Katarzyna Szyga-Pluta

The aim of this study is to investigate the distribution of soil temperature in a forest clearing in the Wielkopolska National Park. The results of measurements of ground temperature at depths of 0, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 cm at the UAM Ecological Station in Jeziory were analyzed. Characterization of the annual and diurnal course and the thermal stratification of the soil in the period 2002–2015 was made. The variability of soil temperature gradients between levels at different depths was investigated. During the warm period there is a lapse, and in the cold period an increase in the temperature with depth. In March and September a reversal of the thermal profile takes place in the ground. The greatest amplitude between the surface and the depth of 100 cm occurs in December and is 5,2°C. The amplitude is also high in June, i.e. 4,8°C. Temperature gradients decrease with depth. In the soil layer of 0–5 cm there are greater changes in temperature (on average 0,04°C/1 cm), and with depth the rate of change is lower (0,0001°C/1cm in the layer of 50–100 cm). A high thermal activity of soil in layers up to 20 cm is indicated by the smallest difference in temperature between the layers at the surface. The deepest layers store most heat. The layer of 20–50 cm is characterized by high heat accumulation in the warm half of the year – then the greatest differences between the 20 and 50 cm levels occur. The average diurnal ground temperature in Jeziory in the years 2002–2015 is 9,8°C and does not change with depth. The diurnal amplitude of temperature changes – it decreases with the depth. The highest amplitude of temperature is characterized by the lowest layers of soil and is 8,4°C on average throughout the day. The amplitude values decrease with depth to 0,0°C at a depth of 100 cm. It is clearly shown that the maximum temperature of soil is shifted in time with depth. The greatest diurnal changes of soil temperature in the warm half of the year are in the layer up to 50 cm, and in the cold half of the year – to a depth of 20 cm. The obtained results show that the thermal conditions of the ground in a forest clearing are different from those characterizing the ground  in open areas.