Influence of beech and spruce sub-montane forests on snow cover in Polana Biosphere Reserve

The aim of the work was to compare the influence of a beech (B) and a spruce stand (S) on the accumulation and melting of snow cover in comparison to an open area (O). The measurements were performed in winter seasons from 2012/13 to 2014/15 in the Hu.ava catchment, Po.ana Biosphere Reserve (BR). We monitored hydrological and physical parameters of snow cover (snow depth . SD, snow water equivalent . SWE, snow density . D) at 13 research plots in 100 m elevation intervals (567.1,259 m a.s.l.). Within one research plot, the listed snow parameters were measured in a stand of spruce (S), beech (B), and at an open area (O). Based on the snow conditions, we found different characters of winter during the monitored period (2012/13 . snow rich, 2013/14 snow poor). For each winter, we tested the difference in the average values of SWE between the stands and the open area separately for the phase of snow accumulation and melting. The differences in the accumulation phase were found significant (α≤ 0.05) in all cases. The ratio between the forest SWE and open area SWE during the monitored period was in the case of the spruce stand 46.8% SWE of the open area, and 76.6% SWE of the open area in the beech stand.