The effects of reforestation on forest carbon and water coupling at multiple spatial scales

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Canadian forest resources and closely-linked watershed ecosystems are undergoing significant change mainly due to increased large-scale forest disturbance, post-disturbance reforestation and climate change impacts. This research focuses on how reforestation affects two important and strategic processes, forest carbon and water, and their interactions across different spatial scales (tree, forest stand and watershed levels). Previous research has placed an emphasis on forest carbon and water coupling at an individual spatial scale, with rare attention on cross-scale comparisons. While experiments (e.g., leaf gas exchange, sap flow measurement) will be used at the tree level, a modeling approach will be implemented at the forest stand (FORECAST-Climate) and watershed (RGESSys) scales. Such a complementary and combined approach will provide a robust research framework for addressing the research objectives. Three graduate and 3 undergraduate students will be trained. This collaboration will greatly strengthen our research and management capacities in dealing with forest carbon and water resource changes, and place our Canadian industries in an advantageous position in the globe.