Articles | Volume 20, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3791-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3791-2023
Research article
 | 
19 Sep 2023
Research article |  | 19 Sep 2023

Rethinking the deployment of static chambers for CO2 flux measurement in dry desert soils

Nadav Bekin and Nurit Agam

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Cited articles

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The mechanisms of soil CO2 flux in dry desert soils are not fully understood. Yet studies conducted in desert ecosystems rarely discuss potential errors related to using the commonly used flux chambers in dry and bare soils. In our study, the conventional deployment practice of the chambers underestimated the instantaneous CO2 flux by up to 50 % and the total daily CO2 uptake by 35 %. This suggests that desert soils are a larger carbon sink than previously reported.
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