INTERCEPTION LOSS AND RAINFALL REDISTRIBUTION BY 3 SEMIARID GROWING SHRUBS IN NORTHEASTERN MEXICO

Interception loss and rainfall redistribution were measured in individual shrubs of Diospyrus texana, Acacia farnesiana and Prosopis laevigata from a semi-arid vegetal community in northeastern Mexico in the summer of 1987. In this period 230 mm of precipitation were recorded from 17 storms. Net precipitation averaged 167.6 mm, of which throughfall formed 160.5 and stemflow 7.1 mm. Interception loss was 27.2% of the total gross precipitation. Significant differences in stemflow were noted both among species and within the species D. texana. Stemflow inputs averaged 321 and 115 ml min-1 for a 40 mm h-1 simulated storm for the species D. texana and A. farnesiana-P. laevigata, respectively. The theoretical areas and distances over which stemflow spread averaged 0.320 m2 and 0.115 m2 and 0.30 and 0.15 m, respectively. These areas were calculated to receive 3030 and 2650 mm as annual precipitation. © 1990.