Soil moisture response to experimentally altered snowmelt timing is mediated by soil, vegetation, and regional climate patterns

Abstract

Soil moisture in seasonally snow-covered environments fluctuates seasonally between wet and dry states. Climate warming is advancing the onset of spring snowmelt and may lengthen the summer-dry state and ultimately cause drier soil conditions. The magnitude of either response may vary across elevation and vegetation types. We situated our study at the lower boundary of persistent snow cover and the upper boundary of subalpine forest with paired treatment blocks in aspen forest and open meadow. In treatments plots, we advanced snowmelt timing by an average of 14 days by adding dust to the snow surface during spring melt. We specifically wanted to know whether early snowmelt would increase the duration of the summer-dry period and cause soils to be drier in the early-snowmelt treatments compared with control plots. We found no difference in the onset of the summer-dry state and no significant differences in soil moisture between treatments. To better understand the reasons soil moisture did not respond to early snowmelt as expected, we examined the mediating influences of soil organic matter, texture, temperature, and the presence or absence of forest. In our study, late-spring precipitation may have moderated the effects of early snowmelt on soil moisture. We conclude that landscape characteristics, including soil, vegetation, and regional weather patterns, may supersede the effects of snowmelt timing in determining growing season soil moisture, and efforts to anticipate the impacts of climate change on seasonally snow-covered ecosystems should take into account these mediating factors.