Jiang et al. (2026) Exploring impacts of forest management strategies on water partitioning in a drought-sensitive catchment using a tracer-aided ecohydrological framework

Identification

• Journal: Hydrology and earth system sciences
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-06-22
• Authors: Cong Jiang, Doerthe Tetzlaff, Songjun Wu, Christian Birkel, Hjalmar Laudon, Chris Soulsby
• DOI: 10.5194/hess-30-3715-2026

Research Groups

• Department of Ecohydrology and Biogeochemistry, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany
• Department of Geography, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
• Northern Rivers Institute, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
• Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU), Umeå, Sweden
• Chair of Water Resources Management and Modeling of Hydrosystems, Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Short Summary

This study explores the impacts of forest management strategies on water partitioning in a drought-sensitive catchment using a tracer-aided ecohydrological framework. The results show that agroforestry exhibits the greatest groundwater recharge and can mitigate drought impacts on soil water availability.

Objective

• Investigate how variations in generic forest type (e.g., broadleaf vs. conifer), forest density, and root distribution influence water partitioning and ecohydrological resilience under different wetness conditions.
• Quantify the effects of land use change on water partitioning, soil moisture storage, and evapotranspiration dynamics.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Plot-scale (3 forest sites) to catchment scale (66 km2 lowland basin in northeastern Germany)
• Temporal Scale: 25-year period (2000–2024)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: EcoPlot-iso, a tracer-aided conceptual ecohydrological model
• Data sources: Climate data from Müncheberg weather station, precipitation isotopes, air temperature, relative humidity, Leaf Area Index (LAI), and potential evapotranspiration (PET)

Main Results

• Agroforestry exhibits the greatest groundwater recharge and can mitigate drought impacts on soil water availability.
• Conifer forests show stronger transpiration contrasts than broadleaf forests in early spring.
• The wet–dry-year contrast between conifer and broadleaf forests is largest in late spring.

Contributions

• This study demonstrates how a parsimonious, tracer-aided scenario framework can be used as a decision-support tool to quantify and visualize the effects of land use change on water availability in data-limited regions.
• The results highlight the potential of agroforestry to enhance ecohydrological resilience under climate change.

Funding

• This research was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. [insert grant number])

Citation

@article{Jiang2026Exploring,
  author = {Jiang, Cong and Tetzlaff, Doerthe and Wu, Songjun and Birkel, Christian and Laudon, Hjalmar and Soulsby, Chris},
  title = {Exploring impacts of forest management strategies on water partitioning in a drought-sensitive catchment using a tracer-aided ecohydrological framework},
  journal = {Hydrology and earth system sciences},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.5194/hess-30-3715-2026},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-3715-2026}
}