Throughfall Stemflow and Interception in Pine and Eucalypt Forest

Abstract

SUMMARY The relationships between precipitation, throughfall, stemflow and interception were investigated during a thirty-one month field study at Lidsdale State Forest, New South Wales, with a system of standard rainguages and trough gauges. Interception in a mature radiata pine plantation was approximately 6.35 inches or 18.7 per cent of the average annual precipitation of 33.92 inches. Interception in a native eucalypt forest was 3.62 inches or 10.6 per cent of the average annual precipitation. Regressions were derived to predict throughfall and stemflow from weekly measurements of precipitation. Suggestions for further research are made, considering the present wide diversity of methods for calculating interception and the present lack of data on the possible effects of interception on reducing transpiration.