Short- and long-term patterns of soil moisture in alpine tundra
- Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
Time domain reflectometry (TDR), a nondestructive technique for monitoring water content of soils, was used to measure volumetric soil moisture in three different communities in the alpine tundra during the summer of 1992. Data were converted to gravimetric estimates in order to allow comparison with 20 yr of records of gravimetric data, some of which date back to 1953. Analysis for growing-season trends indicated progressive depletion of soil moisture in all three community types studied. Using a liner model, mesic meadows showed the strongest seasonal decline and wet meadows the weakest. Curvilinear fits of the data suggested midsummer minima in xeric and mesic meadows and a midsummer maximum in wet meadows. Average summer soil moisture values for xeric meadows during the 1953-1964 interval were lower than those made in later years. This result may reflect sample site difference, but is consistent with a directional trend in increasing precipitation over this interval. Average summer soil moisture content of xeric meadows was correlated with annual precipitation, but not growing season (June-August) rainfall; this pattern was only discernible with the 20 yr data set. 35 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 7286422
- Journal Information:
- Arctic and Alpine Research (Boulder, Colorado); (United States), Vol. 26:1; ISSN 0004-0851
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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