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The Relationship Between Forest Vegetation and Water and Its Regulation...
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The Relationship Between Forest Vegetation and Water and Its Regulation in Changing Environments

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 July 2025 | Viewed by 1761

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yanhui Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
Interests: forest hydrology; forest–water management; forest–water relationship
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Zebin Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
Interests: forest evapotranspiration; transpiration; forest–water relationship

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Extensive afforestation has contributed to the mitigation of some environmental problems (e.g., soil erosion and desertification), but has also led to severe soil water deficit and water yield reduction. In water-limited regions especially, forest growth is gradually limited by the coupled effects of excessive tree density and water shortages; such water use conflicts are likely to be further exacerbated by climate change, particularly global warming. Therefore, complete understanding of the forest–water relationship and its coordinated management are required to achieve the high-quality and sustainable development of forestry, especially in dry and water-limited regions.

The forest–water relationship is complex and varies with spatiotemporal scales. For example, influenced by climate, terrain, soil, and vegetation structure, the hydrological impacts of forests are highly variable, and it is still unclear how the related factors affect the forest–water relationship at different spatiotemporal scales. Therefore, in the context of global climate and environmental change, exploring the forest–water relationship and its spatiotemporal variation mechanism has become an urgent issue to be addressed.

This Special Issue aims to present an overview of the most recent advances in the field of the hydrological impacts and responses of forests to changes in water-related conditions in diverse spatiotemporal scales. Papers of all theoretical, methodological, and practical studies on forest–water relationships and management are welcome.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Water use through evaporation and/or transpiration;
  • Hydrological modelling;
  • Impact of afforestation on the hydrological process and water yields;
  • Tree water use strategy;
  • Forest growth and water use;
  • Vegetation carrying capacity of water resources;
  • Coupled climate–landform–soil–vegetation–water processes;
  • Integrated forest–water management.

Prof. Dr. Yanhui Wang
Dr. Zebin Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ecohydrology
  • forest evapotranspiration
  • runoff
  • water use
  • vegetation carrying capacity
  • sap flow
  • infiltration and soil moisture
  • modelling

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4454 KiB  
Article
Seasonal Water Use Patterns of Eucalyptus with Different Ages in Southern Subtropical China
by Haijun Zuo, Qing Xu, Deqiang Gao, Wenbin Xu, Ke Diao and Beibei Zhang
Forests 2025, 16(4), 708; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16040708 - 21 Apr 2025
Viewed by 169
Abstract
Seasonal droughts induced by climate change pose a significant threat to the normal growth patterns of forests in the subtropical regions of southern China. Therefore, it is crucial to explore the response of tree water use patterns to seasonal drought to maintain tree [...] Read more.
Seasonal droughts induced by climate change pose a significant threat to the normal growth patterns of forests in the subtropical regions of southern China. Therefore, it is crucial to explore the response of tree water use patterns to seasonal drought to maintain tree physiological activities. However, it remains unknown whether changes in dry and wet seasons have an impact on the water use patterns of trees of different ages. In this study, a two-year experiment was conducted in Eucalyptus urophylla × Eucalyptus grandis (hereinafter referred to as Eucalyptus) plantations at three ages (4, 7, and 17 years). Specifically, the water use patterns of Eucalyptus in dry and wet seasons were calculated using hydrogen stable isotopes (including the isotopes in xylem water and 0–150 cm soil layers) coupled with MixSIAR. The results showed that there were notable variations in the proportions of water absorption from different soil layers by Eucalyptus during dry and wet seasons. During the dry season (April 2024), 4-year-old and 7-year-old Eucalyptus primarily utilized water from the 40–90 cm soil layer, while 17-year-old Eucalyptus mainly relied on deep soil water at depths of 60–150 cm, with a utilization ratio of 50.9%. During the wet season (August 2023), the depth of water uptake by Eucalyptus of different ages significantly shifted towards shallow layers, and the trees primarily utilized surface soil water from the 0–60 cm layer, with utilization ratios of 59.9%, 64.8%, and 61.6% for 4-year-old, 7-year-old, and 17-year-old Eucalyptus, respectively. The water sources of Eucalyptus during dry and wet seasons were variable, which allowed Eucalyptus to cope with seasonal drought stress. The differences in the water uptake strategies of Eucalyptus between dry and wet seasons can be attributed to their long-term adaptation to the environment. Our research revealed the differences in the water utilization of Eucalyptus with various ages between dry and wet seasons in subtropical China, providing new insights for a better understanding of the adaptive mechanisms of subtropical forests in response to alterations in water conditions caused by climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship Between Forest Vegetation and Water and Its Regulation in Changing Environments)
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14 pages, 5927 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Root Water Uptake and Mitigating Salinity through Ecological Water Conveyance: A Study of Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. Using Hydrus-1D Modeling
by Lei Jiang, Shuai Guo, Liang He, Shengshuai Zhang, Ziyong Sun and Lei Wang
Forests 2024, 15(9), 1664; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15091664 - 21 Sep 2024
Viewed by 915
Abstract
In an arid climate with minimal rainfall, plant growth is constrained by water scarcity and soil salinity. Ecological Water Conveyance (EWC) can mitigate degradation risks faced by riparian plant communities in these regions. However, its effects on long-term dynamics of root zone soil [...] Read more.
In an arid climate with minimal rainfall, plant growth is constrained by water scarcity and soil salinity. Ecological Water Conveyance (EWC) can mitigate degradation risks faced by riparian plant communities in these regions. However, its effects on long-term dynamics of root zone soil water content, salt levels, and root water uptake remain unclear. This study examined how groundwater affects salt and water dynamics, in addition to root water uptake, under different scenarios involving Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. The research was conducted in the lower reaches of the Tarim River in northwestern China. The Hydrus-1D model was used, following the EWC strategy. The results show that the distribution of T. ramosissima roots was significantly influenced by soil water and salt distributions, with 56.8% of roots concentrated in the 60–100 cm soil layer. Under water stress conditions, root water uptake reached 91.0% of the potential maximum when considering water stress alone, and 41.0% when accounting for both water and salt stresses. Root water uptake was highly sensitive to changes in Depth-to-Water Table (DWT), notably decreasing with lower or higher DWT at 40% of the reference level. EWC effectively enhances root water uptake by using water to leach salts from the root zone soil, with optimal results observed at 500–600 mm. This study advocates for sustainable EWC practices to support vegetation and combat desertification in the lower reaches of arid inland rivers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship Between Forest Vegetation and Water and Its Regulation in Changing Environments)
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