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Rainfall Interception Based on Indirect Methods: A Case Study in Temperate Forests in Oaxaca, Mexico
Author(s) -
Fernández Tania,
Trejo Irma
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/1752-1688.12844
Subject(s) - interception , throughfall , environmental science , temperate rainforest , precipitation , canopy , hydrology (agriculture) , water balance , temperate forest , vegetation (pathology) , canopy interception , temperate climate , atmospheric sciences , ecosystem , forestry , ecology , soil water , geography , soil science , geology , meteorology , medicine , geotechnical engineering , pathology , biology
Rainfall interception represents the amount of water trapped in natural cover that is not drained directly to the ground. Intercepted rainfall may evaporate after a rain event, making it one of the main drivers of water balance and hydrologic regionalization. This process can be affected by factors such as climate, altitude, vegetation type, and topography. Here is a simple method of calculating rainfall interception in temperate forests using in Santa Maria Yavesia, Oaxaca, and Mexico as an illustrative study area. We used two rain gauges to measure net precipitation ( N p ) under the canopy at each study site and one gauge outside the canopy to obtain gross precipitation ( G p ). Throughfall ( T h ) was indirectly measured using hemispherical photographs. Rainfall interception was obtained through a combination T h and G p and N p . The mean rainfall interception was 50.6% in the Abies forests, 23%–40% in the coniferous‐mixed forests, and 27.4% in the broad‐leaved forests. We classified rainfall events by intensity to determine the effect of canopy structure and precipitation and found that 75% of the events were weak events, 24% were moderate events, and 1% were strong events. In addition, we found that rainfall interception was lower when the intensity of precipitation was higher. Our method can be replicated in different ecosystems worldwide as a tool for assessing the influence of rainfall interception in terms of ecological services.