Earth System Responses to Global Change: Contrasts Between North and South America

This book examines the differences and similarities in the earth system components - the ocean, atmosphere, and the land - between western portions of the northern and southern Western Hemispheres, past, present, and projected. The book carefully examines the physical and biological patterns and responses of given biomes, or ecological communities in the two regions. Special emphasis is placed on the relationship of physicial and biotic systems to biogeochemistry and the evolving biota patterns of land margins and surfaces. The text concludes with an assessment of the direct impact on humans on these biomes, giving full consideration to the land-use drivers of global change.


* Integrated view of earth system processes on the west coasts of North and South America

The Ocean: Global Climate Change in the Oceans: A Review. Global Warming and Coastal Ecosystem Response: How Northern and Southern Hemispheres May Differ in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Climate Controls: Northern Hemisphere Climate Change: Physical Processes and Observed Changes. Climate Along the Extratropical West Coast of South America. North-South Comparisons: Climate Controls. Hydrology and Geomorphology: Regional Hydrological Responses to Global Change in Western North America. Chilean Geomorphology and Hydology: Response to Global Change. North-South Comparisons: Hydrology-Geomorphology. Biochemistry: Response of Major North American Ecosystems to Global Change: A Biogeochemical Perspective. Terrestrial Biogeochemical Feedbacks in Global Warming: Some Predictions for South America. North-South Comparisons: Biogeochemistry. Intertidal: Possible Ecological Responses to Global Climate Change: Near Shore Benthic Biota of North-Eastern Pacific Coastal Ecosystems. Southeastern Pacific Coastal Environments: Main Features, Large Scale Peturbations and Global Climate Change. Pacific Ocean Coastal Ecosystems and Global Climate Change. Plants: Full and Late Glacial Paleoenvironmental Scenarios for the West Coast of Southern South America. Vegetation in Western North America, Past and Future. Global Change: The Flora and Vegetation of Chile. North-South Comparisons: Vegetation. Animals: Assessing the Effects of Global Change on Animals in Western North America. Effect of Global Climatic Change Terrestrial Mammals in Chile. North-South Comparisons: Animals. Managed Systems and Human Impacts: Effects of Global Warming on Managed Coastal Ecosystems of Western North America. North-South Comparisons: Managed Systems. Concluding Remarks. Chapter References. Subject Index.