Water, light, and heat are essential for ecosystem
functioning. Transformations of these components by
key parts of an ecosystem, such as soil and vegetated
canopy, and complex exchange between the latter and
the lower portion of the atmosphere are often
described in terms of energy and radiation fluxes. In
this book, the seasonal and interannual exchange of
water and energy, and light penetration and
absorption are studied for the specific case of
fluxes and efficiencies of native grassland and
cultivated wheat ecosystems, and examined in terms of
main controlling variables, such as solar radiation,
soil moisture, leaf area, canopy development stage,
etc. Evapotranspiration model of Priestley and Taylor
is modified to incorporate these effects, leading to
a substantial improvement in water loss prediction.
New approach to determine periods of vegetation
activity is developed based on photosynthetically
active radiation albedo and green foliage area index.
This study helps to improve our understanding of
ecosystem exchange and use of its key non-carbon
resources, and should be useful to professionals in
Natural and Ecosystem Sciences, and in Natural
Resources management.
functioning. Transformations of these components by
key parts of an ecosystem, such as soil and vegetated
canopy, and complex exchange between the latter and
the lower portion of the atmosphere are often
described in terms of energy and radiation fluxes. In
this book, the seasonal and interannual exchange of
water and energy, and light penetration and
absorption are studied for the specific case of
fluxes and efficiencies of native grassland and
cultivated wheat ecosystems, and examined in terms of
main controlling variables, such as solar radiation,
soil moisture, leaf area, canopy development stage,
etc. Evapotranspiration model of Priestley and Taylor
is modified to incorporate these effects, leading to
a substantial improvement in water loss prediction.
New approach to determine periods of vegetation
activity is developed based on photosynthetically
active radiation albedo and green foliage area index.
This study helps to improve our understanding of
ecosystem exchange and use of its key non-carbon
resources, and should be useful to professionals in
Natural and Ecosystem Sciences, and in Natural
Resources management.