2.4. Statistical analysis
Analysis was conducted using SAS Ver. 9.2 (SAS Institute,2011). Analysis of variance(ANOVA) was performed on the data using a repeated measures design with slope position and measurement dates as factors (Littell, 1989). A significance level of 95% was assumed in statistical tests. The relationship between soil CO2 flux, soil temperature, and soil moisture content was determined using Pearson correlation method. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with slope position as a class variable, and both soil moisture content and soil temperature as continuous variables using the Mixed procedure in SAS. Time was considered a repeated measure, slope position as a fixed effect and transect as a random effect. Sigmaplot Ver 8.0 software was used to produce the charts.