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Forest Management and the Water Cycle pp 141–162Cite as

Observed Climate Change in Croatia and Its Impact on the Hydrology of Lowlands

Part of the Ecological Studies book series (ECOLSTUD,volume 212)

Abstract

The lowland forests of South-eastern Europe present the remains of large forest areas, strongly influenced by periodic flooding and shallow groundwater tables. Their natural hydrologic regime was throughout history continuously exposed to various negative influences such as intensive forest exploitation and hydro-technical activities Nowadays there are more indices of regional runaway of climate change, which have caused a lowering trend in the groundwater tables and more intense droughts. To attenuate past, present and future negative impacts on the hydrology of lowlands, the possibilities of water table management were assessed. In this study, the procedure of estimation of the historic state of waterlogging based on a comparison of relict morphological indicators of hydromorphic soils and the present state of groundwater tables were developed. According to this, major influences on groundwater tables such as hydro-technical objects and disturbances of forest stand structure were assessed.

Keywords

  • Groundwater Table
  • Gypsy Moth
  • Lowland Forest
  • Soil Water Balance
  • Hydromorphic Soil

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Croatian Forest Research Institute, Trnjanska 35, HR-10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Boris Vrbek

  2. Croatian Forest Research Institute, Cvjetno naselje 41, HR-10450, Jastrebarsko, Coatia

    Ivan Pilaš

  3. Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, University of Zagreb, HR-10002, Zagreb, Coatia

    Nikola Pernar

Authors
  1. Boris Vrbek
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  2. Ivan Pilaš
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  3. Nikola Pernar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Boris Vrbek .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Forschungszentrum Waldökosysteme, Universität Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Michael Bredemeier

  2. , ARO Volcani Center, Institute of Soil, Water and Environment, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel

    Shabtai Cohen

  3. College of Natural Sciences, School of the Environment & Natural Reso, University of Wales, Bangor, LL57 2UW, Gwynedd, United Kingdom

    Douglas L. Godbold

  4. , Institute of Ecology, Tallinn University, Uus-Sadama 5, Tallinn, 10120, Estonia

    Elve Lode

  5. Faculty of Forestry, Department of Natural Environment, Technical University Zvolen, T.G. Masaryka 24, Zvolen, 96053, Slovakia

    Viliam Pichler

  6. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, Zürcherstr. 111, Birmensdorf, 8903, Switzerland

    Patrick Schleppi

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Vrbek, B., Pilaš, I., Pernar, N. (2010). Observed Climate Change in Croatia and Its Impact on the Hydrology of Lowlands. In: Bredemeier, M., Cohen, S., Godbold, D., Lode, E., Pichler, V., Schleppi, P. (eds) Forest Management and the Water Cycle. Ecological Studies, vol 212. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9834-4_8

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