Water Balance Study of a Groundwater-dependent Oak Forest

The objectives of this study were (1) to estimate the water balance components of an oak standby calibrating a Hydrus 1-D model, (2) to determine the groundwater consumption by the water tablefluctuation method and (3) to compare the results of the modelling with a remote-sensing based estimation.Model simulation described the observed soil moisture and groundwater level relatively well, theroot mean square errors varied between 12.0 and 14.9% for the soil moisture measurements and 5.0%for the groundwater level. Groundwater consumption was estimated also by the water table fluctuationmethod, which provided slightly different groundwater consumption rates than estimated by theHydrus model simulation. The simulated evapotranspiration was compared with results of a remotesensingbased estimation using the surface temperature database of MODIS.According to the Hydrus model, the estimated evapotranspiration resulted from transpiration(73%), interception loss (23%) and soil surface evaporation (4%) in the two-year study period. Theproportion of groundwater consumption was 58% of the total transpiration. During the dry growingseason of 2007 the groundwater consumption was significant with 66% of the total transpiration.Water supply from groundwater was found to be less important in the wet growing season of 2008with 50%. The remote-sensing based estimation of evapotranspiration was about 4% lower than themodel based results of nearby comparable sites

Modelling the potential distribution of three climate zonal tree species for present and future climate in Hungary = Három klímazonális fafaj hazai potenciális elterjedésének modellezése jelenlegi és jövőbeni klímában

The potential distribution and composition rate of beech, sessile oak and Turkey oak were investigated for present and future climates (2036–2065 and 2071–2100) in Hungary. Membership functions were defined using the current composition rate (percentage of cover in forest compartments) of the tree species and the long-term climate expressed by the Ellenberg quotient to model the present and future tree species distribution and composition rate. The simulation results using the regional climate model REMO showed significant decline of beech and sessile oak in Hungary during the 21st century. By the middle of the century only about 35% of the present beech and 75% of the sessile oak stands will remain above their current potential distribution limit. By the end of the century beech forests may almost disappear from Hungary and sessile oak will also be found only along the Southwest border and in higher mountain regions. On the contrary the present occurrences of Turkey oak will be almost entirely preserved during the century however its distribution area will shift to the current sessile oak habitats. | The potential distribution and composition rate of beech, sessile oak and Turkey oak were investigated for present and future climates (2036–2065 and 2071–2100) in Hungary. Membership functions were defined using the current composition rate (percentage of cover in forest compartments) of the tree species and the long-term climate expressed by the Ellenberg quotient to model the present and future tree species distribution and composition rate. The simulation results using the regional climate model REMO showed significant decline of beech and sessile oak in Hungary during the 21st century. By the middle of the century only about 35% of the present beech and 75% of the sessile oak stands will remain above their current potential distribution limit. By the end of the century beech forests may almost disappear from Hungary and sessile oak will also be found only along the Southwest border and in higher mountain regions. On the contrary the present occurrences of Turkey oak will be almost entirely preserved during the century however its distribution area will shift to the current sessile oak habitats

The Effect of Soil Moisture on the Reflectance Spectra Correlations in Beech and Sessile Oak Foliage

Reflectance inten sities of foliage are mostly due to bio materials synthesised by plant s . A daptation to the continuously changing environment requires the regulated alteration of m etabolic processes, which also influences the UV - VIS (Ultraviolet - Visible) and IR (Infra Red) spectra of leaves . For the calculation of various Vegetation Indices (VIs), e.g. NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) , t he common practice is to use the reflectance spectrum of the whole foliage and when individual leaves of th e same plant are sampled , an average VI is derived . On the contrary , our method exploits the small differences between individual leaves of the same plant , making use of the similar distribution s of measured reflectance values . Using particular wavelength pairs, l inear regressions of reflectance intensities have been investigated . T he parameters of th ese regression s (slope and intercept) have been compared to the temporal variations of the environmental factors, such as temperature, vapour pressure deficit a n d soil moisture . By assessing the sensitivity of the regression coefficient (slope) to the changing environment , wavelength pairs can be selected whose sensitivity change reflect s the effect of soil moisture deficit on the plant . B ased on the state - dependent correlations of the reflectance spectra of plant foliage , a new concept is presented that is capable of indicating the level of environmental stress, e.g. drought stress

Becsült talajhidrológiai paraméterek szimulációs vizsgálata a NAIK Erdészeti Tudományos Intézet két mintaterületén

Összefoglalás A folyamatalapú hidrológiai számításoknak és az azokra épülő vízminőségi, ökológiai elemzéseknek jelentős a bemenő adatigénye, ami a jövőben várhatóan tovább növekszik. A méréstechnológia rohamos fejlődésével a hidrológiai modellek bemenő adatai közül mára a szűk keresztmetszetet lokális és vízgyűjtő léptéken is a felszín alatti viszonyok, és elsősorban a talajok szivárgáshidraulikai tulajdonságainak számszerűsítése jelenti. A helyzetet felismerve a közelmúltban különböző módszertannal több talajtani, talajhidrológiai adatbázist is kidolgoztak. Kutatásunkban azt vizsgáljuk, hogy a 100 m felbontású hazai talajadatok és európai becslő algoritmusok alapján számított talajhidrológiai paraméterek (i) megbízható bemeneti adatforrást biztosítanak-e, és (ii) a korábban rendelkezésre álló adatállományokhoz képest javítják-e a hidrológiai számítások jóságát talajszelvény szintű vízforgalmi modellben. Az Erdészeti Tudományos Intézet (NAIK ERTI) két mintaterületén (Fiad és Szalafő) mért meteorológiai és talajnedvesség-idősorok segítségével 5-5 darab talajszelvényszintű vízforgalmi modellváltozatot állítottunk fel Hydrus-1D környezetben. Ezek kizárólag a talajtani paraméterezésükben (réteghatárok helye, telített vízvezető képesség és retenciós görbe együtthatók) tértek el: a talajrétegek jellemzésére felhasználtuk (i) a kalibráció-validáció eredményeit (“legjobbnak vélt” verzió), (ii) a helyszíni mintavételből származó laboratóriumi méréseket, (iii) a mért talajtulajdonságok alapján, az európai becslő függvényekkel (EU-PTF) számított talajhidrológiai tulajdonságokat, (iv) a hazai DOSoReMI adatbázis alapján, az EUPTF- ekkel számított talajhidrológiai tulajdonságokat, illetve (v) az EUSoilHydroGrids térképeket. A modellváltozatokat a mért és számított talajnedvesség-idősorok összevetése (NSME, RMSE, R2) alapján értékeltük. Emellett összehasonlítottuk a számított vízmérlegeket is. Az öt-öt modellváltozat esetében lényegesen eltért a mért-számított talajnedvességi idősorok illeszkedése. Fiadon egyedül a kalibráció adott elfogadható eredményt (NSME = 0.49), a másik négy változat kifejezetten gyengének bizonyult (három esetben NSME < 0). Szalafőn minden változat pozitív NSME-re vezetett, a kalibráció kiválónak tekinthető (NSME = 0.75). A várakozással ellentétben a mért talajhidrológiai paraméterekre épülő modellváltozatok adták a legrosszabb illeszkedést, míg a hatékonysági rangsorban a kalibrált modellek után az EU-SoilHydroGrids változatok következtek. A szimulációkból levezetett vízmérlegek Fiadon csak kevéssé, míg Szalafőn nagymértékben függtek a talajparaméterezéstől. A vizsgálat fontos tapasztalata, hogy a talajszelvény feltárás gyakorlata – érthető módon – elsősorban nem a hidrológiai modellezés szempontjaihoz igazodik, így az adatbizonytalanság forrása lehet. A vizsgálat eredményei alapján folytatjuk a Balaton vízgyűjtő talajhidrológiai paramétereinek 3D térképezését

Accelerated Height Growth Versus Mortality of Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. in Hungary

Background and Purpose: Due to climate change, it is important to know to what extent forests will be impacted by atmospheric changes. This study focuses on the height growth response of sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) to counteracting effects of fostering and interfering changes under contrasting climatic conditions with special attention to the xeric limit zone of this species. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight sites were selected along a climatic gradient from the humid region in southwest Hungary to the continental-semiarid region in northeast Hungary where neighbouring old and young sessile oak stands were available for pair-wise comparison of height growth. While these young stands developed entirely in the significantly changed atmospheric conditions, the older trees lived only a part of their life time in such changed environment. The Ellenberg quotient (EQ) was used for describing climate aridity. Stand top height in each pair of old and young stands was measured to calculate the relative stand top height using yield tables of sessile oak for Hungary. Additionally, stand densities of old stands were measured. To demonstrate the height growth differences of old and young stands their relative stand top heights were compared as functions of EQ and stand density. Results: The relative top heights of the young stands were significantly higher than of the older stands, which means that the overall growing conditions were better in the last 30-35 years due to atmospheric changes than the mean conditions during the lifetime of old stands. Although extreme drought events associated with climate change caused reduced stand density due to periodic tree mortality at the xeric limit of sessile oak, the synergetic effect of all atmospheric changes was still sufficient enough to accelerate height growth. Conclusions: There has been an acceleration of height growth during the last decades despite the increased frequency of droughts. It cannot be concluded that height growth acceleration will continue in the future since climate models show an increasing tendency of dry extremes in Hungary that may overrule the positive fostering effect of atmospheric changes