Water Resources Management and Forest Engineering in Volcanic Islands

Abstract

The role of the forests on the hydrology of volcanic island environments is critical, mainly due to both its protection against erosion and its reduction of the runoff and increase of the water infiltration. In the Canary Islands, forest location in the western islands caters to meteorological, ecological and hydrological factors, as the water availability, orography and the presence of trade winds among them. From a forestry perspective, vegetation of volcanic islands acts as a buffering as it boosts precipitation from fog condensation mainly in western islands with higher altitudes. Besides, it is also remarkable the role of the forest on the planning process of island watersheds, including water-related natural hazards management by its study, flood prediction, hillslope stability estimation, etc. due to the torrential rainfall regime. At last, forest also affects the erosion processes and soil conservation as it promotes infiltration and due to the protection of the canopy and the forest floor against the raindrop impact, one of the main issues of oceanic islands which affect directly and indirectly their hydrological cycle. Different study cases related to the role of forest in volcanic islands are reviewed throughout this work.