Climate and ecosystems / David Schimel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schimel, David Steven.

Series:

Princeton primers in climate

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Climate change mitigation.

Biotic communities.

Ecosystem management.

Physical Description:

xv, 222 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2013]

Summary:

Princeton Primers in Climate is a new series of short, authoritative books that explain the state of the art in climate-science research. Written specifically for students, researchers, and scientifically minded general readers looking for succinct and readable books on this frequently misunderstood subject, these primers reveal the physical workings of the global climate system with unmatched accessibility and detail. Princeton Primers in Climate is the ideal first place to turn to get the essential facts, presented with uncompromising clarity, and to begin further investigation-whether in the classroom or in one's own reading chair. How does life on our planet respond to-and shape-climate? This question has never been more urgent than it is today, when humans are faced with the daunting task of guiding adaptation to an inexorably changing climate. This concise, accessible, and authoritative book provides an unmatched introduction to the most reliable current knowledge about the complex relationship between living things and climate. Using an Earth System framework, David Schimel describes how organisms, communities of organisms, and the planetary biosphere itself react to and influence environmental change. While much about the biosphere and its interactions with the rest of the Earth System remains a mystery, this book explains what is known about how physical and chemical climate affect organisms, how those physical changes influence how organisms function as individuals and in communities of organisms, and ultimately how climate-triggered ecosystem changes feed back to the physical and chemical parts of the Earth System. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

2 The Climate System 11

3 Climate Controls over Ecosystems 35

4 Ecosystem Feedbacks and Interactions with Climate 87

5 Modeling the Future 158

6 Summary and Concluding Thoughts 193.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0691151962

9780691151953

0691151954

9780691151960

OCLC:

820118619

Publisher Number:

99954691770