Global change and terrestrial ecosystems in monsoon Asia

✍ Scribed by M. Ohsawa (auth.), T. Hirose, B. H. Walker (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 190
• Series: Tasks for Vegetation Science 33
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Forest vegetation is distributed in monsoon Asia continuously from boreal forests through temperate to tropical rain forests. This vegetation - the richest in the world - is being subjected to global change on an unprecedented scale. It has been predicted that boreal forests will experience the most significant change in response to global warming, while tropical forests are endangered by rapid changes in land use due to high population pressure. An increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration will severely affect ecosystem function in this area. This volume presents a review of terrestrial ecosystems in monsoon Asia and assesses possible effects of global change on the structure and function of forest ecosystems and feedback routes to the global carbon cycle.
Audience: Vital reading for plant ecologists, vegetation scientists, environmental managers and government decision makers.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-2
Latitudinal comparison of altitudinal changes in forest structure, leaf-type, and species richness in humid monsoon Asia....Pages 3-10
The boreal forests of north-eastern Eurasia....Pages 11-21
Composition, dynamics and disturbance regime of temperate deciduous forests in Monsoon Asia....Pages 23-30
Tropical seasonal forests in monsoon Asia: With emphasis on continental southeast Asia....Pages 31-40
Human impacts on tropical forest dynamics....Pages 41-52
Terrestrial transects for global change research....Pages 53-65
Temperature effects on the photosynthetic response of C 3 plants to long-term CO 2 enrichment....Pages 67-77
Environmental regulation of surface conductance for evaporation from vegetation....Pages 79-87
The basis for variation in leaf longevity of plants....Pages 89-100
Factors determining distributions of tree species and plant functional types....Pages 101-116
A size-distribution-based model of forest dynamics along a latitudinal environmental gradient....Pages 117-126
Maintenance of forest species diversity and latitudinal gradient....Pages 127-134
A role-type model (rope) and its application in assessing climate change impacts on forest landscapes....Pages 135-146
Simulation of Soil Carbon Cycling and Carbon Balance Following Clear-Cutting in A Mid-Temperate Forest and Contribution to the Sink of Atmospheric CO 2 ....Pages 147-156
The role of temperate trees and forests in CO 2 fixation....Pages 157-174
Contribution of Monsoon Asia to the carbon budget of the biosphere, past and future....Pages 175-188
Back Matter....Pages 189-191

✦ Subjects

Plant Sciences; Forestry; Ecology; Environmental Management; Plant Ecology