Temporal Variations in Temperature and Moisture Soil Profiles in a Mediterranean Maquis Forest in Greece

Abstract

Soil moisture (SM) and temperature (ST) are critical factors in forest eco-hydrological research. In this study, we investigated the inter- and intra-annual changes in SM and ST profiles in a mixed Mediterranean maquis forest stand together with soil and meteorological parameters. Hourly data from three field measurements points at four depths (−5, −20, −40 and −70 cm) for 6 years were interpolated using the kriging method to produce annual SM and ST profiles. The results indicate that air temperature highly affects the upper 5 cm of the mineral soil. In general, it increases with depth in winter at an average rate of 0.036 °C/cm and decreases in summer (0.035 °C/cm), presenting higher values compared to air temperature from April to August and lower ones during the rest of the period. Precipitation is the main factor driving SM variations up to a superficial soil depth of 40 cm. The upper soil layer (0–40 cm) infiltrates water faster and presents high SM variability, especially in monthly and seasonal (year to year) time steps. The maquis forest stands are likely to be strongly affected by climate change, therefore the results of this study could be useful in hydrological and climate change studies focused on maquis vegetation water management.