Rainfall interception by eight small trees

Interception studies were undertaken on individual plants of selected tree species under a rainfall simulator. The results give insight to the process of interception, provide information on the level of the interception storage of the test species and illustrate the importance of leaf area. Two interception models were tested. The interception—drainage model gave unsatisfactory results. The modified exponential model proved adequate as long as the proportion of rainfall passing through the canopy could be estimated. This proportion was shown to be a function of leaf area index. The use of this model together with a proposed simplified system is discussed with the view of characterizing an ungauged plant community in which elaborate interception studies have not been undertaken.