<p>Eco-hydrology of hydrophyte forests and wet meadows are very important question in changing climate. Hydrological extremes can cause in these habitats droughts, intense rainfall events and floods. In this study, we investigated a riparian alder forest and its edge, and a neighbouring meadow in Hidegvíz Valley experimental catchment to compare different surface cover type hydrological and botanical characteristics. The research has conducted in 2018-2019 hydrological year.<br>Throughout the botanical study, a list has been made of the various plant species – trees, bushes, and herbs - of the elder woodland and its edge, and the grassland, in each vegetation period. The classifications of the habitats were made by the Á-NÉR system, which is a Hungarian classification system for Hungarian habitats.<br>The hydrological research was focused on three important factors in the one-year period: precipitation, the changes of the groundwater levels, and the soil moisture values. We summarised the monthly data, and from all this, we calculated an annual water balance graph. This graph showed us a correlation between hydrological extremes and soil moisture value changes.<br>The research was supported by the “EFOP-3.6.1-16-2016-00018 – Improving the role of research+development+innovation in the higher education through institutional developments assisting intelligent specialization in Sopron and Szombathely” project.</p>

<p>In the Hidegvíz Valley experimental catchment in Hungary the meteorological data have been collected since the 1990s and used for various purposes including hydrological studies. Current research began in 2018–19, that aimed to reveal the connections between the hydrological and botanical characteristics in riparian forests and a wet meadow. Changes that occurred in both ecosystems in the groundwater levels, soil moisture and vegetation, showed that the local meteorological events influence these factors. Therefore we decided to analyse longer periods in which meteorological extremes<br>strongly influenced hydrological conditions and so status of ecosystems. Further measurements and their analysis were also required because more accuracy and detail were needed for future water balance modelling.</p><p>The measured data between 2017–2020 were chosen as a starting database. For the first analysis we selected three meteorological parameters, i. e. the precipitation, the air temperature, and the air humidity. These parameters were measured by automated instruments, except for the precipitation. We found that the automated tipping-bucket rain gauge needs validation by a manual measurement (Hellmann-type rain gauge), because the data that collected by the automated device will be invalid if the rain intensity is too high.</p><p>In 2017 and 2018, the annual precipitation was distributed evenly, but in the following two years we observed some extremes. In 2019 and<br>2020, the spring was especially dry, the lowest monthly sum was 1.2 mm in 2020 April. 2019 April was similar (19.5 mm), but after the drought<br>period intense rainfall events arrived in May, resulted a monthly total of 214.1 mm. Air temperature and air humidity has not been showed such extremes as the precipitation.</p><p>This study showed that detailed analysis of meteorological parameters is crucial for hydrological modelling data preparation because errors and extreme event can cause serious problems during modelling process and, also in case of evaluation of model results.</p><p>The research has been supported by the Ministry of Agriculture in Hungary.</p>