Life Sciences Commons^™

Soil Freezing Effects On A Grass-Dominated Old Field Ecosystem Under Current And Future Rates Of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition, Mat Vankoughnett

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Climate change is expected to alter the intensity and dynamics of soil freezing as a result of increased air temperatures and reduced snow cover. Soil freezing can influence ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling by damaging plants and soil microorganisms, but little is known about how soil freezing effects on ecosystem N cycling may combine or interact with increased atmospheric N deposition, which is also expected to exert a strong influence on terrestrial ecosystems in the coming decades. The objective of my thesis was to examine the combined and possibly the interactive effects of climate induced changes in soil freezing and N …