Hydrologic controls on soil carbon and nitrogen cycles. II. A case study Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The nitrogen and carbon cycles in the broad-leafed savanna at Nylsvley (S. Africa) are modeled using the stochastic approach presented by Porporato et al. [Adv Water Res (this issue)]. An accurate representation of the hydrological mechanisms that control the nitrogen cycle at the daily time scale is shown to be necessary to capture the impact of the high-frequency variability of the soil moisture on the nitrogen and carbon dynamics. The fluctuations of the random precipitation forcing propagate to soil moisture, carbon, and nitrogen dynamics, giving rise to a gamut of fluctuations at different time scales. Long simulations are carried out to achieve a probabilistic characterization of the dynamics of the state variables under different rainfall regimes. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

published proceedings

  • Advances in Water Resources

author list (cited authors)

  • DOdorico, P., Laio, F., Porporato, A., & Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.

citation count

  • 100

complete list of authors

  • D’Odorico, P||Laio, F||Porporato, A||Rodriguez-Iturbe, I

publication date

  • January 2003