A global synthesis on the effects of forest thinning on hydrological processes: implications for forest management

Campo, Antonio D. del; Otsuki, Kyoichi; Serengil, Yusuf; Blanco Vaca, Juan Antonio; Yousefpour, Rasoul; Wei, Xiaohua

A global synthesis on the effects of forest thinning on hydrological processes: implications for forest management

dc.contributor.author	Campo, Antonio D. del
dc.contributor.author	Otsuki, Kyoichi
dc.contributor.author	Serengil, Yusuf
dc.contributor.author	Blanco Vaca, Juan Antonio
dc.contributor.author	Yousefpour, Rasoul
dc.contributor.author	Wei, Xiaohua
dc.contributor.department	Zientziak	eu
dc.contributor.department	Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB	en
dc.contributor.department	Ciencias	es_ES
dc.date.accessioned	2022-09-02T12:46:16Z
dc.date.available	2022-09-02T12:46:16Z
dc.date.issued	2022
dc.date.updated	2022-09-02T12:34:29Z
dc.description.abstract	Forest thinning can significantly affect hydrological processes. However, these effects largely vary with forest types, climate, thinning intensity, and hydrological variables of interest. Understanding these effects and their variations can significantly support thinning treatments’ design and selection to ensure desired hydrological benefits. In this global-level review paper, we report the first comprehensive meta-analysis on the effects of thinning on major hydrological processes with an emphasis on rainfall partitioning, soil moisture and evapotranspiration processes. The synthesized and reviewed studies encompass different biophysical conditions (climate and forest ecosystems), silvicultural systems, and time scales (from weeks to decades) across continents. The results showed a significant increase in net precipitation, soil moisture and tree-level water use after thinning (the effect sizes are 1.19, 1.14 and 1.56 relative to the value of the control, respectively), while decreases in stemflow and transpiration (the effect sizes of 0.42 and 0.6 relative to the value of the control, respectively). Thinning intensity of about 50% of the stand density is determined as the threshold at or over which hydrological processes are significantly affected. The duration of thinning effect can be set between 2.6 and 4.3 (throughfall) and 3.1–8.6 years (soil moisture and transpiration), asking for repeated thinning in order to effectively sustain these effects. These global averages can serve as benchmarks for assessment and comparisons, but the effects of thinning depend on local biophysical conditions and thinning treatments. The literature review on the rest of the studied hydrological variables suggests that thinning generally enhance runoff to increase water yield and groundwater recharge. Thinning can also have a positive or limited role in water use efficiency (WUE), but it mitigates the effects of drought through increasing WUE. Moderate adverse effects on water quality can be prevented by adequate forest managements to prevent soil degradation. Nevertheless, more researches at relatively less studied regions are needed to support a more robust analysis of these reviewed hydrological variables. The management implications of the synthesized and reviewed results are suggested and discussed within the context of climate change.	en
dc.description.sponsorship	Cehyrfo-Med (CGL2017-86839-C3-2-R funded by MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033/ and FEDER a way to make Europe), SilvAdapt.net (RED2018-102719-T funded by MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033), RESILIENT-FORESTS (LIFE17 CCA/ES/ 000063), JSPS KAKENHI (JP 18H04152 and JP 19H03088), contract RE21NOR-029 (British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Canada), and the Canadian NSERC CRD (CRDPJ 485176-15) partly supported this work. Open access was funded by CRUE-Universitat Politècnica de València.	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.citation	Del-Campo, A. D.; Otsuki, K.; Serengil, Y.; Blanco-Vaca, J. A.; Yousefpour, R.; Wei, X. (2022). A global synthesis on the effects of forest thinning on hydrological processes: implications for forest management. Forest ecology and management. 519,	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120324
dc.identifier.issn	0378-1127
dc.identifier.uri	https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/43939
dc.language.iso	eng	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier	en
dc.relation.ispartof	Forest Ecology and Management 519 (2022)	en
dc.relation.projectID	info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/CGL2017-86839-C3-2-R/ES/
dc.relation.projectID	info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICIU/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/RED2018-102719-T/
dc.relation.publisherversion	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120324
dc.rights	© 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license	en
dc.rights.accessRights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.subject	Forest hydrology	en
dc.subject	Rainfall partitioning	en
dc.subject	Soil moisture	en
dc.subject	Evapotranspiration	en
dc.subject	Transpiration	en
dc.subject	Tree-water use	en
dc.subject	Runoff	en
dc.subject	Groundwater	en
dc.subject	Water quality	en
dc.subject	Water use efficiency	en
dc.title	A global synthesis on the effects of forest thinning on hydrological processes: implications for forest management	en
dc.type	info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type.version	info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dspace.entity.type	Publication
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relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	e903cbb7-371a-4cbe-966e-41bbd3332049