Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Environmental science

Forests and floods

Nature volume 449, pages 409–410 (2007)Cite this article

One strategy for reducing catastrophic floods invokes protecting or regenerating forests that lie upstream of a threatened region. Support for this approach comes from a global-scale analysis of flood risk.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Jiujiang, China, 12 August 1998.

R. BECK/AFP/GETTY

References

  1. Bradshaw, C. J. A., Sodhi, N. S., Peh, K. S.-H. & Brook, B. W. Global Change Biol. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01446.x (2007).

  2. FAO–CIFOR Forests and Floods: Drowning in Fiction or Thriving on Facts? (FAO–CIFOR, Bangkok, 2005).

  3. Calder, I. R. & Aylward, B. Water Int. 31, 87–99 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Clark, C. Environ. Conserv. 14, 67–69 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Bruijnzeel, L. A. Hydrology of Moist Tropical Forest and Effects of Conversion: A State of Knowledge Review (UNESCO, Paris, 1991).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Laurance, W. F. & Peres, C. A. (eds) Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests (Univ. Chicago Press, 2006).

  7. Bala, G. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 6550–6555 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Righelato, R. & Spracklen, D. V. Science 317, 902 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Betts, R. A. et al. Nature 448, 1037–1041 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Webster, P. J., Holland, G. J., Curry, J. A. & Chang, H.-R. Science 309, 1844–1846 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. William F. Laurance is at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama. laurancew@si.edu,

    William F. Laurance

Authors
  1. William F. Laurance
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Laurance, W. Forests and floods. Nature 449, 409–410 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/449409a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/449409a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing