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Regional Hydrologic Response to Climate Change: An Ecological Perspective

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Global Climate Change and Freshwater Ecosystems

Abstract

According to current consensus, the world will become warmer over the next century as greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere (see Levine, Chapter 1, this volume; Slade, 1990). Changes in atmospheric circulation patterns will lead to geographic adjustments in climate and thereby affect regional and local hydrologic cycles, but in ways that are currently difficult to predict. For example, precipitation in climatically distinct regions may change by ± 20% and runoff may change by ± 50% (Schneider et al., 1990). Substantial regional shifts in climate may alter not only the quantity of runoff but its variability and timing as well. Because many ecological processes are regulated by the quantity and the temporal distribution of streamflow, major alterations in hydrologic regimes are likely to result in modifications of freshwater ecosystem structure and function.

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Authors
  1. N. LeRoy Poff
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Biotic Systems and Resources Division, National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, 20550, USA

    Penelope Firth

  2. Department of Zoology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Stuart G. Fisher

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Poff, N.L. (1992). Regional Hydrologic Response to Climate Change: An Ecological Perspective. In: Firth, P., Fisher, S.G. (eds) Global Climate Change and Freshwater Ecosystems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2814-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2814-1_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7681-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-2814-1

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