Substrate Induced Respiration (SIR) from 26 sites across vegetation community gradient in and near sensor network, 2017

In alpine ecosystems, small-scale variations in topography determine
the spatial and temporal “patchiness” of snow accumulation, snowmelt,
vegetation, and biological activity. In the Niwot Ridge Long-term
Ecological Research Program VII proposal, Suding and colleagues
specifically articulate a need to determine how asynchronous responses
across a landscape affect catchment-scale export of water and
nutrients in the context of changing climate (H4). Accordingly, we
must develop an understanding of how asynchronous responses in
patch-scale behavior including microbial activity and decomposition
are connected hydrologically, how they aggregate at the catchment
scale, and how those relationships may change in the future. To
address this, we measured substrate induced respiration (SIR;
analogous to microbial biomass) from alpine tundra soils at 26
locations across a soil moisture and corresponding vegetation
community composition gradient that included NWT sensor network nodes
6 through 21 in the Saddle stream catchment. These data help to
constrain interactions between patch-scale alpine biogeochemical and
hydrological processes over space and time.