Impacts of Forest Disturbance on Hydrology in Large Watersheds

森林干扰对大流域水文的影响

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-03969
• 负责人: Wei, Xiaohua
• 金额: $ 2.7万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=566207
• 关键词: Impacts; Forest; Disturbance; Hydrology; Large

The impact of forest disturbance on hydrology has long been an important research topic, but the majority of this research has been conducted on small watersheds (<100km2) with rare examination of large ones (>1000km2). It is commonly accepted that the results from small watersheds are difficult to extrapolate to large watersheds. Large watershed studies are constrained by the difficulty of conducting paired-watershed experiments, and by insufficient data, landscape complexity and lack of accepted methodologies. However, growing demand for information at large spatial scales to support forest and watershed management highlights a critical need for the research of large watersheds. With the support from my NSERC Discovery Grants (2005-2012; 2013/2014), we have successfully developed a research method for separating relative contributions of forest disturbance and climate variability to hydrology in large watersheds, and the applications of the method have been published on the high-impact journals (e.g., Water Resources Research, Journal of Hydrology). The objectives of this new research (2014-2019) include: (1) applying our well-established methodology in 10 more large watersheds from the interior of British Columbia to assess the cumulative effect of forest disturbance (mainly wildfire, mountain pine beetle infestation, timber harvesting or commonly their combinations) on hydrology; (2) using the VIC model to predict the cumulative effects of future forest disturbance and climate change scenarios on hydrology in three of the selected watersheds; and 3) using an integrated meta-data analysis to develop emerging watershed properties or indices which can effectively explain large variations on hydrological responses to watershed disturbance in large watersheds. Those selected watershed properties or indices will help establish a conceptual framework on watershed sensitivity assessment, which can be further tested in boreal watersheds or elsewhere. My longer-term goal (beyond this proposal) is to establish a research program entitled “Forest Disturbance, Climate and Hydrology in Large Watersheds” to advance watershed ecosystem science. Availability of numerous large watersheds (35-40) with excellent data in the British Columbia interior provides an exceptional opportunity to achieve my goal. The proposed research will provide important and timely information for BC to manage forest disturbance to protect aquatic functions. It will allow development of forest disturbance thresholds as well as identification of possible emerging watershed properties or indices for explaining large variations on hydrological responses to forest disturbance among different watersheds. Finally, this project will train 2 HQPs and 4-5 undergraduate students who will be specialized in ecohydrology and water science/management.

森林干扰对水文的影响长期以来一直是一个重要的研究课题，但大多数研究都是在小流域（<100km2）上进行的，很少对大流域（>1000km2）进行研究。小流域很难推断大流域，但由于进行配对流域实验的困难、数据不足、景观复杂性和缺乏公认的方法，大型流域的研究受到限制。支持森林和流域管理的大空间尺度凸显了对大流域研究的迫切需要。在我的 NSERC 发现补助金（2005-2012 年；2013/2014 年）的支持下，我们成功开发了一种用于分离不同区域的相对贡献的研究方法。森林干扰和气候变化对大流域水文学的影响，以及该方法的应用已发表在高影响力期刊上（例如，Water Resources Research、Journal of Hydrology）。这项新研究（2014-2019）的目标包括：（1）在不列颠哥伦比亚省内陆的另外 10 个大型流域中应用我们成熟的方法，以评估森林干扰（主要是野火、山松甲虫侵扰、木材污染）的累积影响。 (2) 使用 VIC 模型预测未来森林干扰和气候变化情景对三个选定流域水文的累积影响；以及 3) 使用通过综合元数据分析来开发新的流域特性或指数，这些特性或指数可以有效地解释大流域中流域扰动的水文响应的巨大变化，这些选定的流域特性或指数将有助于建立流域敏感性评估的概念框架，这可以进一步进行。我的长期目标（超出本提案）是建立一个题为“大流域的森林扰动、气候和水文学”的研究项目，以推进众多大流域生态系统科学的可用性。不列颠哥伦比亚省内陆地区的流域（35-40）拥有出色的数据，为实现我的目标提供了绝佳的机会。拟议的研究将为不列颠哥伦比亚省管理森林干扰以保护水生功能提供重要而及时的信息。最后，该项目将培训 2 名 HQP 和 4-5 名专门研究生态水文学和水的本科生。科学/管理。