ABSTRACT
In the past four decades, humans have altered ecosystem functions and ecosystems’ ability to provide basic services to humankind such as provision of water and local and regional weather control (MA 2005). The term “ecosystem services” refers to all the processes occurring in ecosystems that support and sustain human life (Daily 1997; Kremen and Ostfeld 2005; Kinzig et al. 2011). From the maintenance of biodiversity through moderation of weather and climate mitigation, natural ecosystems play an irreplaceable role in maintaining human existence. An integrated measure of ecosystem function that contributes to regulate local and regional climate is evapotranspiration (ET; Carlson et al. 1995; Anderson and Kustas 2008; Jung et al. 2010).
