Climate and Ecosystem Factors Mediate Soil Freeze-Thaw Cycles at the Continental Scale.

ABSTRACT: Freeze-thaw cycles (FTC) alter soil function through changes to physical organization of the soil matrix and biogeochemical processes. Understanding how dynamic climate and soil properties influence FTC may enable better prediction of ecosystem response to changing climate patterns. In this study, we quantified FTC occurrence and frequency across 40 National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) sites. We used site mean annual precipitation (MAP) and mean annual temperature (MAT) to define warm and wet, warm and dry, and cold and dry climate groupings. Site and soil properties, including MAT, MAP, maximum-minimum temperature difference, aridity index, precipitation as snow (PAS), and organic mat thickness, were used to characterize climate groups and investigate relationships between site

SUBMITTER: Rooney EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11600542 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature