Assessment of the Impact of Changes in Deforestation under the Effect of Severe Windstorms on Runoff Conditions in Small River Basins

Forests represent the most natural means of retaining water in a basin. Assessing the impact of a forest on a hydrological cycle is a very current topic that hydrologists and water managers deal with. The differences between site conditions and a forest itself, together with various methods of exploring this issue, lead to inconsistent opinions on the extent of the ability of a forest cover to prevent or minimize surface runoff.

This article is therefore focused on an assessment of the impact of changes in the composition of a forest under the effect of severe windstorms on runoff conditions in the selected river basin. The most severe windstorms in the last 25 years and their impact on changes in forest cover in the selected area of the Ipoltica River basin have been assessed in this article. The most significant severe windstorm in terms of its impact on changes in the forest communities was Filip, which occurred in the year 2007. Therefore, the impact of changes in forest cover on the given territory was examined for the period after the year 2007. The WetSpa rainfall-runoff model was used to assess the changes.