The Impact of Climate Change on Forest Hydrology

Forests, whose regulating action on water resources is essential, are the biome that may particularly suffer from the effects of climate change. An analysis of the effects of global warming on forest hydrology is therefore essential, in order to understand the climatic and hydrological trends and to prepare management strategies against losses of forest cover and biodiversity. After a characterization of forest ecosystems, this chapter reports on principles of forest hydrology and analyzes how the effects of climate change on vegetation cover and structure, physical, chemical, and biological properties of forest soils, streamflow and surface runoff and frequency and intensity of extreme events. Finally, the role of management on forest protection against climate change effects and of hydrological modeling to estimate the variations in water resources are discussed.