PARENT SESSION
Poster Session # 15: Plant Ecology.

Wednesday, August 6 Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. SITCC Exhibit Hall B.

Comparing evapotranspiration in Florida pine Flatwoods and Scrub-oak ecosystem at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Bracho, Rosvel^*,1, Powell, Thomas², Hinkle, C. Ross³, Drake, Bert, ¹ National Research Council, Washington, DC, U.S.A² Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, U.S.A³ Dynamac Coprporation, Kennedy Space Center, FL, U.S.A

ABSTRACT- Florida pine Flatwoods and Scrub-oak are forest ecosystems with different structures. At the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge we assessed seasonal and annual evapotranspiration (Et) in both forests using the eddy covariance technique. Annual Et was 16% lower in the Scrub-oak ecosystem. The components of the energy budget (Et, sensible heat flux and soil heat flux) were tightly related to the independent measurement of net radiation (Rn). Et represented 40% and 35% of Rn for the pine Flatwoods and the Scrub-oak, respectively. Bulk canopy conductance (gc) was a strong function of vapor pressure deficit (VPD) during the dry season (November-May) and the average of maximum gc was highly related to Rn for the wet period.

Key words: Scrub-oak, Evapotranspiration, Flatwoods, Eddy covariance