Our objectives were to determine the spatial and temporal dynamics and drivers of soil O2 availability and redox-sensitive biogeochemical processes using easily measured and modeled parameters. We used automated soil O2 sensing coupled with measurements of soil chemical and physical properties, climate, and greenhouse gas concentrations and fluxes. These results are being used to derive quantitative relationships linking climate and soil physical properties to redox sensitive biogeochemical processes in tropical forests. We tested the hypothesis that hot spots and hot moments are driven primarily by high substrate availability using distributed sampling and field and lab fertilization experiments. To better model C and nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas fluxes in Earth system models we need to develop a more mechanistic understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics and drivers of soil O2 availability in tropical forest soils. In this study we used field and laboratory experiments to help develop a mechanistically derived redox component for the Community Land Model (CLM) module of the Community Earth System Model (CESM).
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