Water from air: an overlooked source of moisture in arid and semiarid regions.

ABSTRACT: Water drives the functioning of Earth's arid and semiarid lands. Drylands can obtain water from sources other than precipitation, yet little is known about how non-rainfall water inputs influence dryland communities and their activity. In particular, water vapor adsorption--movement of atmospheric water vapor into soil when soil air is drier than the overlying air--likely occurs often in drylands, yet its effects on ecosystem processes are not known. By adding (18)O-enriched water vapor to the atmosphere of a closed system, we documented the conversion of water vapor to soil liquid water across a temperature range typical of arid ecosystems. This phenomenon rapidly increased soil moisture and stimulated microbial carbon (C) cycling, and the flux of water vapor to soil had a stronger impact

SUBMITTER: McHugh TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4561883 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature