Interannual variation of soil heat flux in a grass-dominated alpine tundra. Preliminary study from the Jeseníky Mts.
Vol.12,No.2(2022)
Soil heat flux (G) is an important component of the surface energy balance of terrestrial ecosystems. In polar and alpine tundra, G enters the subsurface layers during summer and relatively high G is released from soil during winter. Measuring of energy cycle in polar and alpine treeless ecosystems is challenging due to complex physics of seasonal changes associated with freeze-thaw cycle. That is why field data on G are much less abundant compared to the other World regions. In our 2 year study, we quantified soil heat flux in two alpine plots differing in the characteristics of vegetation cover. The first one was a wind-swept alpine grassland, while the other one was the same vegetation cover localized in a close neighbourhood of a patchy Pinus mugo stand. Our results suggest that both sites had similar yearly time courses of G with peak values of the heat flux to the soil recorded in spring season after the snow melt (April/May). Maxima of heat flux from the soil were found in the December-January period. In summer season (April-October), proportion of G to global radiation (R) reached low values, typically below 10%. Regression analysis revealed that in spite of similar vegetation cover and microrelief of the two study plots, the site neighbouring to the P. mugo stand responded to R more sensitively than the open plot dominated by a grassland community exclusive-ly. Data recorded and the relationships presented in the paper are discussed with the results of similar studies performed in polar and treeless alpine regions.
alpine ecosystems; thermal regime; grassland; Nardus sp.; Pinus mugo
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