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
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