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Summer Soil And Air Temperatures In Four Plant Communities, Paul W. Conrad

Theses and Dissertations

Temperature, one of the most influential factors controlling the growth and distribution of plants, was measured during a three month summer period within several stands of vegetation. The stands represented four distinct plant communities: sagebrush-grass, mountain brush, aspen, and conifer. Measurements were obtained by a sucrose inversion method which gave exponential average or effective mean temperature (eT) values. Registerants, small glass vials filled with a sucrose-buffer solution, were placed in the air 10 decimeters above the ground level and in the soil 1, 5, and 10 decimeters below the ground level. The sites were carefully described with respect to plant …