Influence of several tree traits on rainfall partitioning in temperate and boreal forests : a review
2009
Barbier, Stéphane | Balandier, Philippe | Gosselin, Frédéric
In forests, rainfall is partitioned into intercepted water (IW), throughfall (TF) and stemflow (SF). We reviewed the majority of published works comparing water flows among tree species in temperate and boreal forests to test the effect of several tree traits on water flows. We hypothesized that water flows differed between evergreen and deciduous species, and according to successional status and bark roughness. We also investigated that water flows would be explained by stand variables such as basal area. Linear mixed models fitted on reviewed data showed that evergreens had a lower TF than deciduous trees (decrease of 13.9% of total precipitation year-round and 8.4% over the growing period). Similar results were found for conifers compared to broadleaves. TF also declined with the successional status from pioneer to late-successional tree species. SF decreased with bark roughness from smoother to rougher bark. Evergreens had water flows that were dependent on age of the stand, especially for TF which increased by 15.6% of total precipitation from young to adult forests. The large scale of TF differences between tree genera together with specific transpiration amounts and rooting features highlighted in other studies should result in significant differences in soil water content among tree species. This may have consequences on stand fitness and growth, and understory vegetation.
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