Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2024
Publication Title
Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Disciplines
Biology
Abstract
Precipitation channelled down tree stems (stemflow) or into drip points of 'throughfall' beneath trees results in spatially concentrated inputs of water and chemicals to the ground. Currently, these flows are poorly characterised due to uncertainties about which branches redirect rainfall to stemflow or throughfall drip points. We introduce a graph theoretic algorithm that 'prunes' quantitative structural models of trees (derived from terrestrial LiDAR) to identify branches contributing to stemflow and those contributing to throughfall drip points. To demonstrate the method's utility, we analysed two trees with similar canopy sizes but contrasting canopy architecture and rainfall partitioning behaviours. For both trees, the branch 'watershed' area contributing to stemflow (under conditions assumed to represent moderate precipitation intensity) was found to be only half of the total ground area covered by the canopy. The study also revealed significant variations between trees in the number and median contribution areas of modelled throughfall drip points (69 vs. 94 drip points tree(-1), with contributing projected areas of 28.6 vs. 7.8 m(2) tree(-1), respectively). Branch diameter, surface area, volumes and woody area index of components contributing to stemflow and throughfall drip points may play a role in the trees' differing rainfall partitioning behaviours. Our pruning algorithm, enabled by the proliferation of LiDAR observations of canopy structure, promises to enhance studies of canopy hydrology. It offers a novel approach to refine our understanding of how trees interact with rainfall, thereby broadening the utility of existing LiDAR data in environmental research.
DOI
10.1111/2041-210X.14378
Version
Publisher's PDF
Recommended Citation
Wischmeyer, C., Swanson, T. E., Mueller, K. E., Lewis, N. R., Bastock, J., & Van Stan, J. T. II (2024). A LiDAR-driven pruning algorithm to delineate canopy drainage areas of stemflow and throughfall drip points. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 00, 1–13. https:// doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14378
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Comments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of US-NSF DEB-2213623