FITTING THE ANALYTICAL MODEL OF RAINFALL INTERCEPTION OF GASH TO INDIVIDUAL SHRUBS OF SEMIARID VEGETATION IN NORTHEASTERN MEXICO

This study was conducted to estimate the components of interception lo ss and to fit the analytical model of rainfall interception of Gash to a semi-arid plant community in northeastern Mexico. The interception and components of interception loss were estimated from measurements o f gross rainfall, throughfall and stemflow in individual shrubs of Dio spyrus texana, Acacia farnesiana and Prosopis laevigata. The component s of the interception loss did not deviate from other estimates in oth er ecosystems, except for evaporation rate during storms. In general, the analytical model performed well, although estimated total intercep tion loss was highly sensitive to changes in both the magnitude of eva poration rate during storms and the proportion of rainfall that is ste mflow.