Stemflow and throughfall in agricultural crops: a synthesis

Abstract

The interception of rainwater in annual and perennial agriculture has been the object of several studies in the last decades. However, scant attention has been paid to where this research has taken place and which principal crops have been studied. The objective of this research is to perform a bibliometric analysis of one hundred articles from the last forty years found in the Scopus database to analyze their spatial distribution according to continent and country and quantify the research carried out on annual and perennial crops. Also, the main methods used to investigate the stemflow and throughfall of water in commercial crops are described. Our analysis indicates that the northern hemisphere has the most research on the subject and 35% of the research took place in Asia. Most of the research into annual crops (56%) was carried out in maize (Zea mays L.). There has been a significant increase in commercial (annual) agricultural research in the last decade. The stemflow had the most amplitude between the values in the annual crops. This may be related to morphological and ecophysiological changes throughout the plant cycle. For perennial crops, stemflow values were like forests. It has become more important than ever to consider a scenario of global climate change stemflow and throughfall research in agricultural areas, or at least the data need to be revised in the face of new climatic conditions.