Abstract
Climate (precipitation and temperature) and vegetation cover strongly influence surface soil chemical and nutrient properties. The objectives of our study were to quantify the responsiveness of soil chemical properties to climate gradients and how the presence of plant canopies modulates this responsiveness in the arid ecosystems of the Great Basin of Nevada, U.S.A. We measured chemical properties of surface soils sampled from between- and under-canopy microsites along a latitudinal-elevational climate gradient with similar underlying geology to quantify responses to climate alone (between-canopy) and to climate and vegetation combined (under-canopy). Only half of the ten soil chemical properties measured (pH, NH4-N, P, Mg2+, and K+) responded significantly to the large climate gradients without the influence of canopy cover. The presence of plant canopies significantly amplified both the climate responses and caused significant responses in additional soil chemical properties to climate gradients, especially for nitrate-N, calcium, total organic C, and total N. Our results suggest that vegetation canopy is a driving factor in defining how soil chemical properties of Great Basin ecosystems respond to climate and anthropogenic climate change.
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