Ecohydrology emerges as a new field of research aiming at furthering our understanding of the earth system through the study of the interactions between the water cycle and vegetation. By combining the analysis of biotic and abiotic components of terrestrial ecosystems, this volume provides a synthesis of material on arid and semiarid landscapes, which is currently spread in a number of books and journal articles. The focus on water-limited ecosystems is motivated by their high sensitivity to daily, seasonal, and decadal perturbations in water availability, and by the ecologic, climatic, and economic significance of most of the drylands around the world. Conceived as a tool for scientists working in the area of the earth and environmental sciences, this book presents the basic principles of eco-hydrology as well as a broad spectrum of topics and advances in this research field. The chapters collected in this book have been contributed by authors with different expertise, who work in several arid areas around the World. They describe the various interactions among the biological and physical dynamics in dryland ecosystems, starting from basic processes in the soil-vegetation-climate system, to landscape-scale hydrologic and geomorphic processes, ecohydrologic controls on soil nutrient dynamics, and multiscale analyses of disturbances and patterns.

Rigorous yet accessible textbook on ecohydrology for advanced students, and a reference for researchers, professionals, and engineers.

Addressing the connections between the hydrologic cycle and plant ecosystems, the authors build suitable mathematical models and apply them to studying the ecosystem structure. Response to rainfall and climate forcing is analyzed from different areas of the world, including savannas, grasslands and forests. The book will appeal to advanced students and researchers in environmental science, hydrology, ecology, earth science, civil and environmental engineering, agriculture, and atmospheric science.

A grasp of key elements of several disparate disciplines is required in order to fully understand the sustainable management of water. The authors, who have undertaken extensive field work and published widely take an international perspective on water in the environment in order to tackle issues of dryland salinity and water allocation.

Encyclopedia of the World’s Biomes is a unique, five volume reference that provides a global synthesis of biomes, including the latest science. All of the book's chapters follow a common thematic order that spans biodiversity importance, principal anthropogenic stressors and trends, changing climatic conditions, and conservation strategies for maintaining biomes in an increasingly human-dominated world. This work is a one-stop shop that gives users access to up-to-date, informative articles that go deeper in content than any currently available publication. Offers students and researchers a one-stop shop for information currently only available in scattered or non-technical sources Authored and edited by top scientists in the field Concisely written to guide the reader though the topic Includes meaningful illustrations and suggests further reading for those needing more specific information

This book provides a comprehensive overview of dryland climates and their relationship to the physical environment, vegetation, hydrology, and inhabitants. Packed with photographs and an extensive review of the primary literature, this is a unique interdisciplinary resource for researchers, environmental professionals and advanced students in fields from climatology to geomorphology.

Drylands are the largest terrestrial biome on the planet, and the critically important systems that produce approximately 40% of global net primary productivity to support nearly 2.5 billion of global population. Climate change, increasing populations and resulting anthropogenic effects are all expected to impact dryland regions over the coming decades. Considering that approximately 90% of the more than 2 billion people living in drylands are geographically located within developing countries, improved understanding of these systems is an international imperative. Although considerable progress has been made in recent years in understanding climate change impacts on hydrological cycles, there are still a large number of knowledge gaps in the field of dryland ecohydrology. These knowledge gaps largely hinder our capability to better understand and predict how climate change will affect the hydrological cycles and consequently the soil-vegetation interactions in drylands. The present study used recent technical advances in remote sensing and stable isotopes, and filled some important knowledge gaps in the understanding of the dryland systems. My study presents a novel application of the combined use of customized chambers and a laser-based isotope analyzer to directly quantify isotopic signatures of transpiration (T), evaporation (E) and evapotranspiration (ET) in situ and examine ET partitioning over a field of forage sorghum under extreme environmental conditions. We have developed a useful framework of using satellite data and trend analysis to facilitate the understanding of temporal and spatial rainfall variations in the areas of Africa where the in situ observations are scarce. By using a meta-analysis approach, we have also illustrated that higher concentrations of atmospheric CO2 induce plant water saving and the consequent available soil water increases are a likely driver of the observed greening phenomena. We have further demonstrated that Leuning's modified Ball-Berry model and RuBP limited optimization model can generally provide a good estimate of stomatal conductance response to CO2 enrichment under different environmental conditions. All these findings provide important insights into dryland water-soil-vegetation interactions.