HR: 0800h
AN: B51C-0964    [Abstracts]
TI: Effect of Grazing on Soil Temperature and Moisture and Subsequent Implications
AU: * Wolchansky, J
EM: Jennifer.Wolchansky@colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, 260 UCB , Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Blanken, P
EM: blanken@colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, 260 UCB , Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Morgan, J
EM: Jack.Morgan@npa.ars.usda.gov
AF: USDA-ARS, USDA-ARS, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Alfieri, J
EM: alfieri@ucar.edu
AF: University of Colorado, 260 UCB , Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Grossman, R
EM: grossman@stripe.colorado.edu
AF: Colorado Research Associates, CoRA, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AB: Cattle grazing, a common form of land use on grasslands, may affect transpiration and evaporation from soil by defoliation and, in turn, could alter the climate at the surface. This study focused on whether physical landscape changes associated with grazing could have a significant impact on soil temperature and moisture, and thereby affect the microclimate. Objectives were to analyze how soil temperature and moisture vary with simulated grazing treatments. Climatological data were collected at a USDA shortgrass steppe in northeastern Colorado. Eight (1 x 1 meter) plots were selected to represent variations in the fraction of bare ground, while two (1 x 1 meter) plots were used to measure the impact of the arrangement of bare ground. Soil temperature and soil moisture measurements were recorded under a vegetated and bare area in each plot. Additionally, the eddy covariance method was used in the recommended practice of moderate grazing (40% reduction in above-ground biomass). Results from the plots were used to discuss implications for the effect of different grazing densities on the microclimate and water budgets of moderate grazing management and the accuracy of remote sensing images (using large pixels). In addition, the results were used to suggest potential impacts on the summer nesting habitat for the Mountain Plover ({\it Charadrius montanus}), an endangered bird found at the site.
DE: 0400 Biogeosciences
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting