Soil–atmosphere fluxes of trace gases (especially nitrous oxide (N2O)) can be significant during winter and at snowmelt. We investigated the effects of decreases in snow cover on soil freezing and trace gas fluxes at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, a northern hardwood forest in New Hampshire, USA. We manipulated snow depth by shoveling to induce soil freezing, and measured fluxes of N2O,...

The microbial process of methane (CH4) production during the back-freezing of permafrost soils in autumn and the future fate of produced CH4 in the thawing phase of the following spring are not well understood. Long-term CH4 flux studies in the Lena Delta (Siberia) indicate that back-stored CH4 adds to the emission of newly-produced CH4 at the beginning of the vegetation period. Further field a...

[1] Much progress has been made in methane modeling for the Arctic. However, there is still large uncertainty in emissions estimates due to the spatial variability in water table depth resulting from complex topographic gradients, and due to variations in methane production and oxidation due to complex freezing and thawing processes. Here we extended an extant methane emission module within a b...

Hatchling painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) hibernate in their shallow natal nests where temperatures occasionally fall below -10 C during cold winters. Because the thermal limit of freeze tolerance in this species is approximately -4 C, hatchlings rely on supercooling to survive exposure to extreme cold. We investigated the influence of environmental ice nuclei on susceptibility to inoculative...

Background: The repeated freeze-thaw events during cold season, freezing of soils in autumn and thawing in spring are typical for the tundra, boreal, and temperate soils. The thawing of soils during winter-summer transitions induces the release of decomposable organic carbon and acceleration of soil respiration. The winter-spring fluxes of CO2 from permanently and seasonally frozen soils are es...

Efficacy of inoculative freezing by ice nuclei in a simulated winter environment was studied in the wood frog (Rana sylvatica), a freeze-tolerant species that overwinters on the forest floor beneath organic detritus. Adult frogs were confined to plastic canisters and cooled to -2 degrees C over 24 hr with their ventral skin in contact with substrate (humic soil hydrated to 40, 10, or 5%, or soi...

The genesis of some types of patterned ground, including hummocks, frost boils and sorted stone circles, has been attributed to differential frost heave (DFH). However, a theoretical model that adequately describes DFH has yet to be developed and validated. In this paper, we present a mathematical model for the initiation of DFH, and discuss how variations in physical (i.e. soil/vegetation prop...

Subzero temperatures may adversely affect animals by their direct lethal effects and by the damage caused by ice formation (Ramløv, 2000). Animals deal with the latter by three basic strategies. Freeze avoiding animals prevent ice formation in their bodies and supercool, keeping their body fluids liquid at temperatures below their melting point, but die if freezing occurs. In contrast, freezing...

Remote sensing has shown its potential to assess soil properties and is a fast and non-destructive method for monitoring soil surface changes. In this paper, we monitor soil aggregate breakdown under natural conditions. From November 2014 to February 2015, images and weather data were collected on a daily basis from five soils susceptible to detachment (Silty Loam with various organic matter co...

1013 W in the soil–plant–atmosphere system are important at the local, regional, and global scales. Direct measurement of these fl uxes is generally limited to a few locations and to relatively short periods. Many computer simulation models have been developed to study the spatial and temporal patterns in water and energy fl uxes. Th e models facilitate studying larger spatial domains and longe...