What is interception in forestry?
Canopy interception is often estimated as the difference between total rainfall and throughfall since stemflow is often small (<5% of precipitation). Forest canopy interception rate (IR) is the ratio of canopy inter- ception divided by total rainfall measured above the canopy at certain time intervals.
How does type of vegetation affect interception?
(i) Type of Vegetation: Interception varies with the species, its age and density of stands. About 10 to 20% of precipitation occurring in the growing season is intercepted. It is lost substantially by way of evaporation from leaves. In dense tall vegetation interception is quite substantial.
Is interception by vegetation a transfer?
Stores include puddles, rivers, lakes (surface storage), glaciers, soil storage and groundwater storage along with water stored on vegetation (interception) following precipitation. Transfers or flows include percolation, overland flow, infiltration, stemflow, throughflow and overland flow.
What is tree interception?
Canopy interception is the rainfall that is intercepted by the canopy of a tree and successively evaporates from the leaves. Precipitation that is not intercepted will fall as throughfall or stemflow on the forest floor.
What is the importance of interception?
Overall, we can conclude that interception has different roles in the hydrological cycle. The most important role is as a rainfall reducer, causing a significant amount of rainfall to be directly fed back to the atmosphere which is not available for infiltration.
What are effects of interception?
Reduction of raindrop energy by interception minimizes soil detachment and subsequent erosion as well as protects soil structure and infiltration capacity. Interception can be impacted by management which effects the amount, type, and distribution of vegetation on a watershed.
What type of vegetation would cause the most interception annually?
coniferous trees intercept 25-35% of annual precipitation.
What are the 3 types of interception?
Interception refers to precipitation that does not reach the soil, but is instead intercepted by the leaves, branches of plants and the forest floor. It occurs in the canopy (i.e. canopy interception), and in the forest floor or litter layer (i.e. forest floor interception).
How does interception occur?
Why is interception important?
How does interception help in soil conservation?
Second, interception plays an important role in protecting the mineral soil surface from the energy of rainfall. Reduction of raindrop energy by interception minimizes soil detachment and subsequent erosion as well as protects soil structure and infiltration capacity.
What does interception mean in geography?
In hydrologic sciences: Interception. When precipitation reaches the surface in vegetated areas, a certain percentage of it is retained on or intercepted by the vegetation. Rainfall that is not intercepted is referred to as throughfall.
What is the difference between infiltration and interception?
The highest level of interception occurs when it snows on conifer forests and hardwood forests that have not yet lost their leaves. Infiltration is the physical process involving movement of water through the boundary area where the atmosphere interfaces with the soil.
What is the interception storage capacity of the vegetation?
The interception storage capacities of the vegetation vary with the type and structure of the vegetation and with meteorologic factors. Measurements have shown that up to eight millimetres of rainfall can be intercepted by some vegetation canopies.
Does low-lying vegetation intercept precipitation?
So interception by low-lying vegetation is usually negligible for hydrologic studies. But if such vegetation cover exists below the forest canopy it affects runoff substantially. Dense grasses and herbs approaching full growth intercept as much precipitation as forest cover.
What is interception in hydrology?
Read this article to learn about the concept and factors affecting interception! Interception deals with the amount of water that is caught and stored on the leaves and stems of vegetation.
What is the relationship between leaf area and light interception?
Crop light interception is no more proportional to leaf area when the canopy is dense. In homogeneous conditions (that is to say most cases), a crop can be considered as a turbid environment and light interception is well described by Lambert–Beer law (Figure 7 ).