Title

Soil Ph Analysis in the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed

Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

2015

Faculty Sponsor

Shawn Benner

Abstract

Located in the Owyhee Range of southwestern Idaho, the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed (RCEW) encompasses a 239 km2 area of diverse ecohydrological environments, driven by a wide range in elevation, vegetation types, geology, and climate variability. Due to the watershed’s intermediate size, physical and climatological diversity, scientific infrastructure, and land management practice, it has been established as a Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) which strives to quantify soil carbon storage and flux. The purpose of this study is to determine how factors such as elevation, parent material, slope aspect, vegetation, and organic matter relate to soil pH. Soil samples collected at various locations and depths in the RCEW have had their pH levels tested and been compared with previous data sets collected as a part of current soil carbon research. Understanding changes in soil pH throughout the watershed has further implications in general soil, watershed, and soil carbon topics such as plant growth, decay of organic matter, and tie-up of nutrients in soils. Future studies in the Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory (RC CZO) can use this pH data analysis to help answer further scientific questions relating to soil carbon.

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