Testing consumer pressure and water addition on plant interactions

During an extreme drought year (2014) and an El Niño year (2016) in the arid central valley of California, USA, we artificially manipulated a soil moisture gradient and erected animal exclosures to examine the interactions between dominant shrubs and the subordinate annual community. Loggers were placed to record the differences in temperature and relative humidity in shrub and open microsites. Loggers used were HOBO ProV2 by Onset burried underground with the sensor raised 2 cm above the ground surface. Six pairs of loggers were used in 2014, and three pairs of loggers were used in 2016.