Abstract

The 2012 drought in Northeast Brazil was the harshest in decades, with potentially significant impacts on the vegetation of the unique semi-arid caatinga biome and on local livelihoods. Here, we use a coupled climate–vegetation model (CCM3-IBIS) to: (1) investigate the role of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in the 2012 drought, and; (2) evaluate the response of the caatinga vegetation to the 2012 climate extreme. Our results indicate that anomalous sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Atlantic Ocean were the primary factor forcing the 2012 drought, with Pacific Ocean SST having a larger role in sustaining typical climatic conditions in the region. The drought strongly influenced net primary production in the caatinga, causing a reduction in annual net ecosystem exchange indicating a reduction in amount of CO2 released to the atmosphere.

Details

Title
The influence of oceanic basins on drought and ecosystem dynamics in Northeast Brazil
Author
Santos Pereira, Marcos Paulo 1 ; Justino, Flavio 1 ; Ana Claudia Mendes Malhado 2 ; Barbosa, Humberto 3 ; Marengo, José 4 

 Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n Campus Universitário, 36570-000, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil 
 Institute of Biological Sciences and Health, Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Av. Lourival Melo Mota, s/n, Tabuleiro do Martins, 57072-900, Maceió, AL, Brazil 
 Instituto de Ciências Atmosféricas—ICAT, Universidade Federal de Alagoas—UFAL, Campus A. C. Simões, BR 104 Norte Tabuleiro do Martins, 57072-970, Maceió, AL, Brazil 
 Centro de Ciência do Sistema Terrestre, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (CCST INPE), Rodovia Dutra km 40, 12630-000, Cachoeira Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil 
Publication year
2014
Publication date
Dec 2014
Publisher
IOP Publishing
e-ISSN
17489326
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2550688183
Copyright
© 2014. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.