North Temperate Lakes LTER: Patterns of Soil Phosphorus - Y Plot Analysis 2001

In natural soils, patterns of variance are generated by driving forces such as parent materials, climate, hydrology, relief, disturbance and biological activity. These drivers, operating at particular scales and interacting with other drivers across scales, create a complex pattern of soil variability. Human activity may change the natural patterns of variance by changing the scale at which the governing processes are operating or the governing processes that are dominant at a given scale. In the case of soils and phosphorus (P) concentrations, this may involve changing dominant forces from plant-soil interactions and parent material to fertilizer inputs. Here, we examine the hypothesis that human activity changes natural patterns of variance in soil P concentrations across several spatial scales. We measured soil P concentrations and variability at 3 distinct levels of analysis - among sites, within a field, and within a 10-m diameter plot - and across 4 management regimes - remnant prairie, lawns, cash grain farms, and dairies. Variance changed across scale in any one management regime and across management regimes at the same scale. Rescaling the pattern of P accumulation and variability has implications for managing P runoff from uplands. For sample sites on private property, specific site location information, such as GPS coordinates, is not included in these datasets. If you have a need for this information, please get in touch with the contact person listed above Number of sites: 30