Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
the.effect.of.climatic.input.(i.e.,.precipitation).into.ecosystem.functioning.and.in.
regionalizing.those.indings..The.patterns.of.circulation.inluence.presented.here.
(see.Figure 9.3).support.the.idea.that.temporal.patterns.of.precipitation.at.many.
LTER.sites.(and.by.extension,.across.much.of.the.North.American.continent).are.
inluenced. by. several. climatic. circulation. modes,. often. acting. in. complex. ways.
that.can.either.positively.or.negatively.reinforce.each.other..Goodin.et.al..(2003).
analyzed.the.inluences.and.interactions.between.temperature,.precipitation,.and.
various.climate.indices.in.detail.for.one.LTER.site.(Konza.Prairie),.inding.that.
more. than. one. index. affected. climatic. response. at. this. site,. and. that. the. effects.
of. different. indices. often. manifested. themselves. seasonally.. Similar. analysis. at.
other.LTER.sites.where.multiple.climate.indices.dominated.the.precipitation.pat-
tern.would.likely.reveal.similar,.complex.relationships.between.circulation.indi-
ces.and.response.
From.an.ecological.perspective,.the.indings.summarized.in.this.chapter.are.use-
ful.in.two.ways..First,.they.can.inform.research.on.the.ecosystem.responses.to.cli-
mate.change..As.noted.in.the.introduction,.global.climatic.change.is.one.of.the.major.
issues.confronting.the.earth.system.science.community,.and.the.ecological.responses.
to.these.changes.are.largely.unknown..By.observing.how.ecosystems.responded.past.
climatic. luctuations,. it. is. possible. to. gain. insight. into. how. systems. may. respond.
under.future.conditions..Linking.ecological.response.to.climate.is.complex.at.best,.
but.the.use.of.indices.such.as.the.ones.in.this.study.provides.valuable.simpliication.
of. the.process. (Stenseth. et.al..2003),.especially.because. in. some. cases,. ecological.
variables.actually.correlate.to.climate.indices.better.than.do.weather.variables.them-
selves.(Stenseth.et.al..2002)..The.regionalization.results.presented.here.suggest.that.
in.some.cases,.LTER.sites.provide.adequate.analogs.for.their.regional.setting,.but.
caution.should.be.exercised.in.generalizing.the.results.
The.second.use.of.these.results.is.as.a.way.to.disentangle.the.ecological.signals.
of.climate.change.versus.climate.luctuation..Recognition.of.the.role.of.various.cli-
mate. indices. in. site-speciic. ecological. process. is. important. because. it. shows. that.
“normal”.climate.conditions.can.vary.over.a.range.of.time.scales..Without.long-term.
observation,. it. is. dificult. to. determine. what. observed. effects. are. due. to. climatic.
luctuation,. and. which. might. be. the. result. of. (or. evidence. for). climate. change.. By.
understanding.what.processes.affect.a.particular.site.or.region,.ecological.research-
ers.will.be.in.a.better.position.to.identify.change.
REFERENCES
Badeck. FW,. Bondeau.A,. Böttcher. K,. Doktor. D,. Lucht.W,. et. al.. 2004.. Responses. of. spring.
phenology.to.climate.change..
New Phytologist
.162:295-309.
Clark. PU,.Alley. RB,. Pollard. D.. 1999.. Northern. Hemisphere. ice-sheet. inluences. on. global.
climate.change..
Science
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Cox.PM,.Betts.RA,.Jones.CD,.Spall.SA,.Totterdell.IJ..2000..Acceleration.of.global.warming.
due.to.carbon-cycle.feedbacks.in.a.coupled.climate.model..
Nature
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Denœux.T..2008..A.k-nearest.neighbor.classiication.rule.based.on.Dempster-Shafer.theory..In.
Classic Works of the Dempster-Shafer Theory of Belief Functions
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Springer-Verlag.
