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By combining the analysis of biotic and abiotic components of terrestrial ecosystems, this volume provides a synthesis of material on arid and semiarid landscapes, which is currently scattered in a number of books and journal articles. The focus on water-limited ecosystems is motivated by their high sensitivity to daily, seasonal, and decadal perturbations in water availability, and by the ecologic, climatic, and economic significance of most of the world's drylands.
Conceived as a tool for scientists working in the area of the earth and environmental sciences, this book presents the basic principles of eco-hydrology as well as a broad spectrum of topics and advances in this research field. The chapters have been contributed by authors with different expertise, who work in several arid areas around the world. They describe the various interactions among the biological and physical dynamics in dryland ecosystems, starting from basic processes in the soil-vegetation-climate system, to landscape-scale hydrologic and geomorphic processes, ecohydrologic controls on soil nutrient dynamics, and multiscale analyses of disturbances and patterns.
List of contents
ECOHYDROLOGY OF ARID AND SEMIARID ECOSYSTEMS: AN INTRODUCTION.- FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES AND INTERACTIONS IN THE SOIL-CLIMATE-VEGETATION SYSTEM.- FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES AND INTERACTIONS IN THE SOIL-CLIMATE-VEGETATION SYSTEM.- SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES, PROCESSES AND ASSOCIATED ROOT-SOIL INTERACTIONS.- SOIL MOISTURE DYNAMICS IN WATER-LIMITED ECOSYSTEMS.- ECOPHYSIOLOGY OF PLANTS IN DRY ENVIRONMENTS.- SOIL MOISTURE CONTROLS ON WATER VAPOR AND CARBON FLUXES IN SEMI-ARID REGIONS.- INTERACTIONS AND FEEDBACKS BETWEEN CLIMATE AND DRYLAND VEGETATIONS.- HYDROGEOMORPHOLOGY OF ARID AND SEMIARID LANDSCAPES.- HYDROGEOMORPHOLOGY OF ARID AND SEMIARID LANDSCAPES.- CONTROLS ON PATTERNS OF SOIL MOISTURE IN ARID AND SEMI-ARID SYSTEMS.- THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF DESERT HYDROLOGY AND LANDFORMS: THE ROLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE.- HYDROCLIMATOLOGY OF WIND EROSION IN ARID AND SEMIARID ENVIRMONMENTS.- HYDROLOGICAL AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF RIPARIAN VEGETATION IN DRYLANDS.- ECOHYDROLOGIC CONTROLS ON NUTRIENTCYCLING.- ECOHYDROLOGIC CONTROLS ON NUTRIENT CYCLING.- MODELING OF CARBON AND NITROGEN CYCLING IN ARID AND SEMIARID ECOSYSTEMS.- INTERACTIONS OF WATER AND NITROGEN ON PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY ACROSS SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SCALES IN GRASSLAND AND SHRUBLAND ECOSYSTEMS.- INTERACTIONS BETWEEN WATER AVAILABILITY AND NUTRIENT CYCLING IN DRY TROPICAL FORESTS.- BIOGENIC EMISSIONS OF NITRIC OXIDE AND NITROUS OXIDE FROM ARID AND SEMI-ARID LAND.- DISTURBANCES AND PATTERNS IN ARID AND SEMIARID ECOSYSTEMS.- DISTURBANCES AND PATTERNS IN ARID AND SEMIARID ECOSYSTEMS.- PATTERN AND PROCESS IN SAVANNA ECOSYSTEMS.- FIRE REGIMES IN DRYLAND LANDSCAPES.- TERMITES AS MEDIATORS OF THE WATER ECONOMY OF ARID SAVANNA ECOSYSTEMS.- UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL DESERTIFICATION: BIOPHYSICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC DIMENSIONS OF HYDROLOGY.
Summary
By combining the analysis of biotic and abiotic components of terrestrial ecosystems, this volume provides a synthesis of material on arid and semiarid landscapes, which is currently scattered in a number of books and journal articles. The focus on water-limited ecosystems is motivated by their high sensitivity to daily, seasonal, and decadal perturbations in water availability, and by the ecologic, climatic, and economic significance of most of the world's drylands.
Conceived as a tool for scientists working in the area of the earth and environmental sciences, this book presents the basic principles of eco-hydrology as well as a broad spectrum of topics and advances in this research field. The chapters have been contributed by authors with different expertise, who work in several arid areas around the world. They describe the various interactions among the biological and physical dynamics in dryland ecosystems, starting from basic processes in the soil-vegetation-climate system, to landscape-scale hydrologic and geomorphic processes, ecohydrologic controls on soil nutrient dynamics, and multiscale analyses of disturbances and patterns.
Additional text
"The diversity of the subject areas treated in this single book is quite amazing."
"...the book calls on authors worldwide as contributors, lending itself to a very refreshing international perspective on the research being conducted in arid areas of Africa and Australia, as well as the United States."
"...the authors have done a good job in linking together the subject matter and in unifying the formatting and tone..."
"...for those who want a taste of the diversity of dryland processes and the role that vadose zone hydrology playes in those processes, this may be the book for you."
Vadose Zone Journal 5:1065 (2006)
Report
"The diversity of the subject areas treated in this single book is quite amazing."
"...the book calls on authors worldwide as contributors, lending itself to a very refreshing international perspective on the research being conducted in arid areas of Africa and Australia, as well as the United States."
"...the authors have done a good job in linking together the subject matter and in unifying the formatting and tone..."
"...for those who want a taste of the diversity of dryland processes and the role that vadose zone hydrology playes in those processes, this may be the book for you."
Vadose Zone Journal 5:1065 (2006)
