Stem density patterns for smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, are highly variable both among years and within the growing season. These variations can have consequences for the overall primary productivity of the salt marsh system, as well as its ability to provide essential ecosystem functions. In this study, I explored factors that could be driving observed variations in four tidal creek...

Direct measurement of ecosystem evapotranspiration by the eddy covariance method and simulation modeling were employed to quantify the growing season (May–October) evapotranspiration (ET) of eight forest ecosystems representing a management gradient in dominant forest types and age classes in the Upper Great Lakes Region from 2002 to 2003. We measured net exchangeof water vapor fluxes in a 63-y...

Structural and functional dynamics of riparian vegetation in arid and semiarid basins are controlled by hydrological processes operating at local, landscape and catchment scales. However, the importance of growing-season precipitation as a control on evapotranspiration (ET) and carbon cycling in these ecosystems varies considerably across the riparian landscape, depending largely on access to t...

Climate change is expected to lead changes the amount, frequency, intensity, and timing of precipitation subsequent water supply its availability plants in mountain regions worldwide. This likely affect plant growth physiological performance, with effects functioning many important high-elevation ecosystems. We conducted a quantitative systematic review meta-analysis altered on from high elevat...

This paper studies the inter-annual precipitation variations in different regions of East Asia from oceans to interior areas in China during 1979 - 2012. The results computed by Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) demonstrate that the annual precipitation changes are mainly related to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, East Asian summer monsoon and aerosols. We also found that the increased Sea...

The shapes of leaves are dynamic, changing over evolutionary time between species, within a single plant producing different shaped leaves at successive nodes, during the development of a single leaf as it allometrically expands, and in response to the environment. Notably, strong correlations between the dissection and size of leaves with temperature and precipitation exist in both the paleore...

Climate models predict, and empirical evidence confirms, that more extreme precipitation regimes are occurring in tandem with warmer atmospheric temperatures. These more extreme rainfall patterns are characterized by increased event size separated by longer within season drought periods and represent novel climatic conditions whose consequences for different ecosystem types are largely unknown....