ABSTRACT
One method of analyzing the water budget of forest peatlands is modeling. The models must reflect main correlations between essential ecological factors of the peatland ecosystem. Stationary complex investigations on the water budget were conducted on six experimental watersheds during the period 1974 to 1992. Accordingly, the cycle of forming the water budget in forest peatlands can be described by local hydrological, meteorological, and biometric parameters. However, additional work is needed to test the validity of each model. The main elements to consider for hydrological modeling of peatland are the lithosphere with water horizons and aeration zone, soil and peat deposition, vegetation cover, and atmosphere. This chapter describes the development of empirical models for soil water storage only. Soil water storage was classified into four categories. The first soil water storage category of forest peatland included wilting point.
