The climatic impact of a Sonoran vegetation discontinuity

Balling, Robert C.

doi:10.1007/bf00140163

Cited by 111 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…The increased drought amplified the regional reduction in biomass and production. In another case, the reduction in transpiration resulting from overgrazing in northern Mexico increased sensible heat flux, causing regional warming (39).…”

Section: Species Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic Control over the Functioning of Ecosystems

Chapin

Walker

Hobbs

et al. 1997

Science

968

593

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Changes in the abundance of species — especially those that influence water and nutrient dynamics, trophic interactions, or disturbance regime — affect the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Diversity is also functionally important, both because it increases the probability of including species that have strong ecosystem effects and because it can increase the efficiency of resource use. Differences in environmental sensitivity among functionally similar species give stability to ecosystem processes, whereas differences in sensitivity among functionally different species make ecosystems more vulnerable to change. Current global environmental changes that affect species composition and diversity are therefore profoundly altering the functioning of the biosphere.

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Section: Species Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic Control over the Functioning of Ecosystems

Chapin

Walker

Hobbs

et al. 1997

Science

968

593

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These results, which are in agreement with long-term temperature records from nearby areas in the Southwestern United States (Balling, 1988;Balling et al, 1998;Bryant et al, 1990;Small and Kurc, 2003), need to be validated by field observations capable of explaining the underlying processes. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to explain the difference of nighttime temperatures over grassdominated and shrub-dominated areas and identify the salient processes causing the climatic differences observed between these two land covers.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Feedback between Shrub Encroachment and Microclimate in the Southwestern United States

He¹

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Shrub encroachment is a world-wide ecological phenomenon which is associated with abrupt transition from grassland to shrubland. Such a change of vegetation cover has the potential of impacting the local and regional climate and may contribute to further shift in vegetation cover in many ecosystems. It has been recently proposed that such a vegetation-microclimate feedback may exist in the southwestern U.S. deserts, in which a cold sensitive shrub species, Larrea tridentata, could be favored by the feedback. This dissertation uses both observational and numerical modeling approaches to investigate the interaction between shrub encroachment and microclimate in the northern Chihuahuan desert, and to assess the role of the vegetation-microclimate feedback in favoring further shrub encroachment. In particular, field observations reveal that the shrubland has a significantly higher nighttime temperature (of about 2K on average) than the adjacent grassland, demonstrating the effect of different vegetation covers on local microclimate. Such a temperature difference only extends to a low height level (<20m above around), which establishes itself shortly after sunset and then persists throughout the night. The observed warmer nocturnal condition over the shrubland is interpreted as the consequence of the increased bare soil fraction caused by shrub encroachment: the less insulated ground surface enhances the diurnal soil heating and the nocturnal release of longwave radiation, which results in a higher nighttime temperature. Such a shrubinduced warming is found to be overall important, because it is comparable to a regional climate warming over a timescale of one century. To better understand the underlying shrubs. This can induce bi-stability to the shrubland-grassland system in extreme cold winters, and contribute to further the shrub encroachment.iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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“…Evidence of the effects of human activities on climate systems have been described by modeling programs [2] [3] who predicted an increase in temperature associated to change in soil cover, essen-tially involving deforestation and the continuous emissions of greenhouse gases. Field evidence of these effects goes from local scales [4] [5] to a regional extent [6]- [8]. These processes have been described linked to transformation of natural forested areas into agriculture fields [9] [10], or due to larger climate processes [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature Trend Analysis in the North Pacific Watershed in Mexico

Romero-Higareda¹,

Peinado-Guevara²,

Campista-León³

et al. 2014

AJCC

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Through the monthly data of 71 meteorological stations of the North Pacific Watershed in northwest Mexico, the annual trends of nine temperature variables were estimated using the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and the Q Sen's slope estimator. Annual Q Sen's slopes were analyzed in spatial terms using geographic variables as independent factors and likewise with Moran's I index. Three major physiographic zones were used to perform a regional analysis using pooled data. The monthly trends were also analyzed. Divergent annual trends were found for the nine proposed variables and warming trends were predominant in almost all of them. Latitude is the most relevant factor in the spatial distribution of the Q Sen's slopes. Four temperature variables were found statistically clustered, as depicted by the Moran's I index. The largest regional Q Sen's slopes values were found in the Coastal Plains. In this area a larger increase in minimum temperatures was observed, in contrast with the Sierra Madre regions, where the largest rate of increasing change was found in maximum temperatures. The monthly analysis indicates warming trends in the first six months of the year with a sudden decrease in July and also a noticeable decrease in the slope values in December.

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The climatic impact of a Sonoran vegetation discontinuity

Cited by 111 publications

References 38 publications

Biotic Control over the Functioning of Ecosystems

Biotic Control over the Functioning of Ecosystems

Feedback between Shrub Encroachment and Microclimate in the Southwestern United States

Temperature Trend Analysis in the North Pacific Watershed in Mexico

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