Influence of species and rain event characteristics on stemflow volume in a temperate mixed oak–beech stand

This study aimed at analysing the effects of biological and meteorological factors on stemflow generation in a temperate mixed oak (Quercus petraea Liebl.) and beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) stand. A statistical model was developed to predict single‐event individual stemflow volume from trunk circumference and rainfall depth allowing mechanistic stemflow parameters to be deduced from the model, namely stemflow rates (SF_rate), storage of water on tree organs (S_t) and rainfall thresholds for stemflow (RF_min). SF_rate and S_t increased with increasing trunk circumference while RF_min was not significantly influenced by tree size. RF_min and, for a given tree size, S_t were higher for oak than for beech, and inversely for SF_rate. For each species, RF_min was higher for the leaved season than for the leafless period, while the opposite was found for SF_rate, and S_t was not significantly affected by the season. Increasing wind speed during rain increased SF_rate, lowered RF_min and did not influence S_t. In contrast, S_t and RF_min tended, respectively, to decrease and to increase with increasing values of the ratio between the cumulated potential evaporation during the dry period preceding the rain event and the volume of the preceding rainfall (Eva p_ADP/R_previous). Stemflow volume, which results from the combined effects of the previous parameters, was higher for beech than for oak and also higher during the leafless period than during the leaved period; these differences were large for the smallest events but decreased rapidly as rainfall depth increased. In addition, an enhancing and a depressing effect on stemflow volume were shown for the average wind speed during rain and for the ratio Eva p_ADP/R_previous, respectively. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.