning
and
prescribed
fire
are
expected
to
improve
the
climate
resilience
water
security
of
forests
in
western
U.S.,
but
few
studies
have
directly
modeled
hydrological
effects
multi‐decadal
landscape‐scale
forest
disturbance.
By
updating
a
distributed
process‐based
model
(DHSVM)
with
vegetation
maps
from
ecosystem
(LANDIS‐II),
we
simulate
resource
impacts
management
scenarios
targeting
partial
or
full
restoration
pre‐colonial
disturbance
return
interval
central
Sierra
Nevada
mountains.
In
fully
restored
regime
that
includes
fire,
thinning,
insect
mortality,
reservoir
inflow
increases
by
4%–9%
total
8%–14%
dry
years.
At
sub‐watershed
scales
(10–100
km
2
),
dense
can
increase
streamflow
>20%
thinner
forest,
increased
understory
transpiration
compensates
for
decreased
overstory
transpiration.
Consequentially,
73%
gains
attributable
rain
snow
interception
loss.
Thinner
headwater
peak
flows,
reservoir‐scale
flows
almost
exclusively
influenced
climate.
Uncertainty
future
precipitation
causes
high
uncertainty
yield,
additional
yield
is
about
five
times
less
sensitive
annual
uncertainty.
This
decoupling
response
makes
especially
valuable
supply
during
Our
study
confidence
benefits
restoring
historic
frequencies
mountains,
our
modeling
framework
widely
applicable
other
forested
mountain
landscapes.
Ecohydrology,
Journal Year:
2018,
Volume and Issue:
11(7)
Published: April 9, 2018
Abstract
We
investigated
the
potential
magnitude
and
duration
of
forest
evapotranspiration
(ET)
decreases
resulting
from
forest‐thinning
treatments
wildfire
in
west‐slope
watersheds
Sierra
Nevada
range
California,
USA,
using
a
robust
empirical
relation
between
Landsat‐derived
mean‐annual
normalized
difference
vegetation
index
(NDVI)
ET
measured
at
flux
towers.
Among
treatments,
minimum
observed
NDVI
change
required
to
produce
significant
departure
control
plots
with
about
0.70
was
−0.09
units,
corresponding
basal‐area
reduction
29.1
m
2
/ha
(45%
reduction)
equivalent
an
estimated
153
mm/year
(21%
change;
approximate
mean
annual
precipitation
=
1,000
mm).
Intensive
thinning
highly
productive
forests
that
approached
prefire‐exclusion
densities
reduced
basal
area
by
40–50%,
generating
reductions
153–218
(21–27%
change)
over
5
years
following
treatment.
Low‐intensity
underburn
resulted
no
ET.
Examining
cumulative
impact
wildfires
on
1990
2008,
we
found
lower
wetter
American
River
basin
(5,310
km
)
generated
more
than
twice
per
unit
those
higher
drier
Kings
(4,790
),
greater
water
energy
limitations
latter
fire
severity
former.
A
rough
extrapolation
these
results
entire
watershed
suggests
due
could
approach
10%
full
natural
flows
for
dry
5%
all
years.
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change,
Journal Year:
2020,
Volume and Issue:
3
Published: June 30, 2020
We
assessed
the
response
of
densely
forested
watersheds
with
little
apparent
annual
water
limitation
to
forest
disturbance
and
climate
variability,
by
studying
how
past
wildfires
changed
evapotranspiration
what
patterns
imply
for
availability
subsurface
storage
drought
resistance.
determined
spatial
using
a
top-down
statistical
model,
correlating
measured
from
eddy-covariance
towers
across
California
NDVI
(Normalized
Difference
Vegetation
Index)
satellite,
precipitation.
The
study
area
was
Yuba
American
River
watersheds,
two
in
northern
Sierra
Nevada.
