Summer Showers: Their Sizes and Interception by Surface Soils
Weaver T. 1985. Summer Showers: Their Sizes and Interception by Surface Soils. The American Midland Naturalist. 114(2):409-413
Surface soils in the plains and mountains of Montana are usually dry in July and August due to high evaporation and lack of compensating rains. A dry sur- face soil only 1 cm thick is capable of holding at least 1 mm and possibly more than 2 mm of water. In the plains, showers fall on approximately 33% of July-August days, but 60% deliver less than 1 mm and 70% deliver less than 2 mm. Upslope, showers are both less frequent and larger, with showers falling in subalpine forests on 29 % of the days and being smaller than 1 and 2 mm in 23% and 42% of the cases, respectively. Since light showers are surely intercepted by the plant canopy, litter or root- free surface soils, the water delivered is not likely to be absorbed by roots. Direct studies are required to determine whether such showers benefit plants in other ways.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Weaver, T
- Units
- DEVA
- Keywords
- Absence (Biodiversity), Hydrology, interception capacity, Montana, plant canopy, Presence (Biodiversity), Soil Properties, soil structure, Taxa Links To Datasets, Taxa Links To References