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This book offers a readable and accessible account of the way in which the world's plant life partly controls its own environment. Starting from the broad patterns in vegetation which have classically been seen as a passive response to climate, the authors build up from the local scale - with microclimates produced by plants - to the regional and global scale. The influence of plants (both on land and in the ocean) in making clouds, haze and rain are considered, along with plant effects on the composition of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere. Broad global feedbacks that either stabilize or destabilize the earth's environment will be explored, in the context of environmental change in the recent geological past, and in the near future. Common contentions and misconceptions about the role of vegetation or forest removal in the spread of deserts will also be considered.
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Vegetation-Climate Interaction How Vegetation Makes the Global Environment Jonathan Adams Vegetation-Climate Interaction How Vegetation Makes the Global Environment 4y Sprin g e r Published in association with Praxis Publishing Chichester, UK PR Dr Jonathan Adams Assistant Professor in Biological Sciences Department of Biological Sciences Rutgers University Newark New Jersey USA SPRINGER-PRAXIS BOOKS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES SUBJECT ADVISORY EDITOR: John Mason B.Sc, M.Sc, Ph.D. ISBN 978-3-540-32491-1 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Springer is part of Springer-Science + Business Media (springer.com) Library of Congress Control Number: 2007923289 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers. © Praxis Publishing Ltd, Chichester, UK, 2007 Printed in Germany The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: Jim Wilkie Project management: Originator Publishing Services Ltd, Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK Printed on acid-free paper Contents Preface xi Foreword List of xiii figures xv List of tables xix List of abbreviations and acronyms xxi About the author 1 2 The climate system 1.1 Why does climate vary from one place to another? 1.1.1 Why mountains are colder 1.2 Winds and currents: the atmosphere and oceans 1.3 The ocean circulation 1.3.1 Ocean gyres and the "Roaring Forties" (or Furious Fifties) 1.3.2 Winds and ocean currents push against one another . . . 1.4 The thermohaline circulation 1.5 The great heat-transporting machine 1.5.1 The "continental" climate 1.5.2 Patterns of precipitation From climate to vegetation 2.1 Biomes: the broad vegetation types of the world 2.2 An example of a biome or broad-scale vegetation type: tropical rainforest xxiii 1 2 4 6 9 9 10 10 13 15 15 21 21 22 vi Contents 2.3 2.4 2.5 The world's major vegetation types Understanding the patterns What favors forest vegetation 2.5.1 Why trees need more warmth 2.5.2 Why trees need more water Deciduous or evergreen: the adaptive choices that plants make. . Cold-climate evergreenness The latitudinal bands of evergreen and deciduous forest Nutrients and everg