The Terrestrial Biosphere and Global Change

Summarises understanding of global change interactions with terrestrial ecosystems.

Presents understanding of how the world's vegetation, both natural and managed, is interacting with global environmental change and describes both the impacts of global change on key aspects of vegetation and the consequent feedbacks of these effects to further environmental change.This 1999 synthesis summarises the international research effort in the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) Core Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme. Five major thematic areas are covered: ecosystem physiology; ecosystem structure and composition; terrestrial production systems; global biogeochemistry; ecological complexity (biodiversity). A summary of the integrated and interactive effects of global change on the terrestrial biosphere for four key regions of the world is presented, as well as a projection of future trends in the terrestrial component of the global carbon cycle. The book also includes a section on tools developed or modified for global change research.