questions about terracing a slope
If you have a slope, and terrace the slope, does it retain the microclimatological properties of the slope?
In other words...south-facing slopes (in the Northern Hemisphere) are more xeric, drier, hotter, than north facing. East and West of course more intermediate.
The simplest reason is that it modifies sun angle - if the sun at noon is 70 degrees above the horizon, a 30 degree south slope makes it the equivalent of directly overhead...while a north slope of the same angle would make the sun essentially be hitting ground at a 40 degree angle.
Plants on south-facing slopes leaf out earlier, have more heat/drought stress, and north-facing slopes tend to keep plants dormant longer, and temper the heat for plants that prefer more moist/coolish (relative to the area) environments.
North Slope - fruit trees, sugar maple, hemlock
South slope - cacti, upland Oaks, etc
If you terrace a large slope, you now have pieces of "flat" ground alternating with "vertical" ground. When it comes to planting, microclimate, etc, is it still a "slope" or is it more like flat land now??
If it's a south-facing terrace will it still dry out faster, leaf out earlier in spring, etc, than north facing, or does the terracing "level" the playing field (pun intended)?