Vegetation-Climate Interaction - Adams, Jonathan

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Résumé :
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.

Biographie:
Assistant Professor in Ecology, Rutgers University, New Jersey. About 50 published papers in many different aspects of eology, including species richness, e.g. Adams and Woodward 1989, in Natur. Work on basis of latitudinal gradients, and influence of glacial history. Current work on Janzen-Connell hypothesis....

Sommaire:
This book offers a readable and accessible account of the ways 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. Coverage includes the influence of plants (both on land and in the ocean) in making clouds, haze and rain, along with plant effects on the composition of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere. The book explores broad global feedbacks that either stabilize or destabilize the earth's environment, in the context of environmental change in the recent geological past, and in the near future. The book also reviews common contentions and misconceptions about the role of vegetation or forest removal in the spread of deserts....

From the reviews: Vegetation-Climate Interaction is a wonderfully simple yet elegant treatise on how vegetation patterns are closely linked to the global environment. ... The book is liberally laced with useful figures and photos that contribute greatly to making the complex topics understandable. All in all, this volume is likely to become a staple for both the vegetation and climate change communities, and for meteorologically oriented scientists. It would be a perfect primer for qualifier exams in these fields. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. (D. F. Karnosky, CHOICE, Vol. v4 (3), November, 2007)