Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY
Volume 59, Issue 2, Pages 217-230Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00484-014-0837-1
Keywords
Climate change; Brazil; Deforestation; Ecotone; Energy balance; Mato Grosso; Transitional tropical forest
Funding
- National Geographic Society
- Committee for Research and Exploration
- National Science Foundation
- Division of International Programs [OISE-0003778, IRES-0968245]
- Division of Environmental Biology-Ecosystem Studies [DEB-0343964]
- CAPES-CNPq Projeto Ciencia sem Fronteira (Science Without Borders) program
- California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM)
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)
- Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT)
- Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Mato Grosso (FAPEMAT)
- Sindicato das Industrias Madeireiras do Norte de Mato Grosso (SINDUSMAD)
- Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)
- Fundacao de Promocao Social do Estado de Mato Grosso (PROSOL)
- Brasil Telecom
- Corpo de Bombeiros do Estado de Mato Grosso
- NASA-LBA
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)
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Tropical forests exchange large amounts of water and energy with the atmosphere and are important in controlling regional and global climate; however, climate and evaportranspiration (E) vary significantly across multiple time scales. To better understand temporal patterns in E and climate, we measured the energy balance and meteorology of a semi-deciduous forest in the rainforest-savanna ecotone of northern Mato Grosso, Brazil, over a 7-year period and analyzed regional climate patterns over a 16-year period. Spectral analysis revealed that E and local climate exhibited consistent cycles over annual, seasonal, and weekly time scales. Annual and seasonal cycles were also apparent in the regional monthly rainfall and humidity time series, and a cycle on the order of 3-5.5 years was also apparent in the regional air temperature time series, which is coincident with the average return interval of El Nio. Annual rates of E were significantly affected by the 2002 El Nio. Prior to this event, annual E was on average 1,011 mm/year and accounted for 52 % of the annual rainfall, while after, annual E was 931 mm/year and accounted for 42 % of the annual rainfall. Our data also suggest that E declined significantly over the 7-year study period while air temperature significantly increased, which was coincident with a long-term, regional warming and drying trend. These results suggest that drought and warming induced by El Nio and/or climate change cause declines in E for semi-deciduous forests of the southeast Amazon Basin.
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