A Comparative Study of Interception, Throughfall and Stemflow Characteristics of a Natural Forest and a Kapur (Dryobalanops aromatica Gaertn. F. ) Plantation

by

Md. Sharif Bidin
B. Sc. (For.)
1979

Supervisor: Zakariya Abdullah
Co-supervisor:

A study was conducted in a secondary disturbed forest (Air Hitam Forest Reserve, Puchong) and in a Kapur (Dryobalanops aromatica Gaertn. F.) plantation (Federal Experiment Station, Serdang) over a period of four months. The main objective was to study and compare the hydrologic characteristics of the two cover types. Gross rainfall above the forest and above the Kapur plantation was estimated by locating standard non-recording 12.7 cm rain gauges in a forest clearing and in an open field, respectively. V-shaped zinc troughs of 200 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm served as throughfall samplers. Stemflow was collected by affixing makeshift plastic collars round the bole of the selected trees. Interception loss, throughfall and stemflow were 26.18%, 73.18% and 0.64% of gross rainfall for the forest, and 27.72%, 71.11% and 1.17% for the Kapur plantation, respectively. Throughfall, stemflow, net rainfall and interception loss were highly positively correlated with gross rainfall in both plots. No apparent correlation was observed between stemflow and several tree dimensions in the Kapur plantation. For the forest, certain tendency towards linear relationship was observed between stemflow and these variables. The variability in the capacities to conduct stemflow was four times greater among the forest trees than among the Kapur trees. The spatial variation in throughfall distribution was also greater under the forest condition. The throughfall samplers were efficient in the sense that they had acceptable standard errors of 2.3% and 4.7% under the plantation and forest conditions, respectively. The biological and hydrologic significance of interception loss, throughfall and stemflow was also been discussed.

Citation:
Md. Sharif, B. 1979. A comparative study of interception, throughfall and stemflow characteristics of a natural forest and a Kapur (Dryobalanops aromatica Gaertn. F. ) plantation. B. Sc. (For.) Thesis. Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. 175 leaves. (http://www.oocities.org/EnchantedForest/Palace/1170/abshrf.html)