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Spatial Patterns of Soil Surface C Flux in Experimental Canopy Gaps

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Abstract

To explore within-gap spatial patterns of soil surface CO2 flux, we measured instantaneous soil surface CO2 flux, soil surface temperature, and soil moisture in north–south transects across canopy gaps and in adjacent contiguous forest from April to November 2010 in a second-growth northern hardwood forest in Wisconsin, USA. Throughout the growing season, soil surface CO2 flux was higher in the northern 1/3 and northern edge of gaps compared to the central and southern portions. These patterns were driven primarily by within-gap variation in soil temperature, which was itself driven by within-gap patterns of insolation. Most locations in the northern 1/3 and northern edge of gaps had significantly higher modeled total growing season C flux (mean 725 g C m−2) compared to the contiguous forest (mean 706 g C m−2), whereas C flux in the central and southern portions of gaps (mean 555 g C m−2) was significantly lower than both the contiguous forest and the northern portions of gaps.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Managed Ecosystems Program of the National Research Initiative of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, Grant number 2006-55101-17060 to D. Mladenoff, T. Gower, and C. Lorimer; Wisconsin DNR Division of Forestry and WI DNR Bureau of Integrated Science Services, Pittman-Robertson Funds to D. Mladenoff and J. Forrester. We are very grateful to the Wisconsin DNR, Nick Kueler, Tom Gower, Craig Lorimer, Julia Burton, Jake Dyer, and our field and laboratory crew.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

    Jason D. Schatz, Jodi A. Forrester & David J. Mladenoff

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  1. Jason D. Schatz
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  2. Jodi A. Forrester
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  3. David J. Mladenoff
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Correspondence to Jason D. Schatz.

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Author Contributions

Jason D. Schatz: Performed research; analyzed data; wrote paper. Jodi Forrester: Conceived and designed study; performed research; edited and contributed to paper text and analysis. David Mladenoff: Conceived and designed study (PI); edited paper.

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Schatz, J.D., Forrester, J.A. & Mladenoff, D.J. Spatial Patterns of Soil Surface C Flux in Experimental Canopy Gaps. Ecosystems 15, 616–623 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-012-9535-1

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