Traditional plant physiological ecology is organism centered and provides a useful framework for understanding the interactions between plants and their environment and for identifying characteristics likely to result in plant success in a particular habitat. This book focuses on extending concepts from plant physiological ecology as a basis for understanding carbon, energy, and biogeochemical cycles at ecosystem, regional, and global levels.
This will be a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students in ecology, plant ecophysiology, ecosystem research, biometerology, earth system science, and remote sensing.
Key Features
* The integration of metabolic activities across spatial scales, from leaf to ecosystem
* Global constraints and regional processes
* Functional units in ecological scaling
* Models and technologies for scaling

Unifies separate fields of ecology, physiology, plant science and evolutionary biology in a climate-change-based synthesis Draws on the expertise of a pioneer in stable isotope research Addresses issues of global change from an evolutionary perspective

Based in extensive research in geology, atmospheric science, and paleontology, this book offers a detailed history of CO2 in the atmosphere, and an understanding of factors that have influenced changes in the past. The text illuminates the role of atmospheric CO2 in the modern carbon cycle and in the evolution of plants and animals, and addresses the future role of atmospheric CO2 and its likely effects on ecosystems.