Session No. 212

T162. Interdisciplinary Studies across the Critical Zone
Tuesday, 29 October 2013: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center Room 503
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 45, No. 7, p.510

See overview of SSCZO activity at GSA 2013. Abstract in the GSA meeting program.

HOPMANS, Jan W., Land Air and Water Resources, University of California, 123 Veihmeyer Hall, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, jwhopmans@ucdavis.edu

The results of a multi-year deployment of soil moisture sensors to study the hydrologic/ biotic interactions in a mixed-conifer forest at an elevation of ~2000m in the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) will be presented. To better understand root-soil water interactions in a multi-dimensional soil/vegetation system, a mature white fir (Abies concolor) and the surrounding root zone was continuously monitored (sap flow, canopy stem water potential, soil moisture, soil water potential and temperature), to characterize the hydraulics across the soil-root-tree-atmosphere continuum (SPAC). To better characterize processes in the subsurface, we excavated the root system of a nearby mature white fir, to quantify in situ root architecture using a Terrestrial LiDAR system . The data are used in a computer modeling study to test assumptions about tree root water uptake, to analyze soil water stress effects on tree water hydraulics and tree canopy transpiration.