Ecohydrological regulation of forest hillslope and catchment runoff

落基山脉的森林地区提供了加拿大西部和美国绝大多数地区的供水，气候变化对这些供水的潜在影响是整个北美的一个主要战略问题，因为预计降雨/降雪的变化和气候对这些森林健康的压力，包括野火、疾病和昆虫袭击以及风暴破坏等自然干扰的增加。深山积雪的积累和融化是该地区供水的关键调节因素，降水变化和森林健康对该地区水文的潜在相互作用目前还高度不确定。虽然近年来的研究主要集中在了解调节水文对气候变化的敏感性或恢复力的因素以及区域间土地扰动的影响，但目前落基山脉地区的水文对气候变化和扰动的恢复力尚不清楚。

Forested regions of the Rocky Mountains produce the vast majority regional water supplies in western Canada and the U.S. and potential impacts climate change on these water supplies is a major strategic concern across North America because of both projected changes in rainfall/snowfall and climate pressures on the health of these forests including increasing natural disturbances by wildfire, disease and insect attack, and storm damage. Accumulation and melting of deep mountain snowpacks is a key regulator of water supplies from this region and the potential interacting effects of both changing precipitation and forest health on hydrology of this region are currently highly uncertain. While much recent research is focused on understanding the factors regulating hydrologic sensitivity or resilience to climate change and impacts of land disturbance among regions, the hydrologic resilience to climate change and disturbance in the Rocky Mountain region is presently unclear. The objectives of this research are to improve understanding of how forest stand conditions (tree species, density, canopy structure) of forests respond to differences in climate and weather and collectively regulate the hydrology of this region to better understand and predict how water produced from this region may be affected as shifting climates cause (and are already causing) increased natural disturbances related to climate (wildfire, insect attack, etc.) or other changes in forest health. Specific studies will examine how different forest conditions present on cooler north facing, or warmer south facing slopes produce different hydrologic responses to rain and snow, and how these responses, in turn, produce differences in hydrologic sensitivity to climate change and land disturbance. This information is needed to develop strategies for the protection and management of these forests to help mitigate effects of climate change to help ensure security of important critical water supplies from this region.