Temporal dynamics of soil moisture in a northern temperate mixed successional forest after a prescribed intermediate disturbance

Data analysis reveals that the soil water storage under the girdled aspen was persistently higher, as compared to the undisturbed plots over the observational period of 2009-2011. The study argues that the larger water storage resulted from increased net precipitation and reduced transpiration during growing seasons following the girdling operation. These processes “outcompeted” the presumably enhanced interception and transpiration by understory plants as well as increased soil evaporation. Additionally, surface soil layer at the disturbed plot exhibited highest temporal variability among all monitored plots. The moisture profiles at the four plots were different, with the disturbed plot exhibiting relatively wetter shallow soil layers. Furthermore, water loss at the disturbed plot was concentrated in shallower soil layers, signifying a shift of uptake and/or change of dominant processes.