Climate impacts
Warming changes forest water yield by catchment type
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Across 21 North American headwater catchments, modest warming can raise or cut streamflow depending on elasticity, with conifers often yielding more water.
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Warming changes forest water yield by catchment type
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What framework related climate to yield?
Budyko curve (Fig., ) approach to examine the interactions of climate, vegetation and water yield
How were cool and warm periods defined?
For each catchment, a 5-water-year (5-wyr) moving average of the T time series
Key findings
Low-elasticity catchments (e<1) more often increased water yield with warming (r²=0.34). With ΔT<1.5°C, deviation fell as elasticity declined (r²=0.91); with ΔT>1.5°C the opposite (r²=0.81). Conifer catchments generally increased yield; alpine sites warmed little but dried >10% in precipitation.
Methodology
Authors compared cool versus warm 5-year periods in 21 forested headwater catchments at 12 sites, using Budyko dryness/evaporative indices and an elasticity metric of how evaporative index tracks dryness as climate warms.
Limitations
Catchments were not a random sample of North American forests. Extreme wet/dry years were removed. The study cannot isolate vegetation change from snowmelt or stomatal responses.
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