Abstract

Tree planting in the tropics is conducted for a number of reasons including carbon sequestration, but often competes with increasingly scarce water resources. The basics of forest and water relations are frequently said to be well understood but there is a pressing need to better understand and predict the hydrological effects of land-use and climate change in the complex and dynamic landscapes of the tropics. This will remain elusive without the empirical data required to feed hydrological process models. It is argued that the current state of knowledge is confused by too broad a use of the terms 'forest' and '(af)forestation', as well as by a bias towards using data generated mostly outside the tropics and for nondegraded soil conditions. Definitions of forest, afforestation and reforestation as used in the climate change community and their application by land and water managers need to be reconciled.

Keywords

carbon sequestration; dry-season streamflow; groundwater; hydrological model; REDD; transpiration; tropical forest; water budget

Published in

Global Change Biology
2010, Volume: 16, number: 2, pages: 599-604
Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

SLU Authors

• Malmer, Anders

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Ilstedt, Ulrik

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts


UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01984.x

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/60935