Spatial and Temporal Variability of Soil Redistribution in a Heterogeneous Shrub Dominated Landscape

Abstract:

Redistribution of soil by wind results when the erosive force of the wind impacts bare, susceptible soil surfaces. In semi-arid and arid environments, many grasslands with protected surfaces are being replaced by heterogeneous shrub communities with bare, susceptible soil surfaces between the individual shrubs. The development of nutrient islands and the increases of fugitive dust in these areas is indicative of increases of soil redistribution, but few quantitative measurements have been made to date. We fenced three 1 ha areas in an approximately 100 ha coppice dune area of southeast New Mexico dominated by shinnery oak, sand sage, and mesquite and installed a 4 X 4 grid of MWAC sampler masts spaced at 20 m from each other. Weather data were collected at an automated weather station in each of the fenced areas. We found the patterns of soil redistribution to be highly variable in space and time. Differences in vegetation patterns and wind fields were noted among the plots for the same discrete time period that could explain some of the spatial variability. We also noted seasonality of wind fields that accounted for the temporally variable spatial patterns of soil redistribution. We conclude that accurate measurement of soil redistribution patterns in a heterogeneous shrub community requires a very large number of samplers and a long period of study and we believe that net soil loss from an area is limited to fine dust emissions.