Conceptual Elements and Heuristics from Complexity Paradigm Suitable to the Study of Evapotranspiration at the Landscape Level

Abstract

Due to the importance of the impacts from anthropogenic process on global change, there has been a growing interest in predicting climate variability on seasonal scales. In order to accomplish this, better knowledge about and modeling of earth surface energy exchanges and evaporation is required trough diverse scales, from local to continental extents. Recognizing this need, we state as general objective of this chapter to advance towards a conceptual and methodological framework that sustain a better representation of evapotranspiration at landscape scale. Along this chapter are discussed the reasons, why traditional schemes based on classical science fail in order to explain, emergent, convergent and highly dynamic behaviors observed in evapotranspiration process. On the application of more integrative approaches for modeling, the search for organizing principles regulating function response on evapotranspiration systems, is required. Emphasis on the structurefunction relation, adaptation in social-ecological systems and the development of methodological strategies themselves appear to be the most relevant elements to the incorporation of resilience as an analogical model and of the complexity paradigm as a conceptual framework for the modeling of the evapotranspiration process.