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Interactions and Feedbacks Between Climate and Dryland Vegetations

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Abstract

Interactions and feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystem processes and climate mainly take effect through biophysical and biogeochemical processes and affect atmospheric circulation, regional water cycles, and the carbon budget. In biophysical processes, the atmosphere and the land surface exchange radiation, heat, and momentum fluxes, as well as water vapor. Biophysical feedbacks affect atmospheric conditions by modifying surface albedo, soil moisture, soil temperature, evaporation, runoff, energy partitioning between latent heat and sensible heat fluxes, and upward radiation fluxes. Biogeochemical processes affect climate by altering atmospheric composition and the atmospheric radiation balance, especially by modifying exchange of trace gases, such as carbon dioxide and aerosols, between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Figure 7.1 is a schematic diagram showing the exchange processes between land and atmosphere. This chapter mainly focuses on the biophysical feedback.

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Acknowledgment

Funding was provided by NSF grants EAR 9706403, ATM-0097260, and ATM-0751030. The author thanks Mr. Ratko Vasic, Mr. Dan Kahan, and Mr. Matt Zebrowski for their assistance in preparation of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Yongkang Xue

  2. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Yongkang Xue

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Paolo D'Odorico

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Amilcare Porporato

  3. Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA

    Christiane Wilkinson Runyan

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Xue, Y. (2019). Interactions and Feedbacks Between Climate and Dryland Vegetations. In: D'Odorico, P., Porporato, A., Wilkinson Runyan, C. (eds) Dryland Ecohydrology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23269-6_7

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