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Mesoscale: Landform Differentiation (Landscape Mosaics)

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Ecosystem Geography

Abstract

Macroclimate accounts for the largest share of systematic environmental variation at the macroscale or regional level. Within the same macroclimate, broad-scale landforms break up the east–west climatic pattern that would occur otherwise and provide a basis for further differentiation of ecosystems—the landscape mosaics mentioned earlier. The character of a landscape mosaic with identical geology will vary by the climatic zone. For example, vertical limestone would form quite different landscapes in a subarctic climate than in a hot and arid climate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 240 W Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, USA

    Robert G. Bailey

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  1. Robert G. Bailey
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Correspondence to Robert G. Bailey .

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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Bailey, R.G. (2009). Mesoscale: Landform Differentiation (Landscape Mosaics). In: Ecosystem Geography. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89516-1_9

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