Operation of the central experimental sites
DFG FOR 562 TP Z: (2008-2011)
From 04/2008 to 12/2011Principal Investigator: Egbert Matzner, Bernd Huwe, Werner Borken
TThe goals of project „Z Central Experiments” are i) operation of the central experiments of the Research Unit 562 for the manipulation of soil water content and irrigation regime, ii) measurements of basic parameters used by the members of the Research Unit (temperatures, soil water contents, chemistry of soil solution, above ground litterfall, groundwater level) and iii) documentation of data in the central data base of the Research Unit. The two experimental sites are located in the Fichtelgebirge area. The site Coulissenhieb is a mature Norway spruce stand and comprises 9 plots for two experimental treatments and the control, each with 3 replicates. One treatment will be an artificial drought induced by roof constructions during the summer with increasing drought intensities in the years 2008-2010. The second treatment will be an irrigation to avoid natural drying of the soil and to eliminate restrictions of mineralization due to water shortage. The site Schlöppnerbrunnen is a fen and comprises 6 plots, 3 of which are used for the drought and wetting experiment and 3 as controls. The drought is induced by drainage and by exclusion of precipitation in the summer of 2008. We will induce a 3 month drought period in 2008, and a constantly water saturated situation by adding water in 2009 for reference. In 2010 either a drought or a water saturation experiment will be performed, depending on the results of the previous studies.