scholarly journals Lysimeter based evaporation and condensation dynamics in a Mediterranean ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinikka Paulus ◽  
Tarek S. El-Madany ◽  
René Orth ◽  
Anke Hildebrandt ◽  
Thomas Wutzler ◽  
...  

Abstract. The input of liquid water to terrestrial ecosystems is composed of rain and non-rainfall water input (NRWI). The latter comprises dew, fog, and adsorption of atmospheric vapor on soil particle surfaces. Although NRWIs can be relevant to support ecosystem functioning in seasonally dry ecosystems, they are understudied, being relatively small, and therefore hard to measure. In this study, we test a routine for analyzing lysimeter data specifically to determine NRWI. We apply it on one year of data from large high-precision weighing lysimeters at a semi-arid Mediterranean site and quantify that NRWIs occur for at least 3 h on 297 days (81 % of the year) with a mean diel duration of 6 hours. They reflect a pronounced seasonality as modulated by environmental conditions (i.e., temperature and net radiation). During the wet season, both dew and fog dominate NRWI, while during the dry season it is soil adsorption of atmospheric vapor. Although NRWI contributes only 7.4 % to the annual water input NRWI is the only water input to the ecosystem during 15 weeks, mainly in the dry season. Benefitting from the comprehensive set of measurements at the Majadas instrumental site, we show that our findings are in line with (i) independent model simulations forced with (near-) surface energy and moisture measurements and (ii) eddy covariance-derived latent heat flux estimates. This study shows that NRWI can be reliably quantified through high-resolution weighing lysimeters and a few additional measurements. Their main occurrence during night-time underlines the necessity to consider ecosystem water fluxes at high temporal resolution and with 24-hour coverage.

Hoehnea ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davi Rodrigo Rossatto

Here is a communicating about time differences between branch and diameter growth in a tree community of ten species in Neotropical savanna ("cerrado") of Central Brazil. This work was conducted to study branch expansion and diameter growth in a period of one year between 2006 and 2007. Branch growth had begin in middle dry season and had the peak occurrence during the dry period in September, while diameter growth had begin in late dry season and peaked in the middle of wet season in December. The majority of species followed the same pattern. Branch growth did not have relation with rainfall, while diameter growth had a clear and positive relation with rainfall records. These results suggested that branch growth was not depend on rainfall but only on water status recover, while diameter growth probably depends strongly on water and to carbon assimilation that occurs after branch and leaf expansion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 17517-17520
Author(s):  
Naziya Khurshid ◽  
Hidayatullah Tak ◽  
Ruqeya Nazir ◽  
Kulsum Ahmad Bhat ◽  
Muniza Manzoor

A one-year study conducted to ascertain the prevalence and risk factors associated with helminth infection in Hangul Deer Cervus hanglu hanglu at Dachigam National Park revealed that 40.45% (89 of 220 samples) were infected with four helminth species including Heamonchus contortus, Trichuris ovis, Dictyocaulus viviparus, and Moneizia expansa.  The study signified that the infection was more prevalent during the dry season (summer and autumn) as compared to the wet season (winter and spring).  The overall prevalence of Heamonchus contortus was the highest (23.18%) followed by Trichuris ovis (8.18%), followed by Dictyocaulus viviparus (5.45%), and Moneizia expansa (3.63%).  The present study should be of importance in conserving the erstwhile state animal, listed as Critically Engendered in 2017 by IUCN.


1985 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 809 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Vallis ◽  
DCI Peake ◽  
RK Jones ◽  
RL McCown

The fate of urea-N in cattle urine applied during the dry season (in August) to the pasture phase of a pasture-crop sequence at Katherine, N.T., was investigated. Cattle urine labelled with 15N-urea was applied to three sets of microplots to measure the following parameters: (a) amount and distribution of 15N remaining in the microplots during the remainder of the dry season with 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 t ha-1 of pasture residues present initially; (b) the effect of placing the urine 5 cm below the soil surface on the amount of 15N remaining during the dry season; (c) uptake of 15N by the pasture during the early part of the wet season (October to December) and uptake by sorghum sown directly into the killed pasture in January. Residual 15N in the surface soil (0-15 cm) after the sorghum crop was also measured. Of the applied 15N, 26% was lost after 1 day, 32% after 7 days and 46% after 63 days. Losses were not affected by the amount of pasture residues on the microplots when the urine was applied. Almost all of the I5N remaining in the microplots was in the 0-7.5-cm layer of soil, and 65-75% of this was mineral N. The dry-season losses of 15N were presumably through volatilization of ammonia, because leaching was absent and no loss of 15N occurred when the urine was placed 5 cm below the soil surface. Pasture growth killed at the end of December contained 6.2% of the applied 15N, the sorghum crop recovered only a further 2.1%, and after harvest of the sorghum crop the 0-15.0-cm layer of soil contained 23%. Thus about half of the 15N remaining in the soil-plant system to the 15.0 cm soil depth at the end of the dry season disappeared during the following wet season, either as a gaseous loss or by leaching deeper into the soil.


