After the windstorm of November 2004, the ground beetle assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae) differentiated after the windstorm into four groups reflecting degree of damaging and forestry management (intact stand, fallen timber in situ, extracted timber, fire). The stand with fallen timber reduced abundances of original species. Removal of timber eliminated sensitive forest species and favored tolerant species, whereas the fire allowed invasions of field species. Later, the assemblages on burned sites converged to those in the unburned sites. Their restoration has a sigmoid-like course.
Independently on the above differentiation and course assemblage succession, episodes of severe drought resulted with a 1–2-years delay in sudden decline of number of individuals and species. Their numbers were restoring after longer humid periods. Because these extremes occur with a considerable regularity, the observed extremes of fluctuations of number of species and individuals represent the variability limits of the Carabid assemblages in such conditions. The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index was shown, using the cross-correlation of SPEI and number of individuals and species of Carabids, as a suitable means to explain and predict such changes for the period of 1–2 years.
The paper evaluates the results of a 6-year-monitoring of the eco-hydrological influence of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and European beech (Fagus silvatica L.) forest stands on the hydro-physical properties of snow cover. The experiment was carried out in the artificially regenerated 20-25-year-old forest stands approaching the pole timber stage in the middle mountain region of the Polana Mts. - Biosphere reserve situated at about 600 m a.s.l. during the period of maximum snow supply in winters of years 2004 -2009. Forest canopy plays a decisive role at both the snow cover duration and spring snow melting and runoff generation. A spruce stand is the poorest of snow at the beginning of winter. High interception of spruce canopy hampers the throughfall of snow to soil. During the same period, the soil surface of a beech stand accumulates greater amount of snow. However, a spruce stand accumulates snow by creating snow heaps during the periods of maximum snow cumulation and stand´s microclimate slows down snow melting. These processes are in detail discussed in the paper. The forest stands of the whole biosphere reserve slow down to a significant extent both the snow cover melting and the spring runoff of the whole watershed. and Práca hodnotí výsledky 6-ročného terénneho monitoringu eko-hydrologického vplyvu porastov smreka obyčajného (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) a buka lesného (Fagus silvatica L.) na hydrofyzikálne vlastnosti snehovej pokrývky. Experiment prebiehal v rokoch 2004 - 2009 počas obdobia s maximálnou zásobou snehu na výskumnej ploche v stredohorskej oblasti (nadmorská výška okolo 600 m n.m.) v Biosférickej rezervácii Poľana v 20- až 25- ročnom umelo obnovenom poraste vo fáze žrďoviny. Koruny porastu zohrávajú rozhodujúcu úlohu, ako pri topení snehu, tak aj pri formování odtoku. Začiatkom zimnej sezóny sa v smrekovom poraste nachádza menej snehu. Vysoká intercepcia smrekov bráni v prenikaní snehu k pôde. V rovnakom období sa na pôde v bukovom poraste akumuluje vačšie množstvo snehu. Smrekový porast však vďaka akumulovaniu snehu pri tvorbe snehových kôp počas obdobia s maximálnou kumuláciou snehu ako aj vďaka porastovej mikroklíme spomaľuje topenie snehu. V článku podrobne opisujeme tieto procesy. Porasty celej biosférickej rezervácie sa významne podieľajú na spomaľovaní ako topenia sa snehu, tak aj jarného odtoku z celého povodia.
Snow production results in high volume of snow that is remaining on the low-elevation ski pistes after snowmelt of natural snow on the off-piste sites. The aim of this study was to identify snow/ice depth, snow density, and snow water equivalent of remaining ski piste snowpack to calculate and to compare snow ablation water volume with potential infiltration on the ski piste area at South-Central Slovak ski center Košútka (Inner Western Carpathians; temperate zone). Snow ablation water volume was calculated from manual snow depth and density measurements, which were performed at the end of five winter seasons 2010–2011 to 2015–2016, except for season 2013–2014. The laser diffraction analyzes were carried out to identify soil grain size and subsequently the hydraulic conductivity of soil to calculate the infiltration. The average rate of water movement through soil was seven times as high as five seasons’ average ablation rate of ski piste snowpack; nevertheless, the ski piste area was potentially able to infiltrate only 47% of snow ablation water volume on average. Limitation for infiltration was frozen soil and ice layers below the ski piste snowpack and low snow-free area at the beginning of the studied ablation period.