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The spatial peak surface shear stress on the ground beneath vegetation canopies is responsible for the onset of particle entrainment and its precise and accurate prediction is essential when modelling soil, snow or sand erosion. This study investigates shear-stress partitioning, i.e. the fraction of the total fluid stress on the entire canopy that acts directly on the surface, for live vegetation canopies (plant species: Lolium perenne) using measurements in a controlled wind-tunnel environment. Rigid, non-porous wooden blocks instead of the plants were additionally tested for the purpose of comparison since previous wind-tunnel studies used exclusively artificial plant imitations for their experiments on shear-stress partitioning. The drag partitioning model presented by Raupach (Boundary-Layer Meteorol 60:375-395, 1992) and Raupach et al. (J Geophys Res 98:3023-3029, 1993), which allows the prediction of the total shear stress tau on the entire canopy as well as the peak and the average shear-stress ratios, is tested against measurements to determine the model parameters and the model’s ability to account for shape differences of various roughness elements. It was found that the constant c, needed to determine the total stress tau and which was unspecified to date, can be assumed a value of about c = 0.27. Values for the model parameter m, which accounts for the difference between the spatial surface average and the peak shear stress, are difficult to determine because m is a function of the roughness density, the wind velocity and the roughness element shape. A new definition for a parameter a is suggested as a substitute for m. This a parameter is found to be more closely universal and solely a function of the roughness element shape. It is able to predict the peak surface shear stress accurately. Finally, a method is presented to determine the new a parameter for different kinds of roughness elements.