Interception, pH and solid content of rainfall in a Nigerian lowland rain forest

Rainfall interception by forest trees, pH, alkalinity, total suspended and dissolved solids of incident rainfall, stemflow and throughfall and the effect of tree species in these parameters were investigated in three open sites and a secondary rain forest at Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in 1994 and 1995. The tree species Blighia sapida , Holarrhena floribunda and Piptadeniastrum africanum intercepted different proportions of incident rainfall, 1.6, 39.4, and 7.4%, respectively. The pH of stemflow was higher than that of throughfall and the pH of both was always higher than that of incident rainfall. The total suspended solids were higher at the beginning and towards the end of the rainy season. The total dissolved solids concentration in all rainfall fractions was highest at the early rains and during the heavy rain months, especially in throughfall and stemflow. The total suspended and dissolved solids concentration of stemflow was higher than that of throughfall and those of both were higher than that of the incident rain. Total alkalinity of incident rainfall and throughfall decreased, while that of stemflow increased with increase in rainfall. There were significant differences in the alkalinity of stemflow and throughfall under the crowns of the tree species.