DOI: 10.5061/dryad.tb2rbp0d9
title: Hydrological response to compounding impacts of climate change and forest management in the upper Kings River basin, CA, USA

description: In the western United States, the Sierra Nevada region experienced decades
 of fire suppression-driven changes in forest structure and composition,
 resulting in increased vulnerability to drought, water stress, tree
 mortality, and exposure to severe wildfires. Sierra Nevada’s watersheds
 and forests are predicted to undergo warmer and drier conditions due to
 climate change, making them even more vulnerable to disturbances.
 Restoring forests by reducing forest density and fuel accumulation has the
 potential to improve forest resilience to droughts and climate change,
 increase water availability, and provide other ecosystem benefits. In this
 study, we investigated the individual and compounding effects of forest
 treatments on evapotranspiration and streamflow in the upper Kings River
 basin under different warming scenarios using the SWAT+ model. We
 simulated large-scale forest treatments throughout the landscape to
 evaluate the hydrological response to warming across a water-energy
 gradient and the extent to which forest treatments can offset the
 warming-driven response. Warming increased evapotranspiration in
 energy-limited forests, while in water-limited forests, evapotranspiration
 declined due to increased water stress. The water made available through
 biomass reduction due to forest treatments was directed towards increasing
 potential runoff or sustaining the remaining trees by providing additional
 water for evapotranspiration, controlled by water/energy availability. We
 found that large-scale forest restoration in the upper Kings River basin
 has the potential to partially mitigate warming impacts on streamflow by a
 maximum of 48% and 36% under +1.5°C and +3.0°C warming, respectively, thus
 reducing the severity of warming impacts on streamflow and vegetation
 water stress. These benefits are most prominent in the first year
 following forest treatment and gradually decline over time, persisting up
 to 10 years.
description: # Hydrological response to compounding impacts of climate change and
 forest management in the upper Kings River basin, CA, USA Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.tb2rbp0d9](10.5061/dryad.tb2rbp0d9) ## Description of the
 data and file structure These datasets are based on SWAT+ simulations
 conducted in the Upper Kings River Basin, California, USA. The datasets
 range from daily to monthly and water year periods, and are spatially
 aggregated from HRU and LSU components to characteristic hillslopes and
 the full basin. The datasets are in the R data format ("*.Rda").
 ### Files and variables #### File: Figure04.Rda **Description:** Simulated
 monthly snow water equivalent (variable swe, [mm/month]) from 1990 to 2019
 for each characteristic hillslope (variable Cluster) and each DT scenario
 (variable Scenario). #### File: Figure05.Rda **Description:** Simulated
 yearly long-term averages (1990-2019) of evergreen forest actual
 evapotranspiration (aetWYLT [mm/year]), total precipitation (PrecipWYLT
 [mm/year]), Potential Evapotranspiration (PETWY_LT [mm/year]), for each
 characteristic hillslope (cluster), and Warming Scenario (DT = 0 °C,
 DT=+1.5 °C, DT=+3.0 °C). The aridity and evaporative indices are also
 reported (variables PETP [-], AETP [-]). #### File: Figure06.Rda
 **Description:** Simulated monthly actual evapotranspiration (variable aet
 [mm/month]) from 1990 to 2019 for each characteristic hillslope (variable
 Cluster) and each DT scenario (variable Scenario). #### File: Figure07.Rda
 **Description:** Average monthly simulated streamflow (Q [m^3^/s]) under
 the control and warming scenarios (variables QDT0 [m^3^/s], QDT15
 [m^3^/s], QDT3_0 [m^3^/s]). The variable "Obs" indicates the
 full natural flow at the outlet of the basin (Pine Flat Dam) #### File:
 Figure08.Rda **Description:** Yearly evapotranspiration (aet [mm/year])
 for each characteristic hillslope (cluster), Landuse (FRSE = evergreen
 forest, RNGB = rangeland), warming scenario before and after forest
 treatment scenarios (variable timing: control = No treatment, dry = June
 2000, wet = June 2010). WY indicates the relative year of the simulated
 forest treatment (0 = year when forest treatment is simulated, negative
 number, years before the forest treatment and positive number refers to
 the years after the forest treatments). The difference in ET caused by
 forest treatments (deltaET [mm/year]) is obtained by subtracting the
 control scenario (respective year, and warming scenario) to the ET of the
 respective year, warming scenario and forest management scenario. ####
 File: Figure09.Rda **Description:** Climate warming (DQWarming), forest
 treatments (DQTreatment), and combined (DQ_WarmingAndTreatment) impacts on
 streamflow [mm/year] for each water year (variable WY), and for each
 warming (variable ScenarioDT) and forest management scenario (variables
 Intensity (Leaf Area Index Reduction -25% or -40%), WetDry (dry = June
 2000, wet = June 2010), Extent (100%)). #### File: Figure10.Rda
 **Description:** Contribution to each characteristic hillslope (cluster)
 to the outlet streamflow (DQ_Treatment_mmy [mm/year]), for each forest
 management scenario (variables Intensity, WetDry, Extent) and warming
 scenario (Scenario_DT). The variable Q_mmy represents the simulated
 streamflow in mm/year. #### File: Figure11.Rda **Description:** Simulated
 averages of actual evapotranspiration (aet [mm/year]), total precipitation
 (Precip [mm/year]), Potential Evapotranspiration (PET [mm/year]), in the
 first year after the forest treatments (variables WY=Water Year, Timing =
 Forest treatment Scenario), for each characteristic hillslope (cluster),
 Landuse (FRSE = Evergreen Forest, RNGB = Rangeland), and Warming Scenario
 (DT = 0 °C, DT=+1.5 °C, DT=+3.0 °C). The aridity and evaporative indeces
 are also reported (variables PETP [-], AETP [-]). ####