Responses to Water Applications

Water has been applied to several arctic ecosystem types to simulate increased precipitation, with the expectation that the additions would enhance plant production. The production could be stimulated either directly as a response to decreased drought, most likely to occur in dry polar deserts or semideserts (Aleksandrova, 1988 Bliss et ai, 1984), or indirectly by enhancement of nutrient supply to plants. For instance, increase in soil moisture focilitates the transport of nutrients toward the plants roots (Chapin ct al, 1988) and creates favorable environments for N fixation (Gold and Bliss, 1995). 

Water additions alone have generally not led to any detectable changes in plant productivity or nutrient cycling, even in dry, high 

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