TY - JOUR

T1 - Role of forested land for natural flood management in the UK: A review

AU - Cooper, Matt

AU - Patil, Sopan

AU - Nisbet, Thomas

AU - Thomas, Huw

AU - Smith, Andy

AU - McDonald, Morag

PY - 2021/9

Y1 - 2021/9

N2 - Natural flood management (NFM) is the use of natural processes and environments to mitigate flood risk by reducing and delaying peak flood. This review introduces the concept and history of NFM and looks at the current state of research into the potential for using different types of woodland to fulfill theaims of NFM. Four woodland types (catchment, cross-slope, floodplain, andriparian) are discussed with reference to studies carried out, mainly in theUnited Kingdom, to determine the relative merits of each type and their effectiveness in mitigating flood risk. We then discuss how trees interact with thehydrological cycle, along with a discussion of modeling methods which seek todetermine the amount of water intercepted by different types of forest cover.We find that while there is some evidence that carefully planned and managedwoodland can mitigate flood risk, the published data for this evidence base issomewhat sparse. This may be either due to the long timescales needed forcomprehensive studies or the relative infancy of the research on NFM. Moreresearch needs to be carried out in each of the four woodland types, especiallyin the UK, as policy makers are increasingly looking towards nature basedsolutions to mitigate the potential impacts of climate change. The concept of acombined canopy/hydrological model which can be scaled from stand towatershed level and incorporate different types of woodland is suggested as itwould be beneficial in guiding woodland creation policy in the future, both atthe local and regional scales.

AB - Natural flood management (NFM) is the use of natural processes and environments to mitigate flood risk by reducing and delaying peak flood. This review introduces the concept and history of NFM and looks at the current state of research into the potential for using different types of woodland to fulfill theaims of NFM. Four woodland types (catchment, cross-slope, floodplain, andriparian) are discussed with reference to studies carried out, mainly in theUnited Kingdom, to determine the relative merits of each type and their effectiveness in mitigating flood risk. We then discuss how trees interact with thehydrological cycle, along with a discussion of modeling methods which seek todetermine the amount of water intercepted by different types of forest cover.We find that while there is some evidence that carefully planned and managedwoodland can mitigate flood risk, the published data for this evidence base issomewhat sparse. This may be either due to the long timescales needed forcomprehensive studies or the relative infancy of the research on NFM. Moreresearch needs to be carried out in each of the four woodland types, especiallyin the UK, as policy makers are increasingly looking towards nature basedsolutions to mitigate the potential impacts of climate change. The concept of acombined canopy/hydrological model which can be scaled from stand towatershed level and incorporate different types of woodland is suggested as itwould be beneficial in guiding woodland creation policy in the future, both atthe local and regional scales.

KW - canopy modeling

KW - catchment modeling

KW - hydrological modeling

KW - interception loss

KW - natural flood management

U2 - 10.1002/wat2.1541

DO - 10.1002/wat2.1541

M3 - Review article

VL - 8

JO - Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water

JF - Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water

SN - 2049-1948

IS - 5

M1 - e1541

ER -