Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has increased globally from about 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution (Pearman 1988) to about 353 ppm in 1990. That increase, and the continuing increase at a rate of about 1.5 ppm per annum, owing mainly to fossil fuel burning, is likely to cause change in climate, in primary productivity of terrestrial vegetation (managed and unmanaged), and in the degree of net sequestration of atmospheric CO into organic form. The quantitative role 2 of the latter in attenuating the increase in atmospheric CO concentration itself is 2 an important but uncertain element of the global carbon-cycle models that are required to predict future increases of atmospheric CO concentration. 2 In my experience in workshops and other multidisciplinary gatherings, argument arises in discussion of this topic among different groups of scientists such as bioclimatologists, plant physiologists, biogeochemists and ecologists. Plant concentration physiologists are often impressed by the positive effect of higher CO 2 on plant growth under experimental controlled environments and argue that this would be at least partly expressed in the field for many species and communities.

The new series, Advances in Bioclimatology provides authorative reviews on the latest developments in all research areas concerned with the effects of climatic factors on living organisms - be they plants, animals or humans. The emphasis is clearly laid on the mechanisms - rather than on the statistical relationships - linking biological processes with their physical environments. The following topics are covered in the first volume: - Deforestation, revegetation, water balance and climate; - Interaction of CO2 with growth limiting environmental factors in vegetation productivity; - Radiative transfer in nonhomogenous plant canopies; - Techniques to measure CO2 flux densities from surface and airborne sensors. Future volumes will include reviews of frost, its occurrence, impact and prevention (Vol. 2); laser remote sensing of vegetation; global monitoring of forests with radar; human melanoma and ultraviolet radiation; maintaining health of farm animals under adverse conditions.