Management of Mountain Watersheds

The book aims to address the interdisciplinary targets of watershed management in mountain regions based on the current knowledge of the subject. The focus of the book is particularly on monitoring, research and modelling the interactions between the climate, water cycle, and aquatic ecosystem. The issues of watershed management in mountain regions in different parts of Europe, Africa, America and Asia have been the central theme of the book, which is divided into five sections: institutional aspects in control of mountain regions, stream flow processes in mountain catchments, water chemistry and biota in mountain streams and lakes, effects of forest practices and climate change on hydrological phenomena, and soil conservation and control of floods and lands slides.

The contributions have been peer-reviewed and the interdisciplinary team of authors includes experts from the specialized areas of geography, hydrology, chemistry, biology, forestry, ecology, economy and sociology. The practical applications and management strategies mentioned in the book, deal with the integrated resource management approach, based on the compromise between the development, conservation/protection of the nature. Finally the socio-economic and cultural aspects, and ecosystem prevalent in a mountain catchment are discussed in detail.

The book will be useful to environmentalists, engineers, watershed planners and policy makers.