Precipitation interception in Pinus engelmannii Carr. and Quercus rugosa Née in the Ejido Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, Pueblo Nuevo, Durango

Abstract

Whith the purpose to determine the percentage of the incident precipitation, direct precipitation, stem runoff, interceptation losses and physiochemical properties of rainfall in Pinus engelmannii Carr. and Quercus rugosa Née, 30 rain events were analyzed within fragment of the Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Ejido, in the municipality of Pueblo Nuevo, Durango. Where a plot of 2500 m² was established to measure the hydrological properties during the period from May 05, 2018 to December 07, 2018. The results showed an incident precipitation of 856.24 mm. The direct precipitation in P. engelmannii Carr. and Q. rugosa Née represented the 72.11 % and 79.40 %, respectively. With an average of 75.76 % of the total precipitation. The stem runoff represented the 0.46 % and 0.11 % while the canopy interception showed 27.42 % and 20.27 % in P. engelmannii and Q. rugosa, respectively. The analysis of throughfall indicated that the maximum value of pH in the incident precipitation was 6.78 in direct precipitation in P. engelmannii, 5.78 and in Q. rugosa 6.78. The stem runoff in P. engelmannii showed a pH of 6.08 and in Q. rugosa of 7.51. The electric conductivity of the stem runoff was 84.63 μS cm^-1 in P. engelmannii and of 170 μS cm^-1 in Q. rugosa; higher values compared to incident precipitation and to the direct precipitation in both species. The structure of the vegetation cover, the conformation of the trees and the type of precipitation influence the amount of precipitation that reaches the soil ground.