PhD Thesis, 2007 - University College Cork

6 WATER BALANCE, EVAPORATION AND ENERGY FLUXES IN AN
ATLANTIC BLANKET BOG IN SOUTH-WESTERN IRELAND 80
6.1 Abstract 81
6.2 Introduction 82
6.3 Site Description 84
6.4 Methods 85
6.4.1 Stream flow measurements 85
6.4.2 Meteorological measurements 86
6.4.3 Eddy covariance measurements 87
6.5 Results 90
6.5.1 Water budget 90
6.5.2 Dormant season (October to March) 93
6.5.3 Growing season (April to September) 94
6.5.4 Evapotranspiration mechanism 97
6.6 Discussion 108
6.6.1 Water balance 108
6.6.2 Dormant season 109
6.6.3 Growing season 109
6.6.4 Evapotranspiration mechanism 111
6.6.5 Climate change - comparison between the four studied years 113
6.7 Conclusion 114
Acknowledgments 115
7 GENERAL DISCUSSION 116
7.1 The vegetation pattern 116
7.2 The CO 2 fluxes 117
7.3 Water and energy fluxes 117
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