Modelling stemflow production by juvenile lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) trees

Abstract

Stemflow is a focused point source input of precipitation and nutrients at the base of a tree or plant and can have a significant impact on site hydrology. To date, no known studies have modelled stemflow production for juvenile lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia). Meteorological conditions, tree characteristics, and stemflow were sampled for two juvenile lodgepole pine stands over the course of the 2009 growing season. Step-wise multiple regression was used to assess which meteorological and tree architecture variables influenced stemflow production for each research plot. Once predictor variables were identified, models were produced for each stand and a generic model was produced that applied to both plots. A model employing precipitation depth and crown projection area successfully explained 71.3% of the variation in stemflow production from sampled trees. Stemflow was found to represent 1.8% of the study period rainfall and, although not a large component of the plot-scale canopy water balance, it is an order of magnitude greater than the fractioning of stemflow from mature lodgepole and lodgepole pine dominated forest. Additionally, stemflow funnelling ratios were found to average 22.2 and 24.3 from the two sample plots over the study period with a single tree, single event maximum of 111.7 recorded for a tree with a 3.3 cm bole diameter and a rain depth of 17.4 mm.

Keywords

Lodgepole pine / Stemflow / Stemflow funnelling ratio

References

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