Investigation of total interception for pure spruce and fir ecosystems on ecological, hydrological and meteorological aspects in eastern black sea region, Turkey

In forest ecosystems, an important part of the hydrological cycle is the total interception from the stand canopy and forest floor. Stemflow, throughfall, surface runoff, forest stand structure and soil filtration events that affect interception quantitatively affect the water in the hydrological cycle. Due to the presence of common exchangeable cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, NH4+, Fe+) and anions (SO42-, NO3-, Cl- and PO43-) in these parameters, throughout the water flow pathway from stand canopy to soil, water in cycle is affected qualitatively. Therefore, researching the interception process is important and necessary to understand the complex nature of Soil-Plant-Atmosphere relationships at the ecosystem level. This study was carried out in Spruce (Picea orientalis) and Fir (Abies nordmanniana subsp. Nordmanniana) forests, which are the two major species of our country, Turkey, and have the same ecological conditions, which are distributed in the Eastern Black Sea Region naturally. On the other hand, related hydrological, ecological and meteorological mechanisms were established and parameters were measured and analyzed for a period of 21 months, and mathematical and statistical models were developed. In addition, models have been developed for Spruce and Fir stands that estimate total forest interception with an accuracy of > 95% based on stand mean diameter to being used for forest management plans. As a result, 39.04% of the annual precipitation from Spruce stand with an average LAI of 5.33 and a litter thickness of 6.6 mm returned to the atmosphere via total interception, while this value was 43.54% in Fir stand with 6.13 LAI and 13.9 mm litter layer. Significant changes also occurred in the physico-chemical content of the water from canopy to filtered soil.