Nelson, AndrewChomitz, Kenneth M.2013-06-272013-06-272004-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/14226A "forest-hydrology-poverty nexus" hypothesis asserts that deforestation in poor upland areas simultaneously threatens biodiversity and increases the incidence of flooding, sedimentation, and other damaging hydrological processes. The authors use rough heuristics to assess the applicability of this hypothesis to Central America. They do so by using a simple rule of thumb to identify watersheds at greater risk of hydrologically significant land use change: these are watersheds where there is a relatively large interface between agriculture and forest, and where this interface is on a steep slope. The authors compare the location of these watersheds with spatial maps of poverty and forests (for Guatemala and Honduras) and with maps of population and forests (for Central America at large). The analysis is performed for watersheds defined at different scales. The authors find plausible evidence for a forest-biodiversity-poverty connection in Guatemala, and to a lesser extent in Honduras. In the rest of Central America, there are relatively few areas where forest meets agriculture on steep slopes-either the forest or the slopes are lacking. And the ratio of these forest/agriculture/hillside interfaces to watershed area declines markedly as larger-scale watersheds are considered. This directs attention to relatively small watersheds for further investigation of the "nexus."en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOAGRICULTUREAMAZONBASINBASIN DISCHARGEBIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITY LOSSBIOLOGYBROOKSCHEMICAL POLLUTIONCLOUDSCONSERVATIONCORAL REEFSCROPSDATA COLLECTIONDATA SOURCESDEFORESTATIONDOMESTIC BENEFITSDRAINDRY SEASONECOLOGYECOSYSTEMECOSYSTEMSENVIRONMENTAL SERVICESEQUILIBRIUMEROSIONEVAPOTRANSPIRATIONFARMERSFLOODFLOODINGFLOODING EFFECTSFLOODSFOOD POLICY RESEARCHFOREST COVERFORESTSFRESHWATERGEOGRAPHIC INFORMATIONGROUNDWATERGROUNDWATER RECHARGEHABITATSHOUSEHOLDSHYDROLOGICAL MODELSHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSESHYDROLOGYINCOMELAKESLAND COVERLAND COVER CHANGELAND COVER CLASSIFICATIONLAND USELAND USE IMPACTSLAND USESLOCAL WATERSHED MANAGEMENTMEASUREMENTSMODELINGMOISTURENATIONAL INCOMENATURAL RESOURCESPLANT SPECIESPOLLUTIONPOPULATION DENSITIESPOPULATION DENSITYPOPULATION GROWTHPOVERTY LINEPRECIPITATIONPRECIPITATION PATTERNSRAINFALLRECHARGERIVERRIVER BASINSRIVERSSATELLITE IMAGESSEDIMENTSEDIMENTATIONSOIL TYPESSOILSTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETOPOGRAPHYTREESTRIBUTARIESTROPICAL FORESTSUPLAND AREASUPLAND LANDURBAN AREASVEGETATIONWATER QUALITYWATER RESOURCESWATER USER ASSOCIATIONSWATER YIELDWATERSHEDWATERSHED BOUNDARIESWATERSHED LEVELWATERSHED MANAGEMENTWATERSHED SCALEWATERSHEDSWETLANDSWILLINGNESS TO PAYWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-3430