Interception of rainfall is an important component of water balance in forest ecosystems because it determines the amount of water that actually arrives on the forest floor. Extensive measurements of gross rainfall, throughfall and stemflow were conducted in Chinese fir plantations at Huitong Ecosystem Research Station of Central South University of Forestry and Technology in Hunan, China. The Chinese fir plantations were grouped into three age-classes: young stand (< 10-year old), mid-aged stand (10-19 years old) and mature stand (20-30 years old).

Results/Conclusions The results showed that the annual mean interception ratio (interception loss/rainfall) was not significantly different (P > 0.05) among the three age classes of Chinese fir stands, varying between 23.3 and 27.9% of total rainfall, although the highest interception ratio was found at mature stands. The amount of interception increased with the increase in amount of rainfall during an individual rain event. However, the interception ratio decreased with the increase in the amount of rainfall. The monthly changes of interception loss in the three aged stands exhibited a similar pattern, which matched well with monthly rainfall events. Differences in terms of interception rate and interception loss among the different aged stands of Chinese fir plantations were attributed to differences in canopy characteristics.