Controlled Soil Warming Powered by Alternative Energy for Remote Field Sites
Experiments using controlled manipulation of climate variables in the field are critical for developing and testing mechanistic models of ecosystem responses to climate change. Despite rapid changes in climate observed in many high latitude and high altitude environments, controlled manipulations in...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903&type=printable |
id |
ftrepec:oai:RePEc:plo:pone00:0082903 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftrepec:oai:RePEc:plo:pone00:0082903 2024-04-14T08:20:36+00:00 Controlled Soil Warming Powered by Alternative Energy for Remote Field Sites Jill F Johnstone Jonathan Henkelman Kirsten Allen Warren Helgason Angela Bedard-Haughn https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903&type=printable unknown https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903&type=printable article ftrepec 2024-03-19T10:30:21Z Experiments using controlled manipulation of climate variables in the field are critical for developing and testing mechanistic models of ecosystem responses to climate change. Despite rapid changes in climate observed in many high latitude and high altitude environments, controlled manipulations in these remote regions have largely been limited to passive experimental methods with variable effects on environmental factors. In this study, we tested a method of controlled soil warming suitable for remote field locations that can be powered using alternative energy sources. The design was tested in high latitude, alpine tundra of southern Yukon Territory, Canada, in 2010 and 2011. Electrical warming probes were inserted vertically in the near-surface soil and powered with photovoltaics attached to a monitoring and control system. The warming manipulation achieved a stable target warming of 1.3 to 2°C in 1 m2 plots while minimizing disturbance to soil and vegetation. Active control of power output in the warming plots allowed the treatment to closely match spatial and temporal variations in soil temperature while optimizing system performance during periods of low power supply. Active soil heating with vertical electric probes powered by alternative energy is a viable option for remote sites and presents a low-disturbance option for soil warming experiments. This active heating design provides a valuable tool for examining the impacts of soil warming on ecosystem processes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Yukon RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) Yukon Canada |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) |
op_collection_id |
ftrepec |
language |
unknown |
description |
Experiments using controlled manipulation of climate variables in the field are critical for developing and testing mechanistic models of ecosystem responses to climate change. Despite rapid changes in climate observed in many high latitude and high altitude environments, controlled manipulations in these remote regions have largely been limited to passive experimental methods with variable effects on environmental factors. In this study, we tested a method of controlled soil warming suitable for remote field locations that can be powered using alternative energy sources. The design was tested in high latitude, alpine tundra of southern Yukon Territory, Canada, in 2010 and 2011. Electrical warming probes were inserted vertically in the near-surface soil and powered with photovoltaics attached to a monitoring and control system. The warming manipulation achieved a stable target warming of 1.3 to 2°C in 1 m2 plots while minimizing disturbance to soil and vegetation. Active control of power output in the warming plots allowed the treatment to closely match spatial and temporal variations in soil temperature while optimizing system performance during periods of low power supply. Active soil heating with vertical electric probes powered by alternative energy is a viable option for remote sites and presents a low-disturbance option for soil warming experiments. This active heating design provides a valuable tool for examining the impacts of soil warming on ecosystem processes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jill F Johnstone Jonathan Henkelman Kirsten Allen Warren Helgason Angela Bedard-Haughn |
spellingShingle |
Jill F Johnstone Jonathan Henkelman Kirsten Allen Warren Helgason Angela Bedard-Haughn Controlled Soil Warming Powered by Alternative Energy for Remote Field Sites |
author_facet |
Jill F Johnstone Jonathan Henkelman Kirsten Allen Warren Helgason Angela Bedard-Haughn |
author_sort |
Jill F Johnstone |
title |
Controlled Soil Warming Powered by Alternative Energy for Remote Field Sites |
title_short |
Controlled Soil Warming Powered by Alternative Energy for Remote Field Sites |
title_full |
Controlled Soil Warming Powered by Alternative Energy for Remote Field Sites |
title_fullStr |
Controlled Soil Warming Powered by Alternative Energy for Remote Field Sites |
title_full_unstemmed |
Controlled Soil Warming Powered by Alternative Energy for Remote Field Sites |
title_sort |
controlled soil warming powered by alternative energy for remote field sites |
url |
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903&type=printable |
geographic |
Yukon Canada |
geographic_facet |
Yukon Canada |
genre |
Tundra Yukon |
genre_facet |
Tundra Yukon |
op_relation |
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082903&type=printable |
_version_ |
1796298949916622848 |