Dynamics of Soil State Variables and Related Processes Across a Land Use Gradient in Spatial and Temporal Transition

Land use system and management intensity cause huge impacts on soil water, carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the vadose zone, soil structure and related processes in the surface soil, e.g. dynamics of soil carbon, gas exchange, water infiltration, and soil aggregates. Understanding processes during transitions of land use in time and space is of crucial importance with respect to long-term land use planning and its impact on environmental quality. The purpose of this project is to monitor relevant soil ecological and vegetative processes in two established land use systems over one year, followed by a study of the same processes during transition from pasture to agricultural cropland and cropland to pasture and to model the measured variables using spatial and temporal statistical methods. The experimental facility established in this project will be maintained as a long-term project beyond the three years of this study. The objectives of this study are i) to improve understanding of the spatial and temporal behavior of important soil state variables characterizing water and gas transport, biological activity, nitrogen and carbon dynamics, their interrelations and biomass development in two established land use systems, and during transition to alternative land use, ii) to determine the spatio-temporal association between soil and vegetative state variables and derive model parameters that are relevant for transport- and transformation processes in soils, and iii) to identify the spatial and temporal covariance of soil and vegetation dynamics to characterize the variability at different scales based on their measurement resolution and sampling domain size.