Influence of vegetation cover on air and soil temperatures in the Sumava Mts. (Czech Republic)

Air temperature at heights of 5 and 200 cm above soil surface, and soil temperature at depths of 15, 30 and 60 cm, were measured in the cold climatic zone at three localities (catchments) under different plant cover during the growing seasons 2002-2007. The catchments Kout (dead forest), Doupe (clearing) and Stolec (mature spruce forest) are situated in the National Park of the Sumava Mts. (Czech Republic) at an elevation of 1105-1330 m a. s. 1. This region is part of the metamorphic complex - Moldanubicum. It is formed mainly by metamorphosed rocks (paragneiss with smaller anomalies). The three catchments have very similar natural conditions, but differ significantly in vegetation cover. The catchments are covered with acid brown soil developed on paragneiss. The clearing and dead forest catchments both exist as small islands inside an extensive spruce forest. The following conclusions were obtained from the interpretation of measured data: (1) The air temperature of the catchment covered by the dead forest had a greater daily fluctuation compared to the stands covered by clearing or mature forest. (2) The air temperature of catchments covered by mature forest had the smallest daily fluctuations. (3) The more extreme air temperatures in the dead forest caused the systematic raising of the soil temperature at a depth of 15 cm compared to soil in the clearing and mature forest. These conclusions are valid for a cold climatic zone during a vegetation season in which plant transpiration plays a governing role in solar energy dissipation.