The Importance of Accounting for Landscape Position When Investigating Grasslands: A Multidisciplinary Characterisation of a California Coastal Grassland

Rowley, Mike C.; Falco, Nicola; Pegoraro, Elaine; Dafflon, Baptiste; Gerlein‐Safdi, Cynthia; Wu, Yuxin; Castanha, Cristina; Peña, Jasquelin; Nico, Peter S.; Torn, Margaret S.

doi:10.1029/2023EF004208

The Importance of Accounting for Landscape Position When Investigating Grasslands: A Multidisciplinary Characterisation of a California Coastal Grassland

Journal Article · Fri Jun 21 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Earth's Future

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EF004208· OSTI ID:2376256

^[1]; ^[2]; Pegoraro, Elaine ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[2]; Castanha, Cristina ^[2]; Peña, Jasquelin ^[4]; Nico, Peter S. ^[3]; ^[3]

University of Zurich Zürich Switzerland, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA USA, University of California, Davis Davis CA USA
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA USA
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA USA, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley CA USA
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA USA, University of California, Davis Davis CA USA

Abstract

Grasslands are one of the most common land‐cover types, providing important ecosystem services globally, yet few studies have examined grassland critical‐zone functioning throughout hillslopes. This study characterised a coastal grassland over a small hillslope at Point Reyes National Seashore, California, using multidisciplinary techniques, combining remotely‐sensed, geophysical, plant, and soil measurements. Clustering techniques delineated the study area into four landscape zones, up‐, mid‐, and down‐slope, and a bordering riparian ecotone, which had distinct environmental properties that varied spatially across the site, with depth, and time. Soil moisture increased with depth and down slope towards a bordering riparian zone, and co‐varied with soil CO ₂ flux rates both spatially and temporally. This highlighted three distinct controls of soil moisture on soil respiration: CO ₂ fluxes were inhibited by high moisture content in the down‐slope during the wet winter months, and converged across landscape positions in the dry summer months, while also displaying post‐rain pulses. The normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) ranged from 0.32 (September)–0.80 (April) and correlated positively with soil moisture and aboveground biomass, moving down slope. Yet, NDVI, aboveground biomass, and soil moisture were not correlated to soil organic carbon (SOC) content (0.4%–4.5%), which was highest in the mid‐slope. The SOC content may instead be linked to shifts in dominant grassland species and their rhizosphere properties with landscape position. This multidisciplinary characterisation highlighted significant heterogeneity in grassland properties with landscape position, and demonstrated an approach that could be used to characterise other critical‐zone environments on hillslopes.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515; AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 2376256

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2376258
OSTI ID: 2403311

Journal Information:: Earth's Future, Journal Name: Earth's Future Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 12; ISSN 2328-4277

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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The importance of accounting for landscape position when investigating grasslands: A multidisciplinary characterisation of a Californian coastal grassland

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The Importance of Accounting for Landscape Position When Investigating Grasslands: A Multidisciplinary Characterisation of a California Coastal Grassland

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