Basic Experimental Design
The experiment was designed to test the effects of increasing wind
erosion on soil and vegetation properties at the Jornada. In order
to increase wind erosion rates, vegetation was removed to increase
bare surface area and stimulate erosion (the less vegetation present
the greater the wind erosion). The basic experimental design
includes three treatment blocks. Each block has four treatment plots
with different level of vegetation removed (25-100%) and a control
treatment. Treatment plots are 25x50m with 25m buffers between. The
vegetation removal includes grasses and small shrubs (like XASA and
ZIGR), but not mesquite or yucca or any of the larger shrubs). Also,
adjacent downwind plots are included in the design. These plots are
strictly for monitoring of soil and vegetation properties, so no
maintenance is required on these areas.
Each treatment area and adjacent downwind area has 6 BSNE stands,
each with 6 or 4 dust collectors per vertical stand. There are two
exceptions: Block 1, Treatment C has 3 downwind stands; Block 2,
Treatment 3 has 4 downwind BSNE stands. On the Treatment 4 Upwind
plots (the area with the most vegetation removal) these stands are
3m tall with 6 traps at heights 15, 30, 60, 90, 160, 250 cm
respectively. All the other stands, including Treatment 4 Downwind,
the dust collectors are 1 meter tall. The heights on these are 15,
30, 60, 120 cm. Heights are based on distance from ground to bottom
of BSNE opening when collector is pointing 250° from true North (the
prevailing wind direction). Each upwind and downwind plot has 6
stands with the following exception: Block 2, Treatment 3 has 6
upwind BSNE stands and 4 downwind BSNE stands.
A schematic of the plots is provided in
"NEAT_BSNE_map.tif".
BSNE sampling and maintenance
Except for 2008 when it was an annual collection, BSNEs are
collected twice a year, typically February (before windy season) and
June (after windy season). As part of the biannual collection, the
trap heights need to be measured and adjusted accordingly, along
with any other maintenance that needs to be done (such as rewiring
the traps, rebalancing the 3 meter stands, veg clipping, etc.).
Vegetation is clipped as needed to allow BSNEs to freely rotate
360º. The dust from each trap gets placed in a 6x4 inch, 4-mil
Ziploc-style bag and appropriately labeled and dated.
The air dry weight in grams of the dust sample in each collector is
calculated from the mass of the sample and the bag minus the average
mass of all bags used during the collection ( (Bag + Sample) -
Avg_Bag_Wt ).
The general protocol and guidelines for BSNE data collection are
described in detail in the attached "BSNE-protocol.pdf"
document.
