PARTITIONING OF RAINFALL IN A EUCALYPT FOREST AND PINE PLANTATION IN SOUTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA .1. THROUGHFALL MEASUREMENT IN A EUCALYPT FOREST - EFFECT OF METHOD AND SPECIES COMPOSITION

A seven year event‐based study partitioning of rainfall into throughfall, stemflow, and interception was conducted in a dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest and a Pinus radiata plantation. Resulting information will be of use for process modelling. Stemflow was influenced by event type, rain angle having a major effect; and the yields of the different species are compared. Tree characteristics that influenced stemflow yields are outlined and discussed. The canopy storage capacity of the eucalypt forest was determined and the influence of species composition is shown. The likely influence of climate variations is discussed. The canopy storage capacity is compared to the interception values estimated for continuous events of various sizes. The interception of the eucalypt forest and the pine plantation are compared on event basis for event size classes and on an annual basis. The comparative interceptions for continuous events are also discussed, while the effect of thinning the pine plantation on throughfall, stemflow, and interception is shown. The hydrological consequences of this study are: more informed judgment can be made about techniques for measurement of throughfall, tree structural characteristics (species related) can more adequately be considered when selecting trees for measurement of stemflow, and the stemflow yields can in some cases be better understood from the information about effect of event type. This paper deals with the influence of measurement method, species composition, and tree characteristics on the estimation of throughfall in the eucalypt forest. The site is near Canberra, lat. 35°S, 145°E, with annual rainfall about 650 mm. Two methods of measuring throughfall are compared: randomly placed, 200 mm cylindrical gauges (standard) and 50 mm square opening wedge type gauges (plastic), and randomly placed 5 × 0–22 m troughs. Despite the high placement density (150 to 225 ha−1), throughfall estimates from gauges has high variance and consistently underestimated those of the troughs, which had a total opening equivalent to 2325 raingauges (200 mm diameter) per hectare. Local concentration of stemflow into drip points provided by detaching bark pieces of one smooth barked species, Eucalyptus mannifera, is believed to be the principal cause of the lower collection and greater variance of the gauges. The low leaf area index (1–3) and large wood area of the forest together with a pendulous vertical habit of the leaves also contributed. The presence of E. mannifera is shown to substantially affect the relative values of throughfall as measured by troughs and gauges. The plastic receivers were found to underestimate rainfall or throughfall relative to the standard gauges, particularly for fine drop rainfall in multiperiod events. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd