EDI Staging Environment
Ephemerally-flooded wetlands, called playas, are important areas of soil organic carbon and nutrient storage in drylands. We conducted this study to assess how catchment biophysical variables control soil organic carbon and nitrogen in playas and how playas function differently than upland ecosystems. This dataset contains data related to soil and carbon stocks in playas located in the Jornada Basin LTER (JRN) at different depths. We chose 30 playas from across JRN to measure soil organic carbon and total nitrogen concentrations. In each study playa, we collected 36 soil samples. The soil samples were collected from nine locations along two perpendicular transect lines to account for a topographic gradient from the edge of the playa to the center of the playa. At each of the nine locations, one sample was collected at four depths (0–10 cm, 10–30 cm, 30–60 cm, 60–100 cm). We measured soil organic carbon and total nitrogen concentrations using elemental combustion analysis. Using bulk density measurements for each depth range (m), we converted each soil measurement (g/g) to calculate concentrations of organic carbon and nitrogen per unit area (g/m^2) within 10 cm of soil. This study is complete.
For further information, refer to: McKenna, O. P. and O. E. Sala. 2016. Biophysical controls over concentration and depth distribution of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in desert playas. JGR Biosciences 121: 3019-3029.
EDI is a collaboration between the University of New Mexico and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Center for Limnology:
