scholarly journals Downscaling Climate over Complex Terrain: High Finescale (<1000 m) Spatial Variation of Near-Ground Temperatures in a Montane Forested Landscape (Great Smoky Mountains)*

2009 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1033-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason D. Fridley
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Sensor Network ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Great Smoky Mountains ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Synoptic Weather ◽  
Temperature Regimes ◽  
Smoky Mountains

Abstract Landscape-driven microclimates in mountainous terrain pose significant obstacles to predicting the response of organisms to atmospheric warming, but few if any studies have documented the extent of such finescale variation over large regions. This paper demonstrates that ground-level temperature regimes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina) vary considerably over fine spatial scales and are only partially linked to synoptic weather patterns and environmental lapse rates. A 120-sensor network deployed across two watersheds in 2005–06 exhibited finescale (&lt;1000-m extent) temperature differences of over 2°C for daily minima and over 4°C for daily maxima. Landscape controls over minimum temperatures were associated with finescale patterns of soil moisture content, and maximum temperatures were associated with finescale insolation differences caused by topographic exposure and vegetation cover. By linking the sensor array data to 10 regional weather stations and topographic variables describing site radiation load and moisture content, multilevel spatial models of 30-m resolution were constructed to map daily temperatures across the 2090-km2 park, validated with an independent 50-sensor network. Maps reveal that different landscape positions do not maintain relative differences in temperature regimes across seasons. Near-stream locations are warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, and sites of low elevation more closely track synoptic weather patterns than do wetter high-elevation sites. This study suggests a strong interplay between near-ground heat and water balances and indicates that the influence of past and future shifts in regional temperatures on the park’s biota may be buffered by soil moisture surfeits from high regional rainfall.

Soil Acid-Base Chemistry of a High-Elevation Forest Watershed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Influence of Acidic Deposition

2011 ◽  
Vol 223 (1) ◽  
pp. 289-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meijun Cai ◽  
Amy M. Johnson ◽  
John S. Schwartz ◽  
Steve E. Moore ◽  
Matt A. Kulp
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Acidic Deposition ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Acid Base ◽  
Great Smoky Mountains ◽  
Forest Watershed ◽  
Smoky Mountains ◽  
High Elevation Forest

scholarly journals Land Snails of Selected Rare High Elevation Forests and Heath Balds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2012 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-32
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Dourson ◽  
Keith Langdon
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Land Snail ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Land Snails ◽  
Restricted Range ◽  
Great Smoky Mountains ◽  
Smoky Mountains ◽  
High Elevation Forests ◽  
First Time ◽  
One New Species

Abstract Selected high elevation forests and heath balds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) between Newfound Gap and Thunderhead Mountain were comprehensively sampled for the first time. Thirty-three species including one new species Fumonelix langdoni (Dourson) were documented occurring at elevations between 1,372 m to 2,012 m. Two previous land snail inventories in the park by Thompson (1981) and Dourson (2005) added sixteen species, bringing the total land snail fauna to forty nine species living above 1,372 m within park boundaries. Overall species richness declines with elevation yet numbers of snails appear to change little with increasing altitude. Heath balds were comparably rich sites for gastropods, Vitrinizonites latissimus (Lewis) being the most frequently observed land snail. Mesodon altivagus, (Pilsbry) and Fumonelix jonesiana (Archer) both documented during the survey are of global importance, a result of an exceptionally restricted range within the park. One ambiguous species in the genus Fumonelix (Polygyridae) is discussed and likely represents new taxa. Appalachina chilhoweensis (J. Lewis) was found at 1,666 m, representing the highest elevation the species has been documented to date.

scholarly journals Variation in overstory nitrogen uptake in a small, high-elevation southern Appalachian spruce-fir watershed

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1741-1752 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Barker ◽  
H Van Miegroet ◽  
N S Nicholas ◽  
I F Creed
Keyword(s):  
Stand Structure ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Root Turnover ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Atmospheric N Deposition ◽  
Great Smoky Mountains ◽  
Smoky Mountains ◽  
Balsam Woolly Adelgid

High-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) – Fraser fir (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.) forests of the southern Appalachians exhibit considerable spatial heterogeneity in structure, and possibly in N uptake, because of a combination of natural disturbances and heavy fir mortality caused by infestations of the exotic balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratz). The objectives of this study are to determine spatial variability in tree N uptake in a small high-elevation catchment in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, compare outcomes among calculation methods, and assess the influence of stand and landscape properties on N uptake. Tree N uptake is estimated for fifty 20 × 20 m plots in the Noland Divide Watershed (NDW). Components considered in the calculations are stem growth, foliage increment, and mortality of spruce, fir, and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) from 1993 and 1998 stand inventories; throughfall N flux measured in summers 1998 and 1999; litterfall N return for 1 year in a subset of 12 plots; tissue N analyses; and atmospheric N deposition and root turnover estimates from the literature. Overstory N uptake varies spatially within NDW, with a CV of 9–41% depending on the calculation method. Variability among methods is even higher, with an almost 15-fold difference between the smallest and largest average overstory uptake estimate (5 vs. 74 kg·ha–1·year–1). Only 5 and 3 kg·ha–1·year–1 of N is sequestered in wood and foliar increment, respectively, while 36 kg·ha–1 of N returns annually as aboveground litterfall. Uptake and its components are correlated with measures of stand structure but not with elevation or aspect.

scholarly journals Diversity and density of the EM fungal community present in high elevation Fraser fir forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (0) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Baird ◽  
C. Elizabeth Stokes ◽  
John Frampton ◽  
Benjamin Smith ◽  
Clarence Watson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Community ◽  
National Park ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Great Smoky Mountains ◽  
Fraser Fir ◽  
Smoky Mountains

scholarly journals Estimating spatial mean root-zone soil moisture from point-scale observations

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 755-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Teuling ◽  
R. Uijlenhoet ◽  
F. Hupet ◽  
E. E. van Loon ◽  
P. A. Troch
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Soil Moisture Content ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Point Scale ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Landscape Characteristics ◽  
Moisture Field

Abstract. Root zone soil moisture is a key variable in many land surface hydrology models. Often, however, there is a mismatch in the spatial scales at which models simulate soil moisture and at which soil moisture is observed. This complicates model validation. The increased availability of detailed datasets on space-time variability of root-zone soil moisture allows for a posteriori analysis of the uncertainties in the relation between point-scale observations and the spatial mean. In this paper we analyze three comprehensive datasets from three different regions. We identify different strategies to select observation sites. For instance, sites can be located randomly or according to the rank stability concept. For each strategy, we present methods to quantify the uncertainty that is associated with this strategy. In general there is a large correspondence between the different datasets with respect to the relative uncertainties for the different strategies. For all datasets, the uncertainty can be strongly reduced if some information is available that relates soil moisture content at that site to the spatial mean. However this works best if the space-time dynamics of the soil moisture field are known. Selection of the site closest to the spatial mean on a single random date only leads to minor reduction of the uncertainty with respect to the spatial mean over seasonal timescales. Since soil moisture variability is the result of a complex interaction between soil, vegetation, and landscape characteristics, the soil moisture field will be correlated with some of these characteristics. Using available information, we show that the correlation with leaf area index or a wetness coefficient alone is insufficient to predict if a site is representative for the spatial mean soil moisture content.

scholarly journals Listeria spp. Isolated from Soil Samples Collected in the Great Smoky Mountains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle L Claxton ◽  
Lauren K Hudson ◽  
Daniel W Bryan ◽  
Thomas G Denes
Keyword(s):  
Mississippi River ◽  
National Park ◽  
Foodborne Pathogen ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Great Smoky Mountains ◽  
Smoky Mountains ◽  
Insight Into

Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne pathogen, and other Listeria spp. are present in natural environments. Isolating and characterizing strains from natural reservoirs can provide insight into the prevalence and diversity of Listeria spp. in these environments, elucidate their contribution to contamination of agricultural and food processing environments and food products, and lead to the discovery of novel species. In this study, we evaluated the diversity of Listeria spp. isolated from soil samples in a small region of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), which is the most biodiverse national park in the United States National Park system. Of the 17 Listeria isolates that were recovered, whole-genome sequencing revealed that 14 were unique strains. The unique strains were shown to represent a diversity of Listeria spp., including L. monocytogenes (n=9), L. cossartiae subsp. cossartiae (n=1), L. marthii (n=1), L. booriae (n=1), and a novel Listeria sp. (n=2). The Listeria isolated in this study were collected from high elevation sites near a creek that drains into a series of rivers ultimately leading to the Mississippi River; thus, the Listeria present in this natural environment could potentially travel downstream to a large region that includes portions of nine southeastern and midwestern states in the U.S. The Listeria spp. isolated and described in this study provide insight into the diversity of Listeria spp. found in the Great Smoky Mountains and indicate that this environment is a reservoir of novel Listeria spp.

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