Abstract

Calhoun critical zone (CCZ) has experienced drastic land-use change caused by agricultural activities since the 18th century. The goal of this study is to use the space-for-time method for the reconstruction of the eco-hydrological history of the CCZ characterized by the exchange of water, heat and carbon between the ecosystem and the atmosphere. Our analysis using the new observations supplemented by other field experiment data suggests that although the climates including net radiation, air temperature, and humidity are similar at the pre- and post-agriculture ecosystems, the water and carbon cycles during the post-agricultural period are significantly stronger than during the pre-agricultural period. The water use efficiency of the post-agriculture ecosystem is about twice as much as of that of the pre-agriculture ecosystem. It is found that the cultivated regrew forest has a higher water use efficient than the primary forest.

Citation

Tang, Yao, and Jingfeng Wang (2018): Evolution of energy, water and carbon cycles due to land-use change at Calhoun Critical Zone. American Geophysical Union 2018 Fall Meeting, Washington, DC, 10-14 Dec 2018.

This Paper/Book acknowledges NSF CZO grant support.