Meteorological impacts of land use change in the maritime tropics
Researcher: Michiel K. van der Molen
Current affiliation: Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Supervisors:
Collaborators:
- A.G.C.A. Meesters - VU University
- L.J.M. Kroon - Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- R.A. Pielke Sr. - CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Duration: 1997-2002
Funding: VU University Amsterdam, USDA Forest Service, USA
Research questions
- How do surface energy budgets differ between coastal lowland forest, pasture, and various upland rain forest types in Puerto Rico?
- What are the impacts of lowland deforestation on the atmospheric boundary layer and meso-scale circulation under the wet maritime conditions prevailing on a comparatively small tropical island like Puerto Rico?
Project publications
- Van der Molen, M.K., Vugts, H.F., Bruijnzeel, L.A., Scatena, F.N., Pielke Sr., R.A., Kroon, L.J. (2010). Meso-scale climate change due to lowland deforestation in the maritime tropics. In Tropical Montane Cloud Forest. Science for Conservation and Management, Bruijnzeel LA, Scatena FN, Hamilton LS. (eds.). Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK; 527-537.
- Van der Molen, M.K., Dolman, A.J., Waterloo, M.J., 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.
- Van der Molen, M.K. (2002). Meteorological impacts of land use change in the maritime tropics Doctoral Dissertation, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, NL,. 262 pp
Selected related publications
- Meesters, A.G.C.A., Dolman, A.J., Bruijnzeel, L.A. (2009). Comment on "Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land" by A.M. Makarieva and V.G. Gorshkov, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (2007). Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 13, 1299-1305.
- Holwerda, F. (2005). Water and energy budgets of rain forests along an elevation gradient under maritime tropical conditions. Doctoral dissertation, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, NL, 167 pp.
