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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Climate And Soil Moisture Dynamics Inform Potential Climate Change Impacts On Available Moisture And Juvenile Tree Survival In Semiarid Forests, Carolyn R. Koehn
Climate And Soil Moisture Dynamics Inform Potential Climate Change Impacts On Available Moisture And Juvenile Tree Survival In Semiarid Forests, Carolyn R. Koehn
UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
Trees in semiarid forests and woodlands of the western United States need soil moisture to transpire and function. Juvenile trees are especially vulnerable during periods of low soil moisture as their rooting zones are smaller and shallower than those of adult trees. This thesis focuses on two soil moisture-driven aspects of semiarid forests that may be modified by climate change: seasonal soil moisture patterns and juvenile tree survival.
In chapter 1, I investigated the influence of precipitation on soil moisture across seasons, elevations, soil layers, and periods of low and high precipitation. I developed time-varying definitions of winter (snow accumulation), …