Forest Landscape Research Articles

Reconciling the EU forest, biodiversity, and climate strategies.

Forests provide important ecosystem services (ESs), including climate change mitigation, local climate regulation, habitat for biodiversity, wood and non-wood products, energy, and recreation. Simultaneously, forests are increasingly affected by climate change and need to be adapted to future environmental conditions. Current legislation, including the European Union (EU) Biodiversity Strategy, EU Forest Strategy, and national laws, aims to protect forest landscapes, enhance ESs, adapt forests to climate change, and leverage forest products for climate change mitigation and the bioeconomy. However, reconciling all these competing demands poses a tremendous task for policymakers, forest managers, conservation agencies, and other stakeholders, especially given the uncertainty associated with future climate impacts. Here, we used process-based ecosystem modeling and robust multi-criteria optimization to develop forest management portfolios that provide multiple ESs across a wide range of climate scenarios. We included constraints to strictly protect 10% of Europe's land area and to provide stable harvest levels under every climate scenario. The optimization showed only limited options to improve ES provision within these constraints. Consequently, management portfolios suffered from low diversity, which contradicts the goal of multi-functionality and exposes regions to significant risk due to a lack of risk diversification. Additionally, certain regions, especially those in the north, would need to prioritize timber provision to compensate for reduced harvests elsewhere. This conflicts with EU LULUCF targets for increased forest carbon sinks in all member states and prevents an equal distribution of strictly protected areas, introducing a bias as to which forest ecosystems are more protected than others. Thus, coordinated strategies at the European level are imperative to address these challenges effectively. We suggest that the implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, EU Forest Strategy, and targets for forest carbon sinks require complementary measures to alleviate the conflicting demands on forests.

Ecological Restoration and Sustainable Development: The Impact of Wakaf Forest Institutions on Socio-Economic Benefits

Indonesia is enhancing forest landscapes, particularly in deforestation-affected areas, through waqf forests to achieve environmental sustainability and community welfare. This study examines the ecological restoration processes within waqf forests and offers policy recommendations. It investigates causal relationships affecting waqf forest populations in Cibunian and Cibeureum villages using an ex post facto design and quantitative methods. Focusing on Cibunian beneficiaries, who generally possess higher education levels, the study explores the link between education and improved forest management. Data were collected via structured questionnaires and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Findings reveal that the Waqf Forest Institution significantly impacts the socio-economic benefits of the waqf forest, contributing 26.4% to these benefits. Additionally, the institution enhances the ecological restoration of the waqf forest by 13.9%. The path coefficient value indicates a positive influence on the sustainability of these socio-economic benefits. Hypothesis testing confirms a significant impact of the Waqf Forest Institution, validating the alternative hypothesis (Ha). The Waqf Forest Institution is a vital resource for the local community, offering sustainable forest management and generating income. Managed in accordance with Indonesian laws and Islamic Sharia regulations, the institution strategically selects sites to improve service access and enhance the forest's role in livelihoods. The study underscores the importance of higher education in improving forest management and suggests policy frameworks support educational initiatives alongside ecological projects. Implications advocate for community-based financial models and strategic partnerships to address environmental challenges and promote sustainable development.

Influence of pool habitat characteristics on Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata occupancy and reproduction in a Boreal forest landscape

Influence of pool habitat characteristics on Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata occupancy and reproduction in a Boreal forest landscape

The Impact of Urban Forest Landscape on Thermal Environment Based on Deep Learning: A Case of Three Main Cities in Southeastern China

The Impact of Urban Forest Landscape on Thermal Environment Based on Deep Learning: A Case of Three Main Cities in Southeastern China

Visual Aesthetic Quality of Qianjiangyuan National Park Landscapes and Its Spatial Pattern Characteristics

This paper conducts a scientific assessment of aesthetic quality to provide intuitive and scientific planning strategies for national park construction. Focusing on Qianjiangyuan National Park, the study used the scenic beauty evaluation (SBE) method to subjectively assess landscape photos from 16 sample sites. Objective eye movement indicators describing visual behavior were also analyzed. A national park landscape visual quality assessment model was derived through multiple linear regressions correlating subjective evaluations with objective indicators. Spatial technologies like ArcGIS were used to analyze the visual quality and its spatial distribution. Key findings include (1) subjective evaluations showed higher SBE scores for wetland landscapes, followed by recreational, village, and forest landscapes, (2) eye movement behavior varied across landscape types, with the forest landscape having the shortest first fixation time and the lowest saccade frequency, while recreational landscapes had the lowest average saccade speed, (3) strong correlations were found between SBE and indicators such as average fixation time and saccade frequency, with fixation duration ratio being the leading factor influencing visual aesthetic quality, and (4) visual aesthetic quality was highest in the north and south areas of the park, with significant differences between sample sites in these regions compared to the central area. Among different functional zones, the ecological protection area had the highest quality, while the Suzhuang management area excelled in aesthetic quality compared to the Hetian management area.

Exploring how community context informs variations in local perceptions of forest disturbance and land management in Colorado over time

Place-based socio-economic and biophysical context has been viewed as an essential driver in shaping perceptions of forest risks and land management. Growing evidence of the importance of diverse community context in forested landscapes sets the stage to further consider how people's understandings of their local environment influence natural resource management preferences. However, research to date largely lacks considerations of how community context informs social responses to long-term environmental change over time. Using the mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in Colorado, we analyze and compare longitudinal interview and survey data collected from nine north-central Colorado communities to understand the relationships between community context and changing perceptions of forest disturbance and engagement with land management. Both qualitative and quantitative findings show that community context framed and continues to inform variations in local perceptions of the MPB outbreak and forest management. Interviews with key informants provided rich narratives on different context-based trajectories in local residents' perceptional responses, while survey data allowed for general patterns of evolving community variations (e.g., stable or clearer community clustering, reduced community differences) to be uncovered. We explore methodological implications for community indication and future directions for understanding differing community responses to slow-moving environmental change. Incorporating knowledge of changing local contexts and variations can also help practitioners advance toward more dynamic and effective management strategies.

Surface Flux Patterns of Nutrient Concentrations and Total Suspended Solids in Western Carpathian Stream within Agricultural, Forest, and Grassland Landscapes

The intricate processes of surface water erosion are vital for ecological systems and river-scale management; yet, understanding them comprehensively remains a challenge. Forested agricultural catchments, especially in the Carpathian region, face significant degradation, potentially leading to inorganic nutrient leaching and total suspended solid (TSS) flux. Continuous rainwater inundation of soils in river valleys exacerbates this issue. Utilizing innovative tools like SWAT+, studies have revealed higher concentrations of inorganic nutrients in main watercourses from flysch catchments, with agricultural use linked to N-NO3− concentrations and pasture use linked to anion P-PO43−. Maintaining detailed records is crucial for researchers comparing data. SWAT+ proves valuable for studying TSS washing out and inorganic nutrient leaching, informing collaborative watershed management policies involving stakeholders from agriculture, conservation, and water management sectors. The insights on nutrient leaching, particularly phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N), are instrumental for shaping policies targeting nutrient pollution within pasture land use for EU agriculture. These findings can guide policy frameworks focused on sustainable practices, especially for eco-schemes, and encourage collaborative watershed management efforts.

Use of woody species in the Caatinga dry forest may lead to higher vulnerability to extirpation: An assessment based on ethnobiological, reproductive and conservation criteria

Tropical forests play an important role in maintaining, replenishing and conserving a large portion of the planet's biodiversity. However, these forests have been converted into anthropic landscapes, threatening the persistence of wildlife. The exploitation of forest products can result in different ecological impacts at different levels of biological organization. In this study, we propose a vulnerability index to examine the susceptibility of woody plants used by locals in a human-modified landscape of the Caatinga dry forest (i.e., the Catimbau National Park). We contrasted patterns of (1) plant use by local people (risk of use, collection risk, local importance, and diversity of use), (2) plant reproductive strategies (pollination, sexual and reproductive systems, dispersal mode, flowering and fruiting phenology), and (3) the conservation status of the plant species. We combined this information to propose a vulnerability index expressing species sensitivity to human disturbances in 14 regenerating and 14 old-growth forest stands. We tested the hypothesis that regenerating forest stands will harbor more vulnerable plant species compared to old-growth forest stands. Among the 119 plant species registered in regenerating and old-growth forest stands, 80 species (67.2 %) were recorded as useful for local people in Caatinga. Specifically, about 71.8 % and 70.5 % are exploited by the rural population for some type of use in regenerating and old-growth forest stands, respectively. The most frequent type of use was medicinal, followed by construction and fuel in both regenerating and old-growth forest stands. Regarding the potentially collected plant parts, the total removal of the individual and collection of leaves exhibited similar and higher relevance in regenerating, while leaves were the most collected part in old-growth forest stands. Of the 80 plant species analyzed, 62 % and 58.5 %, respectively, were classified as exhibiting moderate and high vulnerability to extirpation in regenerating and old-growth forest stands; thus not supporting our hypothesis. Our results suggest that in the Caatinga dry forest, (1) woody plant species responsible for forest regeneration in the context of slash-and-burn agriculture are exploited for multiple uses, (2) medicinal use is the main type of use of woody plants occurring in regenerating and old-growth forest stands, (3) total removal of the individual and collection of leaves were the most collected plant parts, and (4) both regenerating and old-growth forest stands showed a high vulnerability to human disturbances in the study area. In the long term, the exploitation of vulnerable plant species may negatively affect the composition and structure of the community and, consequently, the rate and trajectory of succession. It can be expected that as populations of vulnerable plant species are reduced or extirpated from the community, ecological interactions such as pollination and dispersal, which are key to ecosystem maintenance, will change along with the services provided.

To stay or not to stay? Temporal shifts in dung beetle occupancy in a cloud forest landscape

Abstract Dynamic occupancy model estimates the probabilities of occupancy, detection, extinction and colonization of individuals throughout seasons and is, thus, a useful tool for identifying whether individuals select a site to improve population phenology and fitness. We used multi‐season dynamics occupancy models to assess how abiotic factors (monthly variation, percentage of forest and edge and temperature) and biotic factors (female abundance) affect the demographic dynamics of coprophagous beetles Deltochilum mexicanum and Dichotomius satanas that differ in their habitat preferences in a human‐modified landscape in a cloud forest in Mexico. For both species, we captured a total of 1069 individuals with a density of 48.2 individuals per trap in forest areas and 14.8 individuals per trap in non‐forest areas. The species differed in their spatiotemporal occupancy dynamics in the landscape. Specifically, we found that monthly variation, percentage of forest cover and percentage of edge affected the models for both species. Each species showed a specific set of explanatory covariates for the model parameters, indicating that phenological and demographic regulatory mechanisms act as drivers of the spatiotemporal occupancy in a year period. We highlight the importance of considering abiotic factors (landscape characteristics) as drivers of occupancy, especially in highly heterogeneous landscapes. Such understanding is relevant to establish the effects of the landscape on the distribution and occurrence of dung beetles by determining how forest and generalist species differ in colonization and extinction patterns with respect to their phenology.

Spatiotemporal Changes in Ecological Quality and Its Response to Forest Landscape Connectivity—A Study from the Perspective of Landscape Structural and Functional Connectivity

Spatiotemporal Changes in Ecological Quality and Its Response to Forest Landscape Connectivity—A Study from the Perspective of Landscape Structural and Functional Connectivity

View Preferences and Tourism Attraction Resources at Mangrove Guraping Tourism Objects, North Oba District, Tidore City, North Maluku Province

Mangrove forest tourism is a form of tourism activity by traveling around the mangrove forest area and enjoying all the uniqueness contained in it. The choice of a tourist location as a tourist destination is greatly influenced by tourist preferences and ecotourism resources are closely related to attractiveness. Elements of attraction include natural beauty, the abundance of prominent resources, the uniqueness of natural resources, the integrity of natural resources, the choice of recreational activities, and the diversity of natural resources. The aims of this research are: determining tourist view preferences and determining tourist attraction resources at the Guraping mangrove ecotourism object, North Oba District, Tidore Islands City. The data collection process includes field observations, distributing questionnaires, interviews, tourist view preferences and potential tourism resources. The research results showed that the preference for tourist views of the Guraping mangrove tourist attraction was that the mangrove forest landscape obtained the highest SBE value, while the village landscape obtained the lowest SBE value. Potential ecotourism attraction resources that can be developed include mangrove forests with fauna/diversity, bays and beaches, fish ponds and villages with social culture.

Study on the influence of landscape pattern on the spread of pine wilt disease from a multi-scale perspective

Since the introduction of pine wilt disease (PWD) into Chongqing, China, it has been continuously spreading, posing a significant threat to the local forest ecosystem dominated by pine forests. Utilizing data spanning the last two decades on the PWD epidemic subcompartment and host coniferous forest in Chongqing, this study employs a geographic detector model to scrutinize the impact of forest landscape patterns on PWD dissemination at the county, township, and 1 km grid scales. The findings reveal three distinct stages of the PWD epidemic in Chongqing from 2001 to 2020: diffusion, stabilization, and outbreak. The western and central regions of Chongqing experienced severe impacts, while the southern part exhibited relatively milder effects. Across the three spatial scales, various landscape pattern indices exhibit robust and consistent impacts on PWD occurrence. Notably, patch area emerges as the most influential factor, with an explanatory power reaching 0.228. Additionally, landscape shape index, number of patches, patch density, river and road exert substantial influence on PWD incidence. Conversely, the impact of edge density, landscape dominance, landscape separation, and landscape fragmentation on PWD occurrence is comparatively weak. Moreover, the interaction of different landscape pattern factors nonlinearly enhances the explanatory power of PWD occurrence. Among these interactions, the synergy between patch area and landscape dominance proves to have the highest explanatory power for the spatial differentiation of PWD at 0.718. This study explores the relationship between the invasion and spread of PWD and landscape patterns, offering useful insights for the prevention and early warning of PWD. Additionally, this research provides valuable reference points for promoting the healthy and sustainable development of forest resources in China.

A New Paradigm for Assessing Detailed Dynamics of Forest Landscape Fragmentation

There is an urgent need for a thorough assessment of forest landscape fragmentation to inform forest protection and restoration, and reforestation policies. However, there is currently a lack of an effective comprehensive index for forest landscape fragmentation, and detailed knowledge of the forest landscape fragmentation dynamics remains insufficient. Here, taking Putian City of Fujian Province in Southeastern China as a case, we employed a forest fragmentation comprehensive index (FFCI) to capture key features of forest landscape fragmentation, such as patch size, number, and distribution. Then, bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis was employed to identify the spatial associations between the static forest landscape fragmentation (FFCI) and the dynamic forest landscape fragmentation (ΔFFCI), and the spatial coupling modes among the three individual components of FFCI (mean patch area, MPA; aggregation index, AI; patch density, PD) were identified to explore the detail process of forest landscape fragmentation. Finally, the random forest model was applied to observe the impact factors of forest landscape fragmentation dynamics. The findings showed that forest landscapes with different degrees of fragmentation exhibited more noticeable changes at both ends (i.e., either high or lower-level fragmentation), with the intermediate level remaining consistent from 2000 to 2020. Around 18.3% of forest landscapes experienced a decrease in fragmentation, particularly in the northern part of the study area, while approximately 81.7% of forest landscapes exhibited an increasing trend in fragmentation. The bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis indicated that the proportion of Low–High-type grids was the highest at 17.3%, followed by the High–High type at 7.0%. We also identified eight forest landscape fragmentation modes, which indicate the most significant forest landscape fragmentation pattern is a decrease in MPA and an increase in PD. Moreover, the anthropogenic factors (e.g., population density and night light intensity) were found to dominate the FFCI dynamics during 2000–2020. This study offers an efficient research paradigm for the dynamics of forest landscape fragmentation. The outcomes are conducive to an in-depth comprehension of the detailed dynamic information of forest landscape fragmentation, and supply a scientific foundation for enhancing the overall ecological service function of the forest.

The forest loss within small reservoirs surpasses that of large reservoirs across the tropics

The vast potential of hydropower remains crucial in addressing the escalating need for clean energy, particularly in Tropical Moist Forests (TMFs) regions. Yet, the widespread construction of reservoirs within TMFs has resulted in the inundation of forested areas, exacerbating the fragmentation of forest landscapes and contributing additional loss of carbon stored in these ecosystems. Despite this, the scale and degree of forest loss within reservoirs due to inundation from reservoir construction remain poorly quantified and mapped across tropical regions. Here, we leverage long-term TMFs data spanning from 1990 to 2021 to investigate forest loss within reservoirs across tropical regions. We reveal that forest losses within reservoirs total 3521 km2, constituting a relatively small fraction of total forest loss. Nonetheless, the spatial distribution of forest loss within reservoirs varies significantly across the tropics, with patchy distributions observed in the American and African TMFs, and striped patterns evident in the Asian TMFs. Contrary to common assumptions, we show that small reservoirs exhibit higher levels of forest loss compared to large reservoirs, particularly pronounced in the African TMFs region. Furthermore, our projections indicate that the exclusive construction of small reservoirs contributes to approximately 27% of Africa’s total forest area lost. We underscore the importance of policymakers carefully evaluating the trade-offs associated with the construction of large versus small reservoirs in TMF regions, to minimize the adverse impacts of hydropower development on forest ecosystems.

The Evolution of Forest Landscape Connectivity and Ecological Network Construction: A Case Study of Zhejiang’s Ecological Corridors

As main components of terrestrial ecosystems, forests play irreplaceable roles in maintaining ecological balance and protecting the basic environment for human survival and development. In this study, the dynamic changes in the forest landscape connectivity in Zhejiang province in 2000, 2010, and 2020 were detected by identifying ecological sources and evaluating connectivity indexes based on morphological spatial analysis (MSPA) and a minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model. The results are as follows: (1) The forest area of Zhejiang increased by 64.88% from 2000 to 2020, indicating that the overall habitat quality has improved and that ecological risks have decreased, which are attributed to Zhejiang’s adherence to comprehensive environmental management. (2) Regions with low connectivity are distributed mainly in the north, where human activities are intensive. The overall pattern of high connectivity in the middle of the region and low connectivity elsewhere demonstrates the uneven distribution of forest landscape connectivity across the province. (3) The extracted ecological corridors have a mesh-like structure that is dense in the middle and slack in the north. Important corridors have disappeared over time, indicating potential issues in maintaining connectivity for species migration. (4) These results can provide optimization strategies for ecological infrastructure planning in Zhejiang province and offer a theoretical reference for the optimization of the ecological network system.

High-resolution harvester data for estimating rolling resistance and forest trafficability

AbstractInformation on terrain conditions is a prerequisite for planning environmentally and economically sustainable forest harvesting operations that avoid negative impact on soils. Current soil data are coarse, and collecting such data with traditional methods is expensive. Forest harvesters can be harnessed to estimate the rolling resistance coefficient ($$\mu _{RR}$$ μ RR ), which is a proxy for forest trafficability. Using spatio-temporal data on engine power used, speed travelled, and machine inclination, $$\mu _{RR}$$ μ RR can be computed for harvest areas. This study describes an extensive, high-resolution data on $$\mu _{RR}$$ μ RR collected in a boreal forest landscape in Southern Finland during the non-frost period of 2021, covering roughly 50 km of harvester routes. We report improvements in removing some of the previous restrictions on calculating $$\mu _{RR}$$ μ RR on steeper slopes, enabling the calculation within a $$-10^{\circ }$$ - 10 ∘ to $$+10^{\circ }$$ + 10 ∘ slope range with a speed range of 0.6–1.2 ms$$^{-1}$$ - 1 . We characterise the variation in $$\mu _{RR}$$ μ RR both between and within 11 test sites harvested during the April-August period. The site mean $$\mu _{RR}$$ μ RR varies from $$\sim$$ ∼ 0.14 to 0.19 and shows significant differences between the sites. Using simulations of the hydrological state of the soil and open spatial data on forest and topography, we identify features that best explain the extremes of $$\mu _{RR}$$ μ RR within the sites. Several wetness-related indices, such as the depth-to-water index with varying thresholds, explain the $$\mu _{RR}$$ μ RR extremes, while biomass-related stand attributes indirectly explain these through their linkage to site and soil characteristics. Obtaining $$\mu _{RR}$$ μ RR from actual operational data extends the capabilities of large-scale harvester-based data collection and paves the way for building data-driven models for trafficability prediction.

Forest cover, tree structure, and fruit size as predictors of fruit consumption by birds in two tropical trees from southern Mexico

We evaluate the effect of some variables related to fruit morphology, tree structure, and forest cover on fruit consumption by birds in the tree species Conostegia xalapensis (Melastomataceae) and Bursera simaruba (Burseraceae), in a semi-humid forest of southern Mexico. Foraging observations were made in 20 trees per species from November 2020 to June 2021. We recorded a total of 18 and 22 bird species consuming the fruits of B. simaruba and C. xalapensis, respectively. Flycatchers preferred fruits of B. simaruba, while thrushes largely consumed fruits of C. xalapensis. For large birds, crop size and foliar height diversity were the most influential variables in the removal of B. simaruba fruits, while small birds were positively correlated with the foliar coverage. For C. xalapensis, forest cover negatively influenced fruit consumption by large birds, while the fruit polar diameter had a positive effect on fruit consumption by small birds. Fruit consumption of C. xalapensis by specialist birds showed a positive relationship with forest cover, while the generalists showed a negative relationship. Decreased fruit removal was observed for B. simaruba by both specialist and generalist birds in forest landscapes. Our results can help understand the drivers of the frugivore-plant relationship in semi-humid tropical forests.

Impacts of urbanization on multiple dimensions of bird diversity in Atlantic forest landscapes

Urbanization is resulting in habitat loss and fragmentation around the world, but its effects on biodiversity remain poorly understood. We investigated how the increase of urban cover surrounding nine Brazilian Atlantic forest reserves (14 ha - 1058 ha) affects the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of bird communities, considering forest and non-forest species separately. Using a multi-scale local landscape approach, we estimated the percentage of urban cover in circular buffers of varying radii (200–1000 m). We calculated 10 complementary metrics of bird diversity and modelled them against the percentage of urban cover using generalized additive models. Urbanization had a negative, non-linear impact on the taxonomic diversity of bird communities, with a sharp decrease of up to 50 % in the effective number of rare, typical and dominant species in landscapes with 20–40 % of urbanization. This decrease was not restricted to forest species (urban avoiders), but also affected non-forest ones (urban utilizers and dwellers). The impact of urbanization on functional and phylogenetic diversity were less evident, suggesting that the vulnerability to urbanization has a weak phylogenetic and phenotypic signal. We conclude that urbanization impacts a broad spectrum of bird clades and traits and drastically reduce the taxonomic diversity of bird communities.

Assessing Borneo’s tropical forests and plantations: a multi-sensor remote sensing and geospatial MCDA approach to environmental sustainability

The assessment of environmental sustainability is of utmost importance for the forests and plantations in Borneo, given the critical need for environmental protection through the identification and mitigation of potential risks. This study was conducted to assess the environmental sustainability of tropical forest and plantations landscape, a case study in northern Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Applications of the latest high-resolution multi-sensor remote sensing and geospatial MCDA are cost-effective and useful for large-scale environmental sustainability assessment. The land use land cover (LULC) of the study area was mapped with synergistic use of Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Sentinel-2 optical and high-resolution PlanetScope satellite imageries, resulting in overall accuracy of 87.24%. Five sustainability indicator layers: slope erosion protection, river buffer, landscape connectivity and quality, high conservation value (HCV), and water turbidity were developed from the LULC map, ancillary datasets of SRTM, and forest operation basemap with reference to standards from the Environment Protection Department (EPD), Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and Forest Management Plan (FMP) for the analysis using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) model. The results revealed that overall, the study areas are in the high sustainability category at 61%, medium at 31%, and low at only 8%. We analyzed the environmental sustainability of five land use boundaries, and the results showed that Industrial Tree Plantations (ITP) and Village Reserve are mostly in the high category. Meanwhile, oil palm plantations, rubber plantations, and forest reserve (FR) are the majority in the medium category. Both oil palm and rubber plantations are a majority in the medium class due to monocropping land use type having low landscape connectivity and quality individual sustainability indicator layer. The study presented the concept of use of multi-sensor remote sensing for LULC mapping with geospatial MCDA for environmental sustainability assessment useful to stakeholders for improving the management plan also contributing toward the progress of achieving UNSDGs and addressing REDD+.

Model linkage to assess forest disturbance impacts on water quality: A wildfire case study using LANDIS(II)-VELMA

Wildfires in western US forests increased over the last two decades, resulting in elevated solid and nutrient loadings to streams, and occasionally threatening drinking water supplies. We demonstrated that a linked LANDIS (LANDscape DIsturbance and Succession)-VELMA (Visualizing Ecosystem Land Management Assessments) modeling approach can simulate wildland fire effects on water quality using the 2002 Colorado Hayman Fire. Utilizing LANDIS-II's forest landscape model to simulate forest composition and VELMA's eco-hydrologic model to simulate pre- and post-fire water quantity and quality, the best calibration performance yielded a Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.621 during 2000–2006 (most optimal annual - 0.921) in comparison to North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) runoff. Pre-fire modeled runoff, nitrate, and surface water temperature (SWT) correlated with observations. Simulated post-fire runoff (229%) and SWT (20.6%) were elevated relative to pre-fire, with nitrate concentrations 34 times greater than the aquatic life threshold (0.01 mg N/L).