Defining an ecohydrograph

One area of improvement in rainfall-runoff models in small catchments may be the parameterization of vegetation water storage. Recharge of water into vegetation tissues after a rain event may be of sufficient magnitude with, and occur over time periods comparable to, characteristic magnitudes and dynamics of small watershed hydrographs. Yet little work has been done to characterize how variable water storage capacity accompanying different vegetation types or statures may influence stream hydrographs. Here we show how direct characterization of vegetation hydraulic capacitance, through the use of sap flux measurements, may be used to improve the representation of vegetation in watershed hydrodynamics.