Rainfall interception and fog precipitation in a tropical montane cloud forest of Guatemala

Tropical montane cloud forest hydrology is complex because of the presence of epiphytic life-forms that increase canopy surfaces and fog persistency. Fog precipitation is a hydrological input common to cloud forests, and forms when fog droplets are intercepted by the canopy and fall to the forest floor. Interception and fog precipitation was determined for a 2100 m site and a 2550 m site in a first-order tributary of the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala by calculating the difference between throughfall and gross precipitation for a 44-week period. Both sites were situated within closed-canopy cloud forests. The 2100 m site was on the windward slope of Montana de Miranda near the lower boundary of the cloud forest and the 2550 m site was at the summit. Fog precipitation was found during periods in which throughfall exceeds gross precipitation. Fog precipitation was greater at 2550 m than at 2100 m. Data collected by precipitation and throughfall gauges demonstrate the existence of seasonal fog precipitation with the greatest fog precipitation occurring in the dry season (November–April). Fog precipitation contributes approximately 1 mm per day to the hydrological budget of the cloud forest at 2550 m during the dry season, and 0.5 mm per day during the rainy season (May–October).