Regional assessment of forest effect on watershed hydrology: Slovakia as a case study

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Recently, the importance of forest effect on watershed hydrology has been increasingly recognized due to an elevated threat of floods and expected alterations of water regime in watersheds induced by climate change. We assessed the trade-off between natural conditions of 61 basic watersheds in Slovakia and expected water-regulatory capacity of forest in these watersheds. A multi-criteria decision-making scheme was proposed to calculate a coefficient for each watershed indicating the need to regulate its water regime as given by natural conditions, and another coefficient indicating the magnitude of forest water-regulatory capacity given by forest structure and distribution. Factors indicating the forest water-regulatory capacity were extent of forest cover, forest fragmentation and distribution in watersheds relative to the spring area, forest stand density and vertical structure, and tree species composition. The results indicate that the present structure and distribution of forests in Slovakia has potential to moderately regulate the water regime at the scale of basic watersheds. We identified critical watersheds where natural conditions imply the unfavourable water regime and/or the forest water-regulatory capacity is weak. Limits of forest effect on watershed hydrology and caveats for interpreting the presented findings are discussed.

Physical Profile of the Sub-watersheds of Southern Cauayan Municipal Forest and Watershed Reserve in Negros Occidental, Philippines

“…The study did not use hydrological model to relate the effect of forest cover with the surface runoff and river discharge. Nonetheless, results support the findings of Cui et al (2012); Hlásny et al (2013), Liu et al, 2016, Arceo et al (2018 on the regulatory effect of forest cover in the area. The study of Hlasny et al (2015) relates the effect of deforestation on decreasing the infiltration and evapotranspiration while increasing runoff while the studies of Khasanah et al 2010& Liu et al 2016 showed the positive effect of reforestation especially on hydrology.…”

“…Watershed hydrological characteristics are used as bases for reports and evaluation of the watershed as watershed health is affected by land use, vegetative cover, and the interactions of both. Forest ecosystem regulates the water yield and water quality (Hlásny, Sitková, & Barka, 2013). Studies also show that stream flow pattern, magnitude, frequency and quality of most small watersheds are significantly affected by forest changes (Khasanah et al 2010;Cui, Liu & Wei, 2012;Liu et al 2016;& Arceo, Cruz, Tiburan, Jr., Balatibat, & Alibuyog 2018) and land use (Welde & Gebremariam 2017).…”

“…Studies also show that stream flow pattern, magnitude, frequency and quality of most small watersheds are significantly affected by forest changes (Khasanah et al 2010;Cui, Liu & Wei, 2012;Liu et al 2016;& Arceo, Cruz, Tiburan, Jr., Balatibat, & Alibuyog 2018) and land use (Welde & Gebremariam 2017). Hence, management of the forest is essential in watershed hydrology (Stednick 1996 as cited by Hlásny et al 2013).…”

Komparasi Nilai Ekonomi Air Irigasi Dari Daerah Aliran Sungai Berhutan Dan Tidak Berhutan

“…Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa sub DAS yang berhutan lebih mampu mengatur tata air dibanding dengan Sub DAS yang tidak berhutan. Hal ini sesuai dengan pendapat (Sylviani, 2008), hasil air dari hutan lindung lebih tinggi dari pada hasil air dari hutan tanaman; (Pudjiharta, 2008) kondisi hutan yang baik (kuantitas dan kualitas) hutan dapat meningkatkan fungsi hutan sebagai pengendali aliran; dan (Hlásny, Sitková, & Barka, 2013) menyatakan bahwa struktur dan distribusi hutan di dalam Daerah Aliran Sungai berpengaruh terhadap kualitas, kuantitas, dan kontinuitas air sungai.…”