Land use and climate change impact on runoff in a small mountainous catchment in Slovakia

• Published in: IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science Vol. 444; no. 1; pp. 12036 - 12042
• Main Authors: Labat, M M, Foldes, G, Kohnova, S, Hlavcova, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Bark; Climate change; Climate models; Design; Design floods; Environmental impact; Floods; Land cover; Land use; National parks; Pest outbreaks; River basins; Rivers; Runoff; Soil conservation; Slovakia
• ISSN: 1755-1307; 1755-1315
• DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/444/1/012036

The paper focuses on the changes in runoff caused by changes in land use and climate. The study was performed in the Boca River basin, which is located in the Low Tatra National Park in Slovakia. This area has been affected by several severe windstorms in recent decades, which had a significant impact on the changes in forest cover in the Boca River basin occurred in 2004 (Alžbeta) and 2007 (Kyrill and Filip). The bark beetle outbreak followed these windstorms. The first part of the paper focuses on the changes in runoff caused by changes in land use for the period from 1990 to 2018. The design values of short-term rainfalls from actual observations and Corine Land Cover land use are used for the calculation of design floods. The second part focuses on the changes in runoff caused by climate change. The climate change is represented by data from Regional Climate Model (RCM) scenario. The estimation of runoff change is provided for the period 2070 - 2100. These results are compared with the results from actual observations. The design floods are calculated using the Soil Conservation Service - Curve Number method.