Author(s)

Robert L. France¹, Andrew S. M. Patton¹, Peter W. Aitchison²

¹Department of Plant, Food and Environmental Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
²Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.

The mitigation potential of reforestation for offsetting the deleterious effects of increased flooding and soil erosion projected to occur in Atlantic Canada through future climate change was investigated. Modelling determined a strong but non-linear relationship between extent of vegetative cover and runoff volume and discharge rate for a Nova Scotian watershed, suggesting that reforestation will reduce, but not completely prevent, flooding. Predicted erosion rates were found to be progressively reduced in relation to the extent of upland reforestation. Of three scenarios examined in which 60%, 65%, and 85% of the entire watershed are randomly reforested, only the latter would reduce the elevated erosion expected to occur through climate change back to present-day existing levels. Additional modelling revealed that comparable mitigation of soil erosion can ensue through implementation of 70 m streamside buffer strips, which would only take up 19% of the total surface area. Prioritizing riparian zones for reforestation will therefore subsume less of the overall productive land area and therefore enact a less severe socio-economic impact on agriculture and forestry.

Climate Change, Watersheds, Modeling, Flooding, Soil Erosion, Reforestation

France, R. , Patton, A. and Aitchison, P. (2019) Modeling Reforestation’s Role in Climate-Proofing Watersheds from Flooding and Soil Erosion. American Journal of Climate Change, 8, 387-403. doi: 10.4236/ajcc.2019.83021.