Abstract
Given that atmospheric deposition is the first source of nutrient input into forest ecosystems, and that the precipitation partition serves as a nutritional source mainly when there is an interaction with the forest canopy, the objective of the present study was to quantify the nutrients input into rainfall, throughfall and stemflow in Eucalyptus urophylla stands with partial exclusion (E) and without exclusion (WE) of throughfall. The experiment was conducted in the northeast of the state of Paraná-Brazil, in the municipality of Telêmaco Borba. The partial precipitation exclusion system (E) is formed by a system of gutters that conduct 30% of throughfall out of the experiment. The nutrient input in rainfall was 55.7 kg ha-1 yr-1, while the sum of throughfall and stemflow was 64.1 kg ha-1 yr-1 in treatment (WE) and 39.8 kg ha-1 yr-1 in treatment (E). Interaction with the canopy of the trees enriched the rainfall with nutrients, mainly the elements potassium and chlorine, due to leaching of the vegetal tissues. The reduction of the water treatment system in partial exclusion of precipitation (E) reduced representative nutrient input. Although stemflow represents on average only 2.6% of the water volume, it is responsible for 6.7% of the amount of nutrients in relation to precipitation. Therefore, stemflow cannot be neglected in the balance of nutrient cycling. With a rotation of 7 years, the application of significant amounts of fertilizers can be avoided, considering the inputs of 449 and 277 kg ha-1year-1.
 Keywords: nutrient cycling, stemflow, throughfall.
Highlights
The forestry sector has occupied a prominent position in the Brazilian economy
This study evaluates nutrient input into rainfall, throughfall and stemflow in a Eucalyptus stand with and without partial exclusion of throughfall
Our results clearly show an increase in the contents of certain nutrients as the rainwater interacts with the forest canopy
Summary
The forestry sector has occupied a prominent position in the Brazilian economy. Planted forests occupy 9.0 million hectares of the country and the genus Eucalyptus represents 77% of this area. Even with the large area occupied, the industrial forest plantations cover about 0.92% of the Brazilian territory. Extensive areas occupied by forest plantations are able to modify the hydrological balance (Ferraz et al 2019). The partition of the rainfall in the area covered by vegetation is very dynamic. A portion of the water is intercepted by the canopy and immediately evaporated into the atmosphere (Llorens and Domingo, 2007). Part of the precipitation crosses the canopy and drips into the stand; this is called “throughfall” (Navar, 2011). The knowledge of the partition of precipitation is important in studies of modeling the water balance of a watershed; many studies have considered a generic value for the index of canopy interception (Chaffe et al, 2010)
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