Ecological Climatology (2nd edition, 2008) by Gordon Bonan
   
Ecological climatology is an interdisciplinary framework to understand the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems in the climate system. It examines the physical, chemical, and biological processes by which ecosystems affect and are affected by climate. The central theme is that terrestrial ecosystems, through their cycling of energy, water, chemical elements, and trace gases, are important determinants of climate. The coupling between climate and vegetation is explored at spatial scales from plant cells to global vegetation geography and at timescales of near instantaneous to millennia. Natural vegetation dynamics and human land use are shown to be important mechanisms of climate change. The boreal forest-tundra ecotone and the North African Sahel are examples of climate-ecosystem dynamics. Deforestation, desertification of drylands, cultivation of grasslands, reforestation following farm abandonment, and urbanization are case studies of how human uses of land alter climate.

The book is written as an introductory textbook for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. It reviews the key scientific concepts, the field observations that support these concepts, and climate model applications that show the impact of vegetation on climate. To aid professors in lectures and to help students understand concepts, the book contains 409 illustrations, many in color.

Each chapter begins with a chapter summary that provides readers a quick overview and an understanding of how the various chapters relate to one another. Each chapter includes review questions to aid students in their understanding and to allow them to monitor their comprehension of the material. Each chapter also contains a bibliography of the relevant literature, with 1,975 scientific studies cited in a state-of-the-art scientific review.

Read more about this book at the Cambridge University Press web site: Paperback, Hardback


Cambridge University Press | 550 pages, 32 color plates, 84 tables, 377 figures, 30 chapters, 230 review questions

Hardback | October 2008 | ISBN: 978-0-521-87221-8 | $180

Paperback | October 2008 | ISBN: 978-0-521-69319-6 | $80

First edition (2002)...

REVIEWS OF FIRST EDITION
1. Environmental Conservation (pdf)
2. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (pdf)
3. TEG NEWS (pdf)

CONTENTS  

Chapter 1: Introduction

PART 1: THE EARTH SYSTEM
Chapter 2: Components of the earth system Chapter 3: Global cycles

PART 2: GLOBAL PHYSICAL CLIMATOLOGY
Chapter 4: Atmospheric radiation Chapter 5: Atmospheric general circulation and climate
Chapter 6: Earth's climate Chapter 7: Climate variability
Chapter 8: Climate Change

PART 3: SOIL PROCESSES
Chapter 9: Soil physics Chapter 10: Soil biogeochemistry

PART 4: HYDROMETEOROLOGY
Chapter 11: Water balance Chapter 12: Watershed hydrology
Chapter 13: Surface energy fluxes Chapter 14: Turbulent fluxes
Chapter 15: Soil moisture and the atmospheric boundary layer

PART 5: BIOMETEOROLOGY
Chapter 16: Leaf energy fluxes Chapter 17: Leaf photosynthesis
Chapter 18: Plant canopies

PART 6: TERRESTRIAL PLANT ECOLOGY
Chapter 19: Plant strategies Chapter 20: Populations and communities
Chapter 21: Ecosystems Chapter 22: Vegetation dynamics
Chapter 23: Disturbances and landscapes Chapter 24: Global biogeography

PART 7: TERRESTRIAL FORCINGS AND FEEDBACKS
Chapter 25: Land surface processes in climate models Chapter 26: Seasonal-to-interannual variability
Chapter 27: Land use and land cover change Chapter 28: Coupled climate-vegetation dynamics
Chapter 29: Carbon cycle-climate feedbacks Chapter 30: Urbanization

The book is divided into seven sections on the earth system, global physical climatology, soil processes, hydrometeorology, biometeorology, terrestrial plant ecology, and terrestrial forcings and feedbacks. The first section describes component spheres of the earth system (Chapter 2) and the energy, water, and biogeochemical cycles that link these spheres (Chapter 3).

The second section reviews climates, climate variability, and climate change. The radiative balance of the atmosphere, especially solar radiation, its geographic variation, and its annual cycle, is an important determinant of climate (Chapter 4). Geographic and seasonal variation in the radiative balance drives the general circulation of the atmosphere (Chapter 5). This gives rise to Earth’s macroclimates, and within which mountains, lakes, and vegetation create local climates (Chapter 6). The realized temperature and precipitation in any year can deviate markedly from the long-term climatology because of seasonal-to-interannual atmospheric variability such as the El Niño/Southern Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation (Chapter 7). Climate also changes over longer timescales of centuries and millennia in response to changes in insolation, greenhouse gases, and numerous feedbacks within the climate system (Chapter 8).

The third section reviews soil physics (Chapter 9) and biogeochemistry (Chapter 10). Soils store vast amounts of energy, which modulates the diurnal and annual cycle of temperature. They provide water for evapotranspiration and regulate the hydrologic cycle on land. The weathering of rocks and the decomposition of soil organic material are part of the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and provide nutrients to sustain plant growth.

The fourth section on hydrometeorology reviews the hydrologic cycle, surface energy fluxes, and interactions between the hydrosphere and atmosphere. The hydrologic cycle on land is reviewed in terms of point processes (Chapter 11) and watersheds (Chapter 12). The hydrologic cycle regulates surface energy fluxes. The energy balance at Earth’s land surface requires that energy gained from net radiation be balanced by the fluxes of sensible and latent heat to the atmosphere and the storage of heat in soil (Chapter 13). The fluxes of sensible and latent heat occur because turbulent mixing of air transports heat and moisture, typically away from the surface (Chapter 14). Soil water exerts strong control on the partitioning of net radiation in sensible and latent heat fluxes, and through this affects the atmospheric boundary layer (Chapter 15).

The fifth section reviews biometeorology. The exchanges of sensible heat, latent heat, and CO2 between land and atmosphere are regulated by the physiology and micrometeorology of plant canopies. Individual leaves absorb radiation and exchange sensible heat and latent heat with the surrounding air (Chapter 16). The uptake of CO2 during photosynthesis is tightly coupled to the loss of water during transpiration (Chapter 17). Both occur through stomatal openings on the leaf surface. The aggregate flux from vegetation is the integral of the individual leaf fluxes over the depth of the canopy (Chapter 18).

The sixth section reviews terrestrial plant ecology. It extends the discussion of plant physiology from the previous section to an overview of whole-plant allocation and plant strategies (Chapter 19), the arrangement of plant species into populations and communities (Chapter 20), and the functioning of ecosystems (Chapter 21). Vegetation changes over time in response to recurring disturbance (Chapter 22). Landscapes represent another level of ecological organization, merging the concepts of populations, communities, ecosystems, and plant dynamics. Spatial gradients in environment combine with recurring disturbance to create a mosaic of plant communities and ecosystems across the landscape (Chapter 23). The structure and composition of vegetation and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, which at a local scale are shaped by environmental factors such as temperature and moisture, are also influenced by global climate patterns. This is seen in the biogeography of vegetation and in the global carbon cycle, especially net primary production (Chapter 24).

The final section examines terrestrial forcings and feedbacks in the climate system, especially how natural and human changes in land cover and land use affect climate. Numerous global climate model experiments have demonstrated the role of land surface hydrology and terrestrial vegetation in determining regional and global climate. Chapter 25 reviews the representation of land surface processes in climate models. Soil water, snow, and vegetation contribute to climate variability (Chapter 26). Deforestation, reforestation, degradation of drylands, and cultivation of croplands are case studies of how human uses of land alter climate (Chapter 27). Vegetation dynamics in response to climate change also alters climate. The boreal forest-tundra ecotone and the Sahel of North Africa are prominent examples of coupled climate-vegetation dynamics (Chapter 28). In addition to biogeophysical feedbacks, terrestrial ecosystems are coupled to climate through various biogeochemical cycles. The carbon cycle is a prominent feedback on climate change, and many climate models now include terrestrial and oceanic carbon cycles (Chapter 29). Urbanization also alters climate and the hydrologic cycle (Chapter 30).

Gordon Bonan is a scientist in the Climate and Global Dynamics Division (CGD) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). He is head of the Terrestrial Sciences Section.