A novel method to continuously monitor litter moisture - A microcosm-based experiment

Lixin Wang; Heather L. Throop; Timothy Gill

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.12.011

A novel method to continuously monitor litter moisture - A microcosm-based experiment

Lixin Wang, Heather L. Throop, Timothy Gill

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Litter decomposition is a key biogeochemical process that strongly affects carbon and nutrient cycling. Our understanding of the controls over decomposition in arid and semi-arid systems is currently limited by a lack of capability to measure or predict litter moisture. Despite its potential importance in controlling litter decomposition, litter moisture has rarely been continuously monitored due to the technical constraints in doing so. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of using inexpensive, commercially available relative humidity (RH) loggers (iButtons) to continuously estimate the litter moisture. We incubated two types of litter (conifer and broadleaf) in microcosms and tested RH-litter moisture relationships during a series of dry-down events. The results showed that we could successfully predict litter gravimetric moisture using iButton RH measurements.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	10-13
Number of pages	4
Journal	Journal of Arid Environments
Volume	115
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.12.011
State	Published - Apr 1 2015
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Carbon cycling
Decomposition
Drylands
Gravimetric litter moisture

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Ecology
Earth-Surface Processes

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10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.12.011

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title = "A novel method to continuously monitor litter moisture - A microcosm-based experiment",

abstract = "Litter decomposition is a key biogeochemical process that strongly affects carbon and nutrient cycling. Our understanding of the controls over decomposition in arid and semi-arid systems is currently limited by a lack of capability to measure or predict litter moisture. Despite its potential importance in controlling litter decomposition, litter moisture has rarely been continuously monitored due to the technical constraints in doing so. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of using inexpensive, commercially available relative humidity (RH) loggers (iButtons) to continuously estimate the litter moisture. We incubated two types of litter (conifer and broadleaf) in microcosms and tested RH-litter moisture relationships during a series of dry-down events. The results showed that we could successfully predict litter gravimetric moisture using iButton RH measurements.",

keywords = "Carbon cycling, Decomposition, Drylands, Gravimetric litter moisture",

author = "Lixin Wang and Throop, {Heather L.} and Timothy Gill",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.12.011",

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T1 - A novel method to continuously monitor litter moisture - A microcosm-based experiment

AU - Wang, Lixin

AU - Throop, Heather L.

AU - Gill, Timothy

PY - 2015/4/1

Y1 - 2015/4/1

N2 - Litter decomposition is a key biogeochemical process that strongly affects carbon and nutrient cycling. Our understanding of the controls over decomposition in arid and semi-arid systems is currently limited by a lack of capability to measure or predict litter moisture. Despite its potential importance in controlling litter decomposition, litter moisture has rarely been continuously monitored due to the technical constraints in doing so. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of using inexpensive, commercially available relative humidity (RH) loggers (iButtons) to continuously estimate the litter moisture. We incubated two types of litter (conifer and broadleaf) in microcosms and tested RH-litter moisture relationships during a series of dry-down events. The results showed that we could successfully predict litter gravimetric moisture using iButton RH measurements.

AB - Litter decomposition is a key biogeochemical process that strongly affects carbon and nutrient cycling. Our understanding of the controls over decomposition in arid and semi-arid systems is currently limited by a lack of capability to measure or predict litter moisture. Despite its potential importance in controlling litter decomposition, litter moisture has rarely been continuously monitored due to the technical constraints in doing so. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of using inexpensive, commercially available relative humidity (RH) loggers (iButtons) to continuously estimate the litter moisture. We incubated two types of litter (conifer and broadleaf) in microcosms and tested RH-litter moisture relationships during a series of dry-down events. The results showed that we could successfully predict litter gravimetric moisture using iButton RH measurements.

KW - Carbon cycling

KW - Decomposition

KW - Drylands

KW - Gravimetric litter moisture

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A novel method to continuously monitor litter moisture - A microcosm-based experiment

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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