well correlated (r2 D 0Ð99) and over the 274 day comparison
period at this site throughfall for system 2 was 6%
(155 mm) less than system 1. The correlation between
the two throughfall systems at Mount Lewis was also
very good (r2 D 0Ð99) for the 234 day comparison period,
and system 2 measured 4% (122 mm) more than system
1. These throughfall system replicates suggest that the
trough length employed in this study was capable of capturing
the variability in throughfall exhibited beneath the
rainforest at our measurement sites. This may be because
the canopy at our measurement sites had comparatively
low spatial variability, as evidenced by the small standard
errors in our LAI estimates (Table I). At other rainforest
locations where spatial variability in canopy cover
is greater the spatial extent of our trough technique may
need to be extended to account for throughfall variability.
Comparison of the shallow PVC trough design with
the much deeper metal troughs was undertaken at Oliver
Creek over 112 rainfall days (Figure 7). The results show
that there was no significant difference (p < 0Ð001)