Abstract
Increasing pressure on groundwater due to land use change (e.g., afforestation)
and future climate change will alter the recharge of groundwater
aquifers, causing shifts in water table levels and hence influencing the available
groundwater resources. The effect of land use change on groundwater
resources has initiated a major scientific debate during the last decades
between foresters and experts in water management in Hungary and in several
other countries. The aim of this study was to compare water balances of two
different vegetation covers, a groundwater dependent oak forest and a nearby
fallow area in the Hungarian Lowland. Water balance components for an oak
and a fallow plots, exposed to similar weather conditions and with similar soils,
were estimated and compared by calibrating the Hydrus 1-D model using measured
soil water content and groundwater levels. The difference in the groundwater
consumption was analyzed in details during dry and wet growing seasons.
Transpiration at the fallow plot was only about two-thirds of that in the
oak forest, while groundwater consumption was three times higher in the
forest than at the fallow plot throughout the two-year study. During the dry
growing season, the proportion of groundwater use from the total transpiration
reached up to 90% at the oak plot. According to the model, in the dry growing
season in 2007 both vegetation covers relied significantly on groundwater resources,
while in 2008 the consumption of groundwater was notably reduced
due to the wet weather at both plots.
Originalsprache | Englisch |
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Seiten (von - bis) | 188-196 |
Seitenumfang | 9 |
Fachzeitschrift | iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry |
Publikationsstatus | Veröffentlicht - 2013 |
Research Field
- Ehemaliges Research Field - Energy
Schlagwörter
- Water Balance
- Oak
- Fallow
- Groundwater Consumption