Measurements and Analysis of Intercepted Precipitation of Silver Birch (Betula pendula Roth.) and Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Urban Area

Abstract

Study presents measurements, comparation and analysis of intercepted precipitation of\ud coniferous and deciduous trees. Measurements were made on experimental plot in the urban\ud part of the city Ljubljana on two groups of trees: Betula pendula and Pinus sylvestris.\ud Analyses and comparations of throughfall and stemflow were made for the period from June\ud 2004 till December 2006 which was devided onto four vegetation periods. Rainfall above the\ud canopy was measured automatically with a tipping bucket rain gauge with digital recording of\ud results every 10 minutes in combination with manual Helman's rain gauge for control.\ud Throughfall was measured using a combination of fixed gauges with digital recording of\ud results every 10 minutes and manual roving gauges. Stemflow was measured manually on one\ud tree of each specie. The results of the measurements showed that the throughfall for Betula\ud pendula was 57-70 % of precipitation and for Pinus sylvestris 35-49 % which is comparable\ud with the results of other similar studies around the world. The stemflow fraction for Betula\ud pendula amounted 1,1-6,7 % of precipitation and it was practically negligible for Pinus\ud sylvestris