Influence of Rainfall on Canopy Interception in Mixed Broad-Leaved—Korean Pine Forest in Xiaoxing’an Mountains, Northeastern China

• Main Authors: Houcai Sheng, Tijiu Cai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-03-01
• Series: Forests
• Subjects: rainfall amount; rainfall intensity; throughfall; stemflow; ecohydrology
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/3/248

The mixed forest of broad-leaved and Korean pine is the dominant type in the Xiaoxing’an and Changbai Mountains of China. However, few studies have been done on its canopy interception of rainfall. In this study, rainfall amount, rainfall intensity, and canopy interception were monitored during the growing seasons in 2010 and 2011. The results showed that cumulative canopy interception of rainfall was 22.0% and 21.9% in 2010 and 2011, respectively. However, the canopy interception of rainfall varied with rainfall events from 6.6% to 82.7% in 2010, and from 8.7% to 80.2% in 2011. The relationship between rainfall amount and the ratio of canopy interception to rainfall amount could be described by a power function (P < 0.01), i.e., the canopy interception decreased with the increasing rainfall amount and intensity. These results indicate that the rainfall amount and intensity were important factors for estimating the canopy interception of the studied forest type.