Stemflow production and intrastorm rainfall intensity variation: an experimental analysis using laboratory rainfall simulation

Laboratory rainfall simulation experiments using a small artificial olive tree are used to show that the fraction of rain falling at a constant intensity that becomes stemflow rises from 9% at 2.5 mm/h to 36.1% at 35 mm/h. Natural rainfall events commonly exhibit wide fluctuations of intensity. Simulated rainfall events each having a mean intensity of 10 mm/h, but containing short intensity peaks of 20 to 100 mm/h at varying intra‐event positions, were used to explore the effect of varying intensity profiles. Results demonstrate that changes in rainfall event profile are associated with wide variation in stemflow flux, stemflow volume and stemflow fraction. When applied to an initially dry plant, rainfall events with a late intensity peak yielded an average peak stemflow flux up to 188% larger than events of contrasting profile, such as early peak events. The increase was smaller, up to 141%, when rain was applied to plants that were already partially wet, but was again found in events with a late intensity peak. Moreover, such events yielded a peak stemflow flux up to approximately seven times larger than comparable events of uniform intensity. Likewise, changing event profile with no change in rainfall depth was associated with a maximum stemflow fraction that was 31% larger than theminimum stemflow fraction, and a maximum stemflow volume that was nearly 37% larger than the minimum stemflow volume. These results suggest that rainfall event profile exerts a significant effect on all of the studied stemflow parameters. It is hypothesized that this is a consequence of the way in which intensity profile affects the rate of wetting‐up of trickle pathways on the plant, and variation in the time taken for these pathways to become fully connected. Event profile must therefore be considered along with plant architecture in seeking to understand stemflow. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.