Abstract: Gash analytic model and its revised versions are useful tools for the estimation and prediction of forest canopy interception during rainfall. This study aimed to explore the applicability of the revised Gash analytic model in a subtropical forest, which was of importance for further understanding the forest hydrological effects in the subtropical area. The modeling results using the revised Gash analytic model were compared with those of field data collected from a monsoon evergreen broadleaved forest in Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve in subtropical China. The results of the present study indicated that the throughfall, stemflow and canopy interception in the monsoon evergreen broadleaved forest in 2009 were estimated to 1310.9, 85.5 and 498.9 mm, accounting for 69.2%, 4.5% and 26.3% of the total rainfall, respectively. The model estimated canopy interception in 2009 was 473.0 mm, about 5.2% lower than the value by field measurements. Besides, the model simulation error was lower in dry season (1.8%) than in wet season (6.8%). With further consideration on the components of the rainfall intercepted, the evaporation after rainfall ceased was found to be the largest component, with a value of 231.4 mm. As a whole, the margin of simulation error reported in the existed literature ranged from 0.2% to 35.0%. Canopy water storage capacity, which is one of the key parameters affecting the accuracy of the modeling, ranged from 0.23 to 2.86 mm. This study demonstrated that the revised Gash analytic model was well suitable for the estimation of canopy rainfall interception in the subtropical monsoon evergreen broadleaved forest.

Key words: value coefficient, forest ecosystem, physiographic regio-nalization., valuation, service function