Wildfires
1985-2015
period
resulted
significant
post-fire
reductions
at
least
5
years,
some
cases
more
than
20
years.
levels
biomass
removed
medium-intensity
fires
(25-75%
basal
loss),
similar
magnitudes
expected
treatments
fuels
reduction
health,
reduced
as
much
150-200
mm
yr-1
first
Rates
recovery
post-wildfire
confirm
need
follow-up
intervals
5-20
years
sustain
lower
evapotranspiration,
depending
on
local
landscape
attributes
interannual
climate.
Using
metric
cumulative
precipitation
minus
(P-ET)
during
multi-year
dry
periods,
we
found
that
forests
showed
evidence
moisture
stress
1985-2018
our
analysis,
owing
relatively
small
reliance
meet
dry-year
needs
vegetation.
However,
more-severe
or
sustained
periods
will
push
lower-elevation
studied
toward
P-ET
thresholds
previously
associated
widespread
mortality
southern
Water Resources Research,
Journal Year:
2019,
Volume and Issue:
55(7), P. 5751 - 5769
Published: June 26, 2019
Abstract
Fire
suppression
in
western
U.S.
mountains
has
caused
dense
forests
with
high
water
demands
to
grow.
Restoring
natural
wildfire
regimes
these
could
affect
hydrology
by
changing
vegetation
composition
and
structure,
but
the
specific
effects
on
balance
are
unknown.
Mountain
watersheds
supply
much
of
United
States,
so
understanding
relationship
between
fire
regime
yield
is
essential
inform
management.
We
used
a
distributed
hydrological
model
quantify
hydrologic
response
restored
Illilouette
Creek
Basin
(ICB)
within
Yosemite
National
Park,
California.
Over
past
45
years,
as
successive
fires
reduced
ICB's
forest
cover
approximately
25%,
results
show
that
annual
streamflow,
subsurface
storage,
peak
snowpack
increased
relative
fire‐suppressed
control,
while
evapotranspiration
climatic
deficit
decreased.
A
second
experiment
compared
ICB
under
two
scenarios:
2012
vegetation,
representing
frequent‐fire
landscape,
1969
suppression.
These
landscapes
were
run
observed
weather
data
from
1972
2017
order
capture
variations
precipitation
temperature.
This
showed
wet
years
experienced
greater
fire‐related
reductions
increases
dry
years.
Spring
snowmelt
runoff
was
higher
burned
conditions,
summer
baseflow
relatively
unaffected.
likely
downstream
availability,
shifted
streamflows
slightly
earlier,
stress
forests.
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change,
Journal Year:
2019,
Volume and Issue:
2
Published: July 5, 2019
Forest
disturbances
such
as
wildfire
and
drought-related
disease
often
lead
to
declines
in
productivity
that
both
influence
are
influenced
by
forest
water
use,
particularly
the
semi-arid
environments
of
Western
US.
Fuel
treatments
frequently
proposed
reduce
vulnerability
these
impacts
some
cases
an
approach
increase
yield.
By
changing
ecosystem
structure,
fuel
alter
function
(including
hydrologic
cycling,
carbon
sequestration,
energy
partitioning
biogeochemical
cycling).
Empirical
studies
either
through
active
management
or
natural
disturbances,
show
a
wide
range
responses
include
increases
decreases
use.
Variation
climate
species,
well
magnitude
density
reduction,
commonly
explanations
for
this
variation.
In
paper
we
use
coupled
eco-hydrologic
model
demonstrate
subsurface
features
likely
be
critical,
but
over-looked,
factor
influences
regeneration
following
reduction
treatments.
Using
case
study
site
southern
Sierra
Nevada
Mountains
California,
whether
rate
recovery
changes,
depends
strongly
on
plant
accessible
storage
capacity
within
rooting
zone
extent
which
root
structures
neighboring
trees
interact
share
water.
We
find
can
yield
remaining
first
few
years
treatment.
However
also
when
soils
shallow
roots
systems
overlap,
counter-intuitive
related
occur
due
stress.
Results
highlight
importance
accounting
site-specific
variation,
soil
capacity,
assessing
how
may
with
drought
vulnerability,
ultimately
downslope
streamflow.