Ecohydrological implications of afforestation in the context of climate change: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Sustainable management

The relationships among afforestation, water, and climate change are not straightforward because there is a lack of understanding of the interactions of physical (e.g., topography, slope, aspect, soil characteristics) and biological factors (e.g., species composition, age, rooting depth, etc.) in forest ecosystems (Vose et al., 2011). Since the current understanding may be inadequate to support sustainable management in the context of climate change. Forest practices should be designed with a full consideration of many factors. The progress in ecology during recent years has created a background for integration of ecology and hydrology. UNESCO, under the International Hydrological Program IHP-V, has Initiated and provided a framework for such an interdisciplinary effort (Zalewski, 2002).