We are looking at soils in Colorado and see huge temperature fluctuations (appx. 2 degree C at 6m depths, and 24 degree C at shallow depths).
A lot of processes depend on temperature. Any specific ones you are interested in?
Microbial activity changes with temperature. Therefore, redox reactions will also change with T. Check Q10 response on microbially mediated redox reactions.
I don't know of studies that specifically focus on the variation/fluctuations in temperature. Most focus on climate change, where overall - meaning average- temperatures change. We for instance look at degradation of organic soils in Northern countries.
Temperature fluctuations within one day are widespread, and should interact with other processes that depend on time-of-day like photosynthesis, or ROL. Would be nice to have a literature search on the subject. I would be interested to discuss it a bit further by e-mail.
I haven't specifically looked at this, but it seems likely there would be a significant effect at your site with such large T variations. Such an effect would be linked with other soil properties and hydrologic conditions, such as texture and moisture content. Here's an article that may be helpful:
Smith, K.A., Thomson, P.E., Clayton, H., McTaggart, I.P., Conen, F., 1998. Effects of temperature, water content and nitrogen fertilisation on emissions of nitrous oxide by soils. Atmos. Environ. 32(19), 3301–3309.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Agriculture
- Soil Science