Rain interception in a secondary fragment of araucaria forest with faxinal, Guarapuava-PR

Abstract

Forest management can alter the structure of vegetation (layer), particularly in areas used for pasture, such as the Faxinal areas in the south central region of Paraná, Brazil. Therefore, the aims of the present study were as follows: a) to assess rain interception in secondary forests; b) to estimate the maximum precipitation intercepted by the forest; and c) to discuss the possible implications of throughfall for the hydrologic processes of the secondary forest (Faxinal). Nine 20-cm-diameter rain gauges (314 cm2) were used. Rain gauges were distributed randomly throughout the forest and were successively rotated after a specific number of rainfalls. A total of 66 rainfall events of different volumes were recorded. We observed that an increase in rain volume tended to homogenize the rainfall interception rate in the forest. Consecutive rainfalls did not significantly influence the interception rate in the secondary forest. However, the interception in the secondary forest (10.5%) was lower than the mean interception rate recorded in other Brazilian forests.