Everyone knows that forests are good for the watershed. But what effect do the trees in the forest actually have on rainfall, stream flow, and flooding? Do forests capture rainfall? Are native forests better than non-native plantations for the watershed? What effect do invasions of alien species such as strawberry guava have? Does deforestation cause floods downstream? We will discuss these and other questions about forests and watersheds using recent examples from Hawai‘i and around the world.

Dr. J. B. Friday is the Extension Forester for the University of Hawai'i.  He works with landowners, tree farmers, and professional foresters throughout the state on management of both native forests and tree farms. His particular interests are in restoration of native forests, silviculture of koa, agroforestry, and management of high value plantation timber species. Prior to coming to Hawai‘i, Dr. Friday worked in agroforestry extension in the Philippines with the US Peace Corps. Dr. Friday is originally from the northeast, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Dartmouth in 1982 and a master’s in forestry at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 1985. He did his doctoral research on agroforestry on Kaua‘i on competition between hedgerows and crops for light and nutrients and graduated from UH Mānoa in 1998.