Ecohydrology of water-controlled ecosystems : soil moisture and plant dynamics / Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe, Amilcare Porporato.

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Foreword / Gabriel Katul -- Preface -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Stochastic soil moisture dynamics and water balance -- 3. Crossing properties of soil moisture dynamics -- 4. Plant water stress -- 5. Applications to natural ecosystems -- 6. Coupled dynamics of photosynthesis, transpiration and soil water balance: from hourly to growing-season time scale -- 7. Plant strategies and water use -- 8. Seasonal and interannual fluctuations in soil moisture dynamics -- 9. Spatial scale issues in soil moisture dynamics -- 10. Hydrologic controls on nutrient cycles -- 11. Hydrologic variability and ecosystem structure -- References -- Species index -- Subject index.

Ecohydrology of Water-controlled Ecosystems addresses the connections between the hydrologic cycle and plant ecosystems, with special emphasis on arid and semi-arid climates. This important topic is treated by building suitable mathematical models of the physics involved and then applying them to study the ecosystem structure and its response to rainfall and climate forcing in different parts of the world, including savannas, grasslands and forests. It investigates the vegetation response to water stress (drought), the hydrologic control on cycles of soil nutrients, and the dynamics of plant competition for water. The book also offers insights into processes closely related to soil moisture dynamics, such as soil-atmosphere interaction and soil gas emissions. This book will appeal to advanced students and researchers from a large range of disciplines, including environmental science, hydrology, ecology, earth science, civil and environmental engineering, agriculture and atmospheric science.