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<br />'I <br />r <br />! <br /> <br />Journal of Hydrology, 142 (1993) 273-299 <br />Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam <br /> <br />273 <br /> <br />(II <br /> <br />Changes in the hydrological response of a small <br />Mediterranean basin a year after a wildfire <br /> <br />Jacques Lavabrea, Daniel Sempere Torresb and Flavy Cernessonil <br />'CEMAGREF, u Thotonel B.P., 31 F.13611 Ajx-en.P'o~nce, France <br />"Un;rersitat Polilecnica de Cala/unya. Dpt. Enginyerja Hiwaulica j HidrOJogica. Gran Captla sIn <br />MODUL DJ, E.()80J4, Barcelona, Spain <br />(Received 18 February 1992; revision accepted 8 June 1992) <br /> <br />ABSTRACT <br /> <br />Lavabrc, J., Semperc Torres, D. and CarnessoR, F.. 1993. Changes in the hydrological response ofa small <br />Mediterranean basin a year after a wildfire. 1. Hydro!., 142: 273-299. <br /> <br />This paper presents the results of a study of the hydrological consequences of a wildfire in a small <br />Mediterranean basin during the first 12 months after the event. The Rimbaud basin is a nested sub-.basin <br />of the Real Collobrier researcb and experimental network, which bas been continuously monitored since <br />1967. In August 1990,85"1. of its surface area was burnt providing an interesting case study to analyse the <br />bydrological consequences of fire. Models have been calibrated using a 23 year period berore tbe fire and <br />they have been used to simulate what the response would have been if the wildfire bad not taken place. <br />Differences between observed and simulated data are analyscd, giving special importance to the changes <br />in the annual runoff yield and in the Rood regimes. There is a 30% increase in the annual runoff yield related <br />to the reduction in evapotranspiration due to the destruction of the vegetation cover. On the other hand, <br />there are pronounced changes in the shape of the flood hydrographs. and the flood frequency is greatly <br />increased. The IO-year return period flow estimated before the fire was exceeded three times in the year <br />although the rainfall events did not exceed the I-year return period 12h rainfall. The quantity and quality <br />of the data collected during the pre-fire period and the possibility of comparing the hydrological responses <br />of similar basins differently affected by fire, give a special relevance to this case study. <br /> <br />tNTRODUcrtON <br /> <br />It is widely known and accepted that the destruction of the forested <br />ecosystem of a basin has important consequences for its hydrological <br />behaviour. On the one hand, the disappearance of the vegetal cover directly <br />modifies the processes of interception and evapotranspiration, seriously <br />affecting the hydrological cycle. On the other hand, forest fires can also affect <br />hydrological processes indirectly, but profoundly, altering the physical and <br /> <br />Correspondence to: J. Lavabre, CEMAGREF, Le Tholonet B.P., 31 F-13612 Aix-en-Provence, <br />France. <br /> <br />0022-1694/93/$06.00 @ 1993 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved <br /> <br />