The response of forested upland micro-watersheds to extreme precipitation in a precipitation abundant year

Abstract

We performed a comparative paired catchment study of three headwater upland forest micro-catchments with different forest types in the precipitation-abundant year 2020. The analysis was based on baseflow separation and resulting baseflow index (BFI). The year 2020 was intentionally chosen as a way to reflect the expected effects of climate change in the region where more extreme hydroclimatic events are expected. Our team demonstrated that in case of hydroclimatic extremes, there are significant differences in the runoff response from these catchments, depending especially on the tree species composition in the forest stands. Three forest types with the predominance of European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and mixed forest were analyzed. The observed different values of BFI were interpreted in relation to the ability of forest stands to retain water and slow runoff in extreme runoff events determined by the stormflow component as an indication of their flood control efficiency. A significantly worse flood control efficiency and an overreaction of runoff response to precipitation events were observed in the spruce catchment. This also suggests that the spruce catchment is more prone to suffer from drought since twice as much water was lost from the system during extreme hydroclimatic events as opposed to the other two with less spruce in the stands and less water is thus available for groundwater recharge.