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Field Measurement of Water Use of Forests

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Forest Hydrology and Catchment Management

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Abstract

In the absence of well-developed theory of forest water use, most measurements of changing water use of forests have come from field measurements. The most effective measurement strategy has been “paired catchment” projects in which two or more similar catchments are gauged and the statistical relationship between measures of flow is assessed. The forest type on one is then changed, and the impact on the hydrology relative to the retained “control” is computed. The chapter examines the basis of paired catchment projects including how “calibration” is achieved and how long this takes. Examples of two paired catchment projects are given. Other methods of gaining information such as single catchment projects and plot studies are also considered. All methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Scaling results from smaller to larger areas introduces many issues.

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  1. Hydrology and Catchment Management, Ballarat, VIC, Australia

    Leon Bren

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Correspondence to Leon Bren .

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Bren, L. (2023). Field Measurement of Water Use of Forests. In: Forest Hydrology and Catchment Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12840-0_5

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