1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 781 ◽  
Author(s):  
DB Coates

The dietary preference of cattle grazing Stylosanthes-based pastures in the seasonally dry tropics of North Queensland was studied using faecal carbon ratios (S13C) to determine grass-legume proportions. Estimates were made at monthly intervals for several years in 1 experiment to determine the effect of year, season and botanical composition on dietary stylo proportions. In another experiment, the effect of stylo cultivars (Verano and Seca) on dietary preference was monitored for 17 months. Where pastures provided ample opportunity for selection, cattle showed a strong preference for grass in the early wet season and in the late dry season. The proportion of stylo in the diet increased during the wet season and reached peak proportions (as high as 80%) in the late wet season or early dry season. Dietary stylo proportions decreased as pastures dried off and as the stylo shed leaf or became more stemmy. The length of the wet season and the amount and distribution of rainfall had a major influence on the seasonal pattern of diet selection. Stylo rarely fell below 20% in the diet. On an annual basis, stylo accounted for about 45% of the diet which was appreciably higher than the proportion of stylo in the pasture. Dietary stylo proportions were higher on Seca-based pasture than on Verano-based pasture. The avoidance of stylo in the early wet season was less pronounced with Seca compared with Verano. Later in the season Seca was the dominant dietary component for a much longer period than Verano. The effect of botanical composition on dietary grass-legume proportions varied between and within years. Correlations between grass-legume proportions in the pasture and in the diet were highest in the late dry season and early wet season when preference for grass was strongest. At the end of the wet season when cattle preferred stylo, dietary stylo was not related to pasture stylo content except in a drought year. Averaged over the full year, dietary stylo content was significantly correlated with pasture stylo content in all years and the correlation was highest in a drought year when there was a high level of utilisation and less opportunity for selection. A simple model relating dietary stylo to pasture stylo was developed and is discussed.


1986 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. P. Van Schaik

ABSTRACTPhenological observations were made in a Sumatran rain forest during three years (1980–1982). Phenological changes followed a consistent seasonal pattern. The abundance of young leaves and the fall of leaf litter peaked between December and February (first dry season); flowers were most abundant between January and April (first dry and first wet sea son), and ripe fruits in July-August (the second dry season). The fruit of strangling fig trees showed peaks in April and October, both wet season months. Within the study area there was variation in both the phase and the amplitude of the phenological cycles. One year, 1981, displayed mast flowering and fruiting. The observations indicate that the conditions for production were better during the mast year, a finding that facilitates our understanding of the evolution of mast fruiting.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
María F. Barberena-Arias ◽  
Elvira Cuevas

Plant diversity is a key factor influencing belowground dynamics including microclimate and decomposer arthropod communities. This study addresses the effect of individual plant species on belowground arthropods by focusing on seasonal variations in precipitation, temperature and arthropods along the vertical organic matter profile. In the Guanica Dry Forest, Puerto Rico, microclimate was described and 5 plant species and 10 trees/species were selected. Under each tree, for one year, temperature was measured and samples collected along the organic matter fractions. Collected arthropods were standardized to ind/m2, identified to Order/Family and assigned to morphotypes. The annual temperature pattern was similar for all species and OM fractions. Arthropod abundance was similar among plant species and higher in humus than in litter fractions. Richness and species composition were different among plant species and OM fractions. All plant species and OM fractions showed low arthropod abundance and richness, and similar arthropod species composition in the dry season, while in the wet season abundance and richness were higher and species composition varied across plant species and OM fractions. These data suggest that arthropods form specific assemblages under plant species and stages of decomposition that, during the dry season, represent a subgroup adapted to extreme environmental conditions.


2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 11501-11520
Author(s):  
M. Bahn ◽  
M. Reichstein ◽  
E. A. Davidson ◽  
J. Grünzweig ◽  
M. Jung ◽  
...  

Abstract. Soil respiration (SR) constitutes the largest flux of CO2 from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere. There still exist considerable uncertainties as to its actual magnitude, as well as its spatial and interannual variability. Based on a reanalysis and synthesis of 72 site-years for 58 forests, plantations, savannas, shrublands and grasslands from boreal to tropical climates we present evidence that total annual SR is closely related to SR at mean annual soil temperature (SR MAT), irrespective of the type of ecosystem and biome. This convergence is to be theoretically expected for non water-limited ecosystems within most of the globally occurring range of annual temperature variability and sensitivity (Q10). We further show that for seasonally dry sites where annual precipitation (P) is lower than potential evapotranspiration (PET), annual SR can be predicted from wet season SR MAT corrected for a factor related to P/PET. Our finding indicates that it is sufficient to measure SR MAT for obtaining a highly constrained estimate of its annual total. This should substantially increase our capacity for assessing the spatial distribution and interannual variation of soil CO2 emissions across ecosystems, landscapes and regions, and thereby contribute to improving the spatio-temporal resolution of a major component of the global carbon cycle.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Endeshaw Lake

In this paper we access the effects of two atmospheric variables (temperature and relative humidity) on two important pollutants in the atmosphere (Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO)) by using one year (2016) data of Addis Ababa. Temperature has impact on atmospheric mixing and cause for the reduction of NOx as temperature increases. There are positive correlation between temperature and CO concentration from January to April with (R2 = 0.69), negative correlation from May to August with (R2 = 0.92) and no correlation for the remaining months. NOx and CO have moderate positive and negative correlation with relative humidity during the months January-April (R2 = 0.294 for NOx and R2 = 0291 for CO) and in the months May-August are R2 = 0.97 and R2 = 0.15 for NOx and CO respectively. But there are no clear correlation between the NOx and CO with relative humidity from September-December. NOx concentrations during wet season was almost about twice that of the dry season, but no such difference was observed in the case of CO. The seasonal average air temperature in wet season is relatively lower than dry season. NOx exhibited positive and CO negative seasonal correlations with relative humidity.


2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Grogan ◽  
Jurandir Galvão

Seasonally dry evergreen forests in southeast Pará, Brazil are transitional between taller closed forests of the interior Amazon Basin and woodland savannas (cerrados) of Brazil's south-central plains. We describe abiotic and biotic gradients in this region near the frontier town of Redenção where forest structure and composition grade subtly across barely undulating topography. Annual precipitation averaged 1859 mm between 1995-2001, with nearly zero rainfall during the dry season months of June August. Annual vertical migrations of deep-soil water caused by seasonal rainfall underlie edaphic and floristic differences between high- and low-ground terrain. Low-ground soils are hydromorphic, shaped by perching water tables during the wet season, pale gray, brown, or white in color, with coarse texture, low moisture retention during the dry season, and relatively high macro-nutrient status in the surface horizons. Forest canopies on low ground are highly irregular, especially along seasonal streams, while overstory community composition differs demonstrably from that on high ground. High-ground soils are dystrophic, well-drained through the wet season, brown or red-yellow in color, with finer texture, higher moisture retention, and low macro-nutrient status in the surface horizons compared to low-ground soils. Forest canopies are, on average, taller, more regular, and more closed on high ground. Low-ground areas can be envisioned as energy and nutrient sinks, where, because of hydrologic cycles, canopy disturbance likely occurs more frequently than at high-ground positions if not necessarily at larger scales.


1983 ◽  
Vol 23 (120) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
RG Holroyd ◽  
PK O'Rourke ◽  
MR Clarke ◽  
ID Loxton

The reproductive performance of cows and growth rate of their calves to weaning was examined over a four-year period (1973-1977). Cows grazed either native pasture stocked at 1cowl4 ha, or native pasture oversown with Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) and fertilized with superphosphate stocked at 1 cow/2 ha. Animals were supplemented on each pasture type with urea-molasses in the dry season, phosphorus all year round plus urea-molasses in the dry season, or were unsupplemented. Mating was for three months from mid-January. Calving began towards the end of the dry season and cows lactated through the following wet season. Cows grazing fertilized legume pasture had significantly higher conception rates and earlier calving dates in one year only. In all years, foetal and calf losses between pregnancy diagnosis and weaning were lower on native pasture than on fertilized legume pasture. Cows grazing fertilized legume pasture were generally in better body condition and heavier throughout and their calves grew faster to weaning than on native pasture. Fertilized legume pasture produced a 2.4 fold increase over that of native pasture in cow and calf liveweight per unit area (382.7 kg/ha vs 159.8 kg/ha) over the four years. Supplementation did not influence liveweight or reproductive performance of cows or calf growth rate except during the final dry season when non-supplemented cows lost significantly more weight than those supplemented with phosphorus and urea.


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