Calibrating the data logger…
Mountainous ecosystems are currently experiencing a lot of change in their water inputs. With the dominant water source, snowpack, decreasing and melting earlier. This change in the primary water source not only influences the aboveground functioning of the ecosystem, but also the belowground part as well. The belowground ecosystem is comprised of microbes that breakdown organic matter and plant roots that are growing to access crucial nutrients and water. Both the microbes and roots respire CO2 when they are conducting these functions in the belowground ecosystem. Our research aims to understand how changes in moisture inputs, such as changes in snow depth and monsoon rains influences these belowground ecosystem up an elevation gradient in the East River Watershed, near Crested Butte Colorado. We will quantify the CO2 produced by both the microbes and the roots up the elevational gradient and see how each respond to environmental changes within and between years. To do this, we will combine continuous soil CO2 measurements with spatially distributed soil surface CO2 measurements and novel radiocarbon methods which will enable us to separate the plant and microbial sources of the CO2 and identify how they vary in space and time. These measurements will be paired with forest green up, snow melt, microbial activity, and environmental factors such as air and soil temperature, soil moisture, and groundwater flow. These sampling sites will be taken in the two dominant forest types, Spruce/Fir, and Aspen in the East River Watershed. Our work is motivated by our overarching hypothesis that separately quantifying how below-ground microbe and roots are influenced by the changing water inputs, is necessary for understanding the below-ground forested ecosystems resilience to a changing environment.