Determinants of the Forest-Water Relationship

As outlined in Chapter 2, our analysis of forest-water relations addresses four important subsystems of a linked planetary social-ecological system: climate, forests, water and people. In this chapter, we consider how each of these subsystems is changing (trend) and what is causing the change (’determinant’). We discuss the critical determinants of change in forests as they relate to water quality and quantity. Chapter 4 then presents the impacts of these changes on water quality and quality.