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Forests are thought to play an important role in the regional dynamics ofthe West African monsoon, through their capacity to extract water froma permanent and deep groundwater table to the atmosphere even during the dryseason. It should be the case for riparian forests too, as these streambankforests are key landscape elements in Sudanian West Africa.The interplay of riparian forest and groundwater in the local hydrodynamicswas investigated, by quantifying their contribution to the water balance.Field observations from a comprehensively instrumented hillslope in northernBenin were used. Particular attention was paid to measurements of actualevapotranspiration, soil water and deep groundwater levels. A vertical 2-Dhydrological modelling approach using the Hydrus software was used as atesting tool to understand the interactions between the riparian area andthe groundwater. The model was calibrated and evaluated using amulti-criteria approach (reference simulation). A virtual experiment,including three other simulations, was designed (no forest, no groundwater,neither forest nor groundwater).  The model correctly simulated the hydrodynamics of the hillslope regardingvadose zone dynamics, deep groundwater fluctuation and actualevapotranspiration dynamics. The virtual experiment showed that the riparianforest transpiration depleted the deep groundwater table level anddisconnected it from the river, which is consistent with the observations.The riparian forest and the deep groundwater table actually form aninteracting transpiration system: the high transpiration rate in theriparian area was shown to be due to the existence of the water table,supplied by downslope lateral water flows within the hillslope soil layer.The simulated riparian transpiration rate was practically steady all yearlong, around 7.6 mm d<sup>−1</sup>. This rate lies within high-end values ofsimilar study results. The riparian forest as simulated here contributes to37% of the annual hillslope transpiration, and reaches 57% in thedry season, whereas it only covers 5% of the hillslope area

Interplay of riparian forest and groundwater in the hillslope hydrology of Sudanian West Africa (northern Benin)