Impacts of woodland densification on hydrology of Mediterranean landscapes

Abstract

Woodlands in Mediterranean mountains are undergoing succession and densification following the abandonment of traditional forest management. The consequences of these changes on ecosystem functioning remain poorly understood. Our survey of Alto Tajo Natural Park formed part of a wider project to quantify the effects of forest change on the hydrology of Spain. Processing of the data collected in an extensive field campaign accompanying this research is ongoing. The final objectives are to: (1) to map the trajectory of woodland biomass change; (2) to estimate woodland canopy water content, and other vegetation indices, from appropriately filtered and corrected hyperspectral data; (3) to measure woodland canopy transpiration from thermal imagery, and micrometeorological data. Pre-processing of GNSS and remote sensing data was carried out by NERC-ARF-DAN.