The Effects of Canopy Structure on Stemflow, Throughfall and Interception Loss in a Young Sitka Spruce Plantation

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. SUMMARY(1) The partitioning of incident precipitation into throughfall, stemflow and interception loss was assessed in a 14-year-old Picea sitchensis plantation in South Scotland. The tree crowns overlapped to form a dense canopy with 25, 44, 28 and 3% of ground area covered respectively by foliage from one, two, three and four trees. All main branches sloped down inwards to the tree trunk.(2) Over a single calendar year the incident precipitation was 1639 mm. Stemflow accounted for 27% of this, throughfall 43% and interception loss, estimated by difference, accounted for 30%. Percentage stemflow was consistent throughout the year but, during the winter period (January-March), throughfall increased to 57% and interception loss decreased to 15%.(3) The amount of stemflow for individual trees was positively correlated (P=0 05) with the projected area of tree crowns.(4) The amount of throughfall was greatest close to the tree trunks and between trees in the same row, particularly for intermediate levels of rainfall (20-40 mm week -).(5) The spatial pattern of throughfall parallels the distribution of fine roots in the soil.

Short term interactions between tree foliage and the aerial environment: An overview of modelling approaches available for tree structure-function models

“…In the context of the relations between tree structure and tree function, direct throughfall and stemflow induce spatial variability of rainfall water at the ground surface (e.g. [3,49,83] figure 3b) which has been correlated to the distribution of superficial fine roots [49] and soil water uptake [10]. Rainfall interception may therefore be regarded as the first step of water resource partitioning between plants, i.e.…”

Simulation of Gash Model to Rainfall Interception of Pinus tabulaeformis

“…A large number of interception studies have been studied in tropical rainforest (Hutjes et al 1990;Jetten 1996), seasonal temperate rainforest (Link et al 2004), temperate broadleaf (Hörmann et al 1996) and temperate conifer forests (Rutter et al 1972;Valente et al 1997). The majority of interception studies in temperate conifer canopies have been research in relatively young plantation forests in Europe (Ford and Deans, 1978;Gash and Stewart 1977;Gash et al 1980;Johnson 1990;Kelliher et al 1992;Rutter et al 1972;Viville et al 1993). Most interception studies in temperate conifer canopies have been studies in Europe.…”

The Effect of Restoration Treatments on the Spatial Variability of Soil Processes under Longleaf Pine Trees

“…Trees can create gradients in soil moisture [4][5][6], temperature [7,8], texture [9], carbon (C) and nutrient accumulation and turnover [10][11][12], understory species composition through spatially distinct effects via litter accumulation [1,12,13], stemflow and throughfall [14,15], light and precipitation interception [16][17][18] and root distribution [8,19].…”