Revisiting Experimental Catchment Studies in Forest Hydrology:(Proceedings of a Workshop held during the XXV IUGG General Assembly in Melbourne, June–July 2011

Most of what we know about the hydrological role of forests is based on paired catchment experiments whereby two neighbouring forested catchments are jointly monitored during a calibration period of several years, after which one of the catchments is kept untouched as a reference (control), while the second is submitted to a forest treatment (impact). This volume, generated from a workshop that gathered forest hydrologists from around the world, with the aim of revisiting results and promoting a renewal of international collaboration on this topic, is divided into four sections.The first section, Addressing new questions using historical data sets combines papers that provide succinct overviews of past and ongoing work in specific catchments or catchment networks with contributions using innovative modelling approaches and older data to investigate current questions. New techniques for evaluating forest cover and catchment characteristics highlight the importance of experimental catchment studies in furthering our understanding of hydrological processes at a range of scales.Impacts of fires provides papers describing the hydrological impacts of wildfires and prescribed burning, as measured in experimental catchment studies in Australia and the USA, and drought, fire frequency and fire intensity are discussed.Water quality and sediment loads commences with a review that collates paired catchment results from around the world, e.g. the impact of forest harvesting on nitrate-N concentrations and sediment outputs, and provides context for the accompanying papers from the USA and Australia outlining the nature of sediment loads and water quality in forest catchments.Ecosystem services presents two papers that showcase the value and importance of experimental catchment studies for the valuation of forest "ecosystem services", and the economic implications of afforestation and other changes in land use.