Analyzing the water conservation service function of the forest ecosystem

Because it is an important aspect of forest ecosystem services, the water conservation function of forest ecosystems has been researched in China for several decades. In most of the studies,the forest water conservation function was nearly equivalent to the ability of the forest to store rain or regulate runoff,which neglected its comprehensive effect on other hydrological processes,as well as both weather and soil factors. In addition,the understanding and research methods for the forest water conservation function were often generalized in different research areas. The natural conditions and socioeconomic characteristics of the study areas were not considered,which weakened the regional pertinency of the research results and restricted their further application. To provide a scientific reference for the all-inclusive improvement of the forest water conservation function and the forest ecological restoration projects in various regions,this paper comprehensively analyzed the conceptions and characteristics of forest water conservation,defined the different components of the regional water conservation function and leading service,and offered suitable calculation methods for the forest water conservation function in different regions.