Are spatial patterns of soil moisture or percolation affected by throughfall heterogeneity? Empirical evidence from a beech-dominated forest.

Heterogeneity in throughfall, caused by the redistribution of precipitation in the vegetation canopy, has repeatedly been hypothesized to influence the variation in soil water content and runoff behavior, especially in forests. However, observational studies directly relating the spatial variation in the soil water content or dynamics to net precipitation are rare. Here, we investigate how throughfall patterns affect the spatial heterogeneity in the soil water response in the main rooting zone. We assessed rainfall, throughfall, and soil water content (at two depths, 7.5 and 27.5 cm) in a 1 ha temperate mixed beech forest plot in Germany during the 2015 and 2016 growing seasons using independent, high-resolution, stratified, random designs. Because the throughfall and soil water content cannot be measured at the same location, we used kriging to derive the throughfall values at the locations where the soil water content was measured.

Spatial patterns of throughfall were related to canopy density. Although spatial autocorrelation decreased with increasing event size, temporally stable throughfall patterns emerged, resulting in the reoccurrence of higher- and lower throughfall locations across precipitation events. Linear mixed-effects model analysis showed that while soil water content patterns were poorly related to spatial patterns of throughfall, the increase in soil water content after rainfall was strongly related. More water was stored in the soil in areas where throughfall was elevated. At the same time, however, the local soil water response was modified by the soil wetness itself in a way that suggests processes of rapid drainage and runoff. Locations with a lower than average topsoil water content tended to store less of the input water, indicating locally enhanced preferential flow. In contrast, in the subsoil, locations with above average water content stored less water than their drier counterparts. In addition, macroporosity also modified how much water was retained in soil storage.

Overall, throughfall patterns influenced soil water content much less than soil water dynamics shortly after rainfall events. Furthermore, drainage reduced the soil moisture variation within hours to days, when returning from the wetted to the dry state. Therefore, we conclude that percolation rather than the soil water content is affected by small-scale spatial heterogeneity in canopy input patterns.

Reference

Fischer-Bedtke, C., Metzger, J. C., Demir, G., Wutzler, T., and Hildebrandt, A.: Throughfall spatial patterns translate into spatial patterns of soil moisture dynamics – empirical evidence, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 2899–2918, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2899-2023, 2023.