How trees thrive in a dry climate: diurnal and seasonal hydrology and water relations in a riparian cottonwood grove.

In semi-arid ecoregions, trees are restricted to river valley floodplains where river water supplements the limited precipitation. To characterize the associated diurnal and seasonal dynamics in hydrology and water relations, we studied narrowleaf cottonwoods (Populus angustifolia) along a prairie river in Canada. From June through August, the shallow soil moisture was depleted but moisture remained higher above the alluvial groundwater table, which dropped to 2.

Evaluation of cattle bedding and grazing BMPs in an agricultural watershed in Alberta.

This paper highlights the environmental impacts of implementing beneficial management practices to address cattle bedding and direct access to the creek in a study watershed in southern Alberta, Canada. Approximately 35 cow-calf pairs grazed 194 ha of grass forage and had direct access to the creek in the spring and summer. During winter, the cattle were fed adjacent to the creek at an old bedding site.

Seasonal photosynthetic gas exchange and leaf reflectance characteristics of male and female cottonwoods in a riparian woodland.

Cottonwoods (Populus spp.) are dioecious phreatophytes of hydrological and ecological importance in riparian woodlands throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In streamside zones of southern Alberta, groundwater and soil water typically decline between May and September.