Teale, Natalie G.;
Mahan, Hayden;
Bleakney, Sarah;
Berger, Amélie;
Shibley, Nicole;
Frauenfeld, Oliver W.;
Quiring, Steven M.;
Rapp, Anita D.;
Roark, E. Brendan;
Washington‐Allen, Robert
Impacts of Vegetation and Precipitation on Throughfall Heterogeneity in a Tropical Pre‐Montane Transitional Cloud Forest
Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Precipitation throughfall (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content>) plays an important role in the water balance of tropical forests. This study used 164 gauges to quantify precipitation and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content> variability in a tropical pre‐montane transitional cloud forest on the Caribbean slope of the Cordillera Tilarán, Costa Rica, to identify the ecological and meteorological drivers of this variability. Daily <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content> measurements were taken from 28 June to 17 July 2012 and 12 June to 16 July 2013, for a total of 39 precipitation events. The total mean <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content> was 87.9 percent and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content> at individual gauges ranged from 22.7 percent to 245.7 percent. Leaf area index (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">LAI</jats:styled-content>) was calculated above each gauge using hemispheric photography for a mean study‐site <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">LAI</jats:styled-content> of 7.7. There was no statistically significant relationship between <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">LAI</jats:styled-content> and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content>. However, the amount of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content> was positively correlated with precipitation intensity, while the variability of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content> was negatively correlated with precipitation intensity. Our calculations indicate that at least 61 gauges are required to obtain mean <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content> estimates with less than 5 percent error. This study demonstrates that <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TF</jats:styled-content> is highly spatially heterogeneous due to multiple compounding effects.</jats:p>