Spatial variability and temporal stability of throughfall in a eucalyptus plantation in the hilly lowlands of southeastern Brazil

Throughfall has been widely studied in forests but there is a scarcity of studies that focus on the spatial variability and temporal stability of throughfall in eucalyptus plantations. We examined throughfall in a daily basis in a 2·5‐year eucalyptus plantation in southeastern Brazil using three sample arrangements: (1) close to tree trunks (CT) and in the central point between trunks (BT), (2) four‐radial layout centred in tree trunk and (3) eight‐radial layout. Throughfall was spatially non‐uniform and varied according to the spatial monitoring arrangement: accumulated throughfall/precipitation ratio of 146% (CT) and 85% (BT) in arrangement 1, mean throughfall of 88% in arrangement 2, 84% (hilltop) and 85% (side slope) in arrangement 3. The highest throughfall values, spatial variability and persistence of dry and wet conditions were found close to eucalyptus trunks. Often accumulated throughfall close to trunks exceeded rainfall, especially for long‐duration rainfall > 5 mm. The ‘funnel effect’ was consistently observed in all three arrangements and we speculate that the high throughfall concentration and temporal stability are related to canopy structures of eucalyptus. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.