Vegetation plays a vital role in sustaining water resources and aquatic health. Disturbance, both natural (e.g., wildfire, insects, disease, windstorms, drought) and anthropogenic (e.g., timber harvesting, land conversion), can have a profound effect on hydrological, geomorphic and ecological processes. With climate change, natural disturbance is becoming more frequent and catastrophic. This, together with growing anthropogenic disturbance, will undoubtedly affect water resources and consequently have significant implications for land managers and policy makers. This special issue calls for contributions to further our understanding of hydrological and ecological responses to accelerated environmental and land use changes.