🚀 go-pugleaf

dwheeler@my-deja.com wrote in message <93t32o$u2g$1@nnrp1.deja.com>...
>In article <93s5tu$c96@llama.swcp.com>,
>> >In addition, a study done at Bull Run Watershed, which supplies most of
>> >the drinking water for the Portland metropolitan area, found that
conifer
>> >needles, especially pine, spruce, hemlock and fir, "comb" moisture from
>> >clouds, and can substantially increase the available water in a forest
>> >even when rainfall or other percipitation is unavailable. BTW, this *
>> >technology* is being used in the driest parts of Chile and Argentina to
>> >create enough water to support an ever-growing population and the crops
>> >needed to support them.
>>
>> Do you know the mechanism behind "comb"?  Is this condensation?
>I think it's actually a combination of things. Condensation is part, but
>a waxy coating on the outside of needles combined with a sharp point on
>the end of the needles encourages droplets to form and fall. I have been
>in a forest with perfectly clear skies which I've gotten more wet than
>during a rainstorm. And Oregon is noted for its rain.<G>
>  I recall
>> quite a bit of dew from my days living in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle
>> area), it is interesting if needles facilitate this.  Perhaps they make
it
>> drip and get it into the ground, "capturing" more before re-evaporation?

I live in Coast Redwood county (Sequoia sempervirens) in NW Central
California. They recieve a good deal of their moisture during the summertime
from fog drip, which is the moisture collecting on the needles and dripping
down. Being a Meditteranian climate here, with minimal summer precip, this
is crucial to them. Another example was when I was in the the Monte Verde
cloud forest a couple years back. It was the dry season, and not much rain
was falling. The low clouds/fog would collect on the trees, and underneath
them it was quite wet every morning. In fact, though it did not rain, it
dripped heavily off the roof of any structure in the area at night.

Regaards,

Scott