Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wzw2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-07T04:23:32.833Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

54 - Meso-scale climate change due to lowland deforestation in the maritime tropics

from Part VI - Effects of climate variability and climate change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2011

By
M. K. Van Der Molen ,
H. F. Vugts ,
L.A. Bruijnzeel ,
F.N. Scatena ,
R. A. Pielke Sr.  and
L. J. M. Kroon
Edited by
L. A. Bruijnzeel ,
F. N. Scatena  and
L. S. Hamilton
M. K. Van Der Molen
Affiliation:
VU University, Netherlands
H. F. Vugts
Affiliation:
VU University, Netherlands
L.A. Bruijnzeel
Affiliation:
VU University, Netherlands
F.N. Scatena
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania, USA
R. A. Pielke Sr.
Affiliation:
CIRES, University of Colorado, USA
L. J. M. Kroon
Affiliation:
Wageningen University and Research Centre, Netherlands
L. A. Bruijnzeel
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
F. N. Scatena
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
L. S. Hamilton
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

ABSTRACT

Annual precipitation on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico has decreased steadily during the twentieth century, on average by 16%. The reduced rainfall manifested itself in the form of regular water rationings for millions of inhabitants during the 1990s. This chapter examines the link between the reduction in precipitation and the land-cover change using a combination of energy balance measurements and meso-scale atmospheric modeling. The explanation of the reduction in precipitation proved to be different than expected. Based on measurements made earlier over rain forest and pasture in Amazonia, a forest-covered island was expected to be cooler because of the higher transpiration of forest compared to grassland. The opposite proved to be the case: transpiration by a coastal wetland forest was less than that of an adjacent, well-watered grassland. In addition, the forest's albedo was 8% lower than that for the grassland. Together, these two factors caused the sensible heat flux over the forest to be twice that over the grassland. The surface energy balance observations over forest and grassland were used in a meso-scale atmospheric circulation model (RAMS) to simulate the meteorological effects of island-wide deforestation. The simulations indicated that the development of a sea breeze during the day dominates the climate on the island. In model runs in which the island was assumed to be completely covered with forest, the sea breeze was considerably stronger than when the vegetation had been transformed to grassland. Along the sea breeze front, convergence caused upward air motions. […]

Type
Chapter
Information
Tropical Montane Cloud Forests
Science for Conservation and Management
 , pp. 527 - 537
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aide, T. M., Zimmerman, J. K., Herrera, L., Rosario, M., and Serrano, M (1995). Forest recovery in abandoned tropical pastures in Puerto Rico. Forest Ecology and Management 77: 77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aubinet, M., Grelle, A., Berbigier, P., et al. (2000). Estimation of the annual net CO2 and H2O exchanges of European forests: the Euroflux methodology. Advances in Ecological Research 30: 113–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bisselink, B. (2003). Precipitation trends in Puerto Rico: quantification and explanation of complex patterns. M.Sc. thesis, VU UniversityAmsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.Google Scholar
Chen, C., and Cotton, W. R. (1983). A one-dimensional simulation of the stratocumulus capped mixed layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 25: 289–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, C., and Cotton, W. R. (1987). The physics of the marine stratocumulus capped mixed layer. Journal of Atmospheric Science 44: 2951–2977.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cintrón, B. B. (1983). Coastal freshwater swamp forests: Puerto Rico's most endangered ecosystem. In Los bosques de Puerto Rico, ed. Lugo, A. E., pp. 249–275. Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Institute of Tropical Forestry, and Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources.Google Scholar
Costa, M. H. (2005). Large-scale impacts of tropical forest conversion. In Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics, eds. Bonell, M. and Bruijnzeel, L. A., pp. 590–597. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, M. H., and Foley, J. A. (1999). Trends in the hydrological cycle of the Amazon basin. Journal of Geophysical Research D 104: 14 189–14 198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Culf, A. D., Fisch, G., and Hodnett, M. G. (1995). The albedo of Amazonian forest and ranchland. Journal of Climate 8: 1544–1554.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutrim, E., Martin, D. W., and Rabin, R. (1985). Enhancement of cumulus clouds over deforested lands in Amazonia. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 76: 1801–1805.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dietz, J. L. (1986). Economic History of Puerto Rico. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Eltahir, E. A. B., and Bras, R. L. (1994). Precipitation recycling in the Amazon basin. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 120: 861–880.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franco, P. A., Weaver, P. L., and Eggen-McIntosh, S. (1997). Forest Resources of Puerto Rico, 1990, Resource Bulletin SRS 22. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Forest Research Station.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gash, J. H. C., Nobre, C. A., Roberts, J. M., and Victoria, R. L. (eds.) (1996). Amazon Deforestation and Climate. Chichester, UK: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Giambelluca, T. W., Martin, R. E., Asner, G. P., et al. (2009). Evapotranspiration and energy balance of native wet montane cloud forest in Hawai'i. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 149: 230–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holdridge, L. R. (1940). Some notes on the mangrove swamps in Puerto Rico. Caribbean Forester 1: 19–29.Google Scholar
Holwerda, F., Scatena, F. N., and Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2006). Throughfall in a Puerto Rican lower montane rain forest: a comparison of sampling strategies. Journal of Hydrology 327: 592–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janzen, D. H. (1978). Description of a Pterocarpus officinalis (Leguminosae) monoculture in Cocovado National Park, Costa Rica. Brenesia 14–15: 305–309.Google Scholar
Kennaway, T., and Helmer, E. H. (2007). The forest types and ages cleared for land development in Puerto Rico. GIScience and Remote Sensing 4: 356–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumagai, T., Katul, G. G., Saitoh, T. M., et al. (2004). Water cycling in a Bornean tropical rain forest under current and projected precipitation scenarios. Water Resources Research 40, W01104, doi: 10.1029/2003WR002226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen, M. C. (2000). Analysis of 20th century rainfall and streamflow to characterize drought and water resources in Puerto Rico. Physical Geography 21: 494–521.Google Scholar
Lawton, R. O., Nair, U. S., Pielke, R. A., and Welch, R. M. (2001). Climatic impact of tropical lowland deforestation on nearby cloud forests. Science 294: 584–587.Google ScholarPubMed
Lean, J., Bunton, C. R., Nobre, C. A., and Rowntree, P. R. (1996). The simulated impact of Amazonian deforestation on climate using ABRACOS vegetation characteristics. In Amazonian Deforestation and Climate, eds. Gash, J. H. C., Nobre, C. A., Roberts, J. M., and Victoria, R. L., pp. 549–576. Chichester, UK: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Lugo, A. E., and García-Martinó, A. R. (1996). Cartilla del agua para Puerto Rico. Acta Cientifica 10: 15–89.Google Scholar
Makareva, A. M., and Gorshkov, V. G. (2007). Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 11: 1013–1033.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malkus, J. S. (1955). The effects of a large island upon the trade-wind air stream. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 81: 538–550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meesters, A. G. C. A., Dolman, A. J., and Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2009). Comment on “Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land” by A.M. Makareva and V.G. Gorshkov, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 1013–1033. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 13: 1299–1305.Google Scholar
Monteny, B., and Gosse, G. (1976). Analyse et estimation du rayonnement net d'une culture de Panicum maximum en zone tropical humide. Oecologia Plantarum 11: 173–191.Google Scholar
Nair, U. S., Lawton, R. O., Welch, R. M., and Pielke, R. A.. (2003). Impact of land use on tropical montane cloud forests: sensitivity of cumulus cloud field characteristics to lowland deforestation. Journal of Geophysical Research 108(D7): 4206–4218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nobre, C. A., Sellers, P. J., and Shukla, J. (1991). Amazonian deforestation and regional climate change. Journal of Climate 4: 957–988.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pielke, R. A., Cotton, W. R., Walko, R. L., et al. (1992). A comprehensive meteorological modeling system: RAMS. Meteorological and Atmospheric Physics 49: 69–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pielke, R. A., Adegoke, J., Beltran-Przekurat, A., et al. (2007). An overview of regional land use and land cover impacts on rainfall. Tellus Series B 59 : 587–601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ray, D. K., Nair, U. S., Lawton, R. O., Welch, R. M., and Sr, R. A. Pielke. (2006). Impact of land use on Costa Rican tropical montane cloud forests: sensitivity of orographic cloud formation to deforestation in the plains. Journal of Geophysical Research 11, D02108, doi: 10.1029/2005JD006096.Google Scholar
Roberts, J. M., Gash, J. H. C., Tani, M., and Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2005). Controls on evaporation in lowland tropical rain forest. In Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics, eds. Bonell, M. and Bruijnzeel, L. A., pp. 590–597. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Scatena, F. N., and Larsen, M. C. (1991). Physical aspects of Hurricane Hugo in Puerto Rico. Biotropica 23: 317–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schellekens, J., Bruijnzeel, L. A., Scatena, F. N., Bink, N. J., and Holwerda, F. (2000). Evaporation from a tropical rain forest, Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Water Resources Research 36: 2183–2196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shuttleworth, W. J., Gash, J. H. C., Lloyd, C. R., et al. (1984). Eddy correlation measurements of energy partition for Amazonian forest. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 110: 1143–1162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smagorinsky, J. (1963). General circulation experiments with the primitive equations. I. The basic experiment. Monthly Weather Review 91: 99–164.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tani, M., Rahim Nik, A., Ohtani, Y., et al. (2003). Characteristics of energy exchange and surface conductance of a tropical rain forest in Peninsular Malaysia. In Pasoh: Ecology of a Lowland Rain Forest in Southeast Asia, eds. Okuda, T., Manokaran, N., Matsumoto, Y., et al. pp. 73–88. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molen, M. K. (2002). Meteorological impacts of land use change in the maritime tropics. Ph.D. thesis, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Also available at www.falw.vu.nl/images_upload/702F8F36-45DC-488E-B2C550BFDCAC2B9D.pdf.Google Scholar
Molen, M. K., Dolman, A. J., Waterloo, M. J., and Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2006). Climate is affected more by maritime than by continental land use change: a multiple-scale analysis. Global and Planetary Change 54: 128–149.Google Scholar
Walko, R. L., Cotton, W. R., Meyers, M. P., and Harrington, J. Y. (1995). New RAMS microphysical parameterization. I. The single moment scheme. Atmospheric Research 38: 29–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walko, R. L., Band, L. E., Baron, J., et al. (2000). Coupled atmosphere–biophysics–hydrology models for environmental modeling. Journal of Applied Meteorology 39: 931–944.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, J. S, and McJannet, D. L. (2006). On interception modelling of a lowland coastal rainforest in northern Queensland, Australia. Journal of Hydrology 329: 477–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waterloo, M. J., Bruijnzeel, L. A., Vugts, H. F., and Rawaqa, T. T. (1999). Evaporation from Pinus caribaea plantations on former grassland soil under maritime tropical conditions. Water Resources Research 35: 2133–2144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weaver, P. L. (1995). The Colorado and dwarf forests of Puerto Rico's Luquillo Mountains. In Tropical Forests: Management and Ecology, eds. Lugo, A. E. and Lowe, C., pp. 109–141. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, I. R., Gash, J. H. C., Rocha, H. R. da, et al. (1992). Dry season micrometeorology of Central Amazonian ranchland. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 118: 1083–1099.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×