Precipitation and the transfer of water, nutrients and pollutants in tree canopies

The functioning of a forest community depends upon the routes, rates and transformations of material flowing through it. The canopy's interaction with precipitation can result in the interception of rainfall and the scavenging of water from clouds and fog. But this movement of water through the canopy also mediates the transfer of mineral nutrients and the deposition of some atmospheric pollutants. The past decade has seen the development of increasingly complex models of transfer processes in the canopy and new methodologies for studying them. One impulse for these advances has been the need to understand not only the movement of water, nutrients and pollutants but also their reciprocal effects. Another has been the need to evaluate the nature of pollutant-induced effects with respect to the costs and effectiveness of possible remedies.