Estimating the Effect of Deforestation on Runoff in Small Mountainous Basins in Slovakia

Abstract

The paper aims to assess the impact of deforestation due to windstorms on runoff in small mountain river basins. In the Boca and Ipoltica River basins, changes in forested areas were assessed from available historical and current digital map data. Significant forest losses occurred between 2004 and 2012. During the whole period of 1990–2018, forested areas in the Boca river decreased from 83% to 47% and in the Ipoltica River basin from 80% to 70%. Changes in runoff conditions were assessed based on an assessment of changes in the measured time series of the hydrometeorological data for the years 1981–2016. An empirical hydrological model was used to determine the design peak discharges before and after significant windstorms were estimated for different rain intensities and return periods. The regional climate scenario for the period 2070–2100 was used to assess the current impact of climate change and river basin deforestation on predicted changes in design floods in the coming decades. The effect of deforestation became evident in the extreme discharges, especially in future decades. In the Boca River basin, the estimated design floods increased by 59%, and in the Ipoltica River basin by 172% in the case of the 100-year return period.

Evaluating the Effect of Deforestation on Decadal Runoffs in Malaysia Using the Revised Curve Number Rainfall Runoff Approach

“…A high adjusted R-squared in the range of [0.947, 0.949] and a p-value of less than 0.001 indicate a strong correlation between the forest area reduction and the increase in runoff. This observation aligns with prior studies, which suggest that deforestation or reduction in forest area results in an increase in runoff [28][29][30]33]. Previous research has shown that the linear correlation (I a = 0.2S) proposed by the SCS in 1954 to simplify its rainfall runoff model, which is widely used as the conventional SCS runoff prediction (Equation ( 2)), lacks statistical verification even within its own datasets [23,34].…”

“…Climate change, human activities, and land use changes impact the amount of surface water flow, known as runoff depth, with urbanization having a negative impact, and land conversion to grass or forest having a positive impact. Changes in vegetation and forest area can also significantly impact the runoff regime [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33].…”

Impact of Natural Hazards on Forest Ecosystems and Their Surrounding Landscape under Climate Change

“…Response to these challenges is partially discussed in the article by Danáčová et al [2]. The authors deal with estimating the effect of deforestation on runoff in small mountainous basins in Slovakia.…”

“…The Special Issue we introduce consists of 11 original research papers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] divided into three groups based on research interests, namely, 1. hydrological and atmospheric aspects of natural hazards in changing climate and environment, 2. ecophysiological and ecological water-related impacts of natural hazards, and 3. methodological approaches in natural hazard evaluation.…”

Identifying barriers for nature-based solutions in flood risk management: An interdisciplinary overview using expert community approach

“…While afforestation is recommended for supporting water retention and decreasing surface runoff in some regions, in other cases (e.g. Danáčová et al, 2020) such effects are limited. Conversely, the expert community has shown a rather converging perspective of benefits for forest buffer zones along rivers.…”