HR: 0830h
AN: B31E-0348    [PDF]
TI: Preliminary Measurements of Oxygen-18 and Hydrogen-2 in Water Samples Collected from a Cloud Forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica
AU: * Still, C J
EM: cstill@geog.ucsb.edu
AF: Geography Department, 3611 Ellison Hall UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
AU: Foster, P N
EM: PNFoster@lbl.gov
AF: Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab 1 Cyclotron Road, Mail Stop 90-1116, Berkeley, CA 94720-1116 United States
AU: Pounds, A
EM: goldtoad@racsa.co.cr
AF: Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, PO Box 55-5655 Monteverde, Puntarenas, 56551 Costa Rica
AU: Williams, A
EM: peedublya@yahoo.com
AF: Geography Department, 3611 Ellison Hall UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
AB: We collected water samples in August, 2003 from a cloud forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica. This forest is inundated frequently by orographic clouds formed during rapid uplift of trade winds along the Cordillera de Tilaran. Climate observations at Monteverde suggest an overall warming along with intensification of the January-April dry season when convective storms are minimal and orographic cloudwater inputs are most important for the forest ecosystem. This intensification may be driven by uplift of the orographic cloud base above the forest elevation. In order to assess how such changes affect the forest ecosystem, we collected samples during a convective rainstorm, from orographic clouds flowing over the forest, from canopy mosses, and from stream water. The long-term objective of this research is to quantify the influence of orographic clouds on the ecological functioning of this forest. This will include an assessment of cloud water usage by the vegetation using isotopic tracers. We will take advantage of the isotopic offset between cloudwater and convective precipitation to partition water usage by forest vegetation into cloudwater and precipitation inputs on seasonal and interannual bases.
DE: 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions
DE: 1655 Water cycles (1836)
DE: 1851 Plant ecology
DE: 4805 Biogeochemical cycles (1615)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting