Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm
Chair of the UMD Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and Interim Director of the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center

Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Lecture begins at 6:30 p.m.

Milkboy Art House

MilkBoy ArtHouse
7416 Baltimore Ave.
College Park, MD 20740
(Directions)

RSVP at go.umd.edu/scienceontap11.
Space is limited. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Happy hour specials will be available until 7 p.m.

Questions? Contact Abby Robinson
at abbyr@umd.edu or 301-405-5845.

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ABOUT THE TALK
The vulnerability and resilience of natural ecosystems are dependent on phenomena that link the water, soil, vegetation and climate. Understanding perturbations in these major components and how they trigger impacts on ecosystem characteristics is a challenge that generally transcends disciplinary and geographical boundaries and is key to sustaining the diversity of life on Earth. This talk focuses on the emerging science of ecohydrology, one of the most exciting scientific frontiers of the 21st century, embracing problems that are crucial to the understanding of biodiversity and the environment. For instance, vegetation exerts important controls on the water and nutrient balances of ecosystems and is responsible for many feedbacks to the atmosphere. At the same time, climate and soil have a key influence on patterns of vegetation distribution. Vegetation plays a special role in the functioning of ecosystems: plant physiological processes (transpiration, photosynthesis and biomass production) condition the water balances of soils and the atmosphere, while plants are also impacted by the climate and hydrologic conditions they contribute to produce. Case studies from around the world, from the driest to the wettest of environments are presented to show how nature copes with stress, limited resources and the constant bombardment of human intervention: dry savannas in central Brazil and southern Africa, wetlands in the Florida Everglades, the old Mayan grounds in Mexico and the southern Iraqi marshlands.

This event is a partnership between the UMD College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences and The Clarice and MilkBoy ArtHouse, a local crossroads for dynamic entertainment, social gathering and creative dining in downtown College Park, Maryland. This event is also sponsored by the UMD Science Alumni Network.