Assessing the ecological importance of clouds has substantial
implications for our basic understanding of ecosystems and for
predicting how they will respond to a changing climate. This
study was conducted in a coastal Bishop pine forest ecosystem
that experiences regular cycles of stratus cloud cover and
inundation in summer. The study concludes that clouds are
important to the ecological functioning of these coastal
forests, providing summer shading and cooling that relieve pine
and microbial drought stress as well as regular moisture inputs
that elevate plant and microbial metabolism. Mariah S. Carbone,
A. Park Williams, Anthony R. Ambrose, Claudia M. Boot, Eliza S.
Bradley, Todd E. Dawson, Sean M. Schaeffer, Joshua P. Schimel,
Christopher J. Still Global Change Biology, November 7, 2012
(online) UCSB press release (includes video) Featured Summary of
this research project Following is a sample of the media
coverage of this study: Red Orbit: Climate Change Could Affect
Entire Forest Ecosystems More informa