Many terms often used to describe old-growth forests imply that these forests are less vigorous, less productive and less stable than younger forests. But research in the last two decades has yielded results that challenge the view of old-growth forests being in decline. Given the importance of forests in battling climate change and the fact that old-growth forests are shrinking at a rate of 0.5% per year, these new results have come not a moment too soon.

This book is the first ever to focus on the ecosystem functioning of old-growth forests. It is an exhaustive compendium of information that contains original work conducted by the authors. In addition, it is truly global in scope as it studies boreal forests in Canada, temperate old-growth forests in Europe and the Americas, and global tropical forests. Written in part to affect future policy, this eminently readable book is as useful for the scientist and student as it is for the politician and politically-interested layman.

This book is the outcome of a NAill Advanced Study Institute on the contemporary glo bal carbon cycle, held in n Ciocco, Italy, September 8-20, 1991. The motivation for this ASI originated from recent controversial findings regarding the relative roles of the ocean and the land biota in the current global balance of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Consequently, the pur pose of this institute was to review, among leading experts in the field, the multitude of known constraints on the present day global carbon cycle as identified by the fields of meteorology, physical and biological oceanography, geology and terrestrial biosphere sciences. At the same time the form of an Advanced Study Institute was chosen, thus providing the opportunity to convey the information in tutorial form across disciplines and to young researchers entering the field. The first three sections of this book contain the lectures held in II Ciocco. The first sec tion reviews the atmospheric, large-scale global constraints on the present day carbon cycle including the emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use and it provides a brