Name
Coupling the Gash Analytical Model of Rainfall Interception Loss with Stemflow Funneling Metrics: Model Development and Application in a Juvenile Lodgepole Pine Forest
Date & Time
Monday, May 25, 2026, 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Description
The reformulated Gash analytical model of rainfall interception loss for sparse forest canopies is further developed in this study to provide estimates of stand-scale stemflow funneling ratios and infiltration funneling ratios. The model was applied to a plot dominated by planted juvenile lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in south-central British Columbia, Canada, having a density of 6620 stems ha^-1 and a stand basal area of 10.2 m^2 ha^-1. Over the course of a growing season in which throughfall and stemflow were measured for 38 rainfall events totaling 252.9 mm, canopy interception loss accounted for 26.5 mm, or 10.5% of seasonal rainfall. Throughfall and stemflow accounted for 221.9 mm (87.7%) and 4.5 mm (1.8%) of the season-long rainfall, respectively. Good agreement between observed and modelled values of interception loss, throughfall, and stemflow were found [e.g., modelled interception loss = 24.7 mm (9.8%), an underestimate of the observed value of only 1.8m)]. Utilizing the Gash model’s stemflow partitioning parameter, stand basal area and stem density, and an estimate of the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the forest floor soil, the season-long stand-scale funneling and stand-scale infiltration funneling ratios were derived to be 17.6 and 15.8, respectively. The stand-scale infiltration funneling ratio equates to a stemflow equivalent depth of 1580% of season-long rainfall (3996 mm). These results suggest that stemflow, although representing a small fraction of the plot-scale growing-season water balance (< 2%), likely plays important hydrological and biogeochemical roles in these forest ecosystems, especially in the direct vicinity of juvenile lodgepole pine boles.
Location Name
DSU 303
Full Address
Dalhousie University
Halifax NS
Canada
Session Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract ID
128
Speaker Organization
Thompson Rivers University
Session Name
H3 (1 of 2)
Co-authors
Delphis F. Levia, Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark DE, USA. Chad E. Lishman, Urbans Systems, Inc. Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Presenting Author
Darryl Carlyle-Moses, Thompson Rivers University