Open AccessFor U.S. biomes, climate change will decrease vegetative productivity
Author(s) -
Schultz Colin
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1002/2013eo100014
Subject(s) - biome , precipitation , climate change , productivity , environmental science , storm , rainwater harvesting , climatology , global warming , ecology , geography , natural resource economics , ecosystem , meteorology , biology , economics , macroeconomics , geology
One recurrently forecast effect of global climate change is that, in general, precipitation patterns will become more extreme, with fewer, larger storms and longer dry spells in between. The aftermath of this shift, borne out by the effect the changing water availability will have on vegetative productivity, however, is less well known. Previous research showed that productivity changes with the total annual precipitation, but the measured effect of a shift to a more extreme distribution is less consistent. Research seeking to understand this aspect of the changing precipitation pattern question has typically been conducted through small‐scale or short‐duration intervention experiments, where the availability of rainwater is artificially manipulated. This makes extrapolating the research to other climes or biomes difficult.