Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Assistant Prof., Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, Tehran, I. R. Iran
2
Associate Prof., Faculty of Forest Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, I. R. Iran
Abstract
Variations in leaf phenology, precipitation characteristics, and meteorological conditions may cause the seasonal change in the quantity and quality of precipitation components (including stemflow, SF; throughfall, TF; and interception loss, I) of deciduous stands. This study was conducted in an Oriental beech stand located at Shast-Kalate forest, with semi-humid climate. In order to measure I, a total of 31 trees were randomly selected. Field measurements of gross precipitation (PG), SF, and TF were made over a period of one year from November 2005 to November 2006. Total PG was 827.1 mm. Mean proportion of I (I:PG) were obtained during spring (52.4%), summer (66.1%), autumn (58.2%), winter (53.5%), and the leafed (56.5%) and leafless (56.7%) periods. ANOVA revealed an significant difference of SF:PG, TF:PG, and, I:PG (p < 0.05) across different seasons. These proportions were statistically identical (p < 0.05) during the leafed and leafless periods. Because of seasonal variations, the proportion of the precipitation components has been altered across different seasons. Therefore, maximum of SF:PG and TF:PG were in spring and their minimum were in summer. Besides, the maximum and minimum of I:PG were in summer and spring, respectively. The minimum amount of water input to the forest floor was in summer and its maximum was in spring and winter. It was concluded that silvicultural practices are required to increase the water input to the forest floor during summer.
Keywords
Main Subjects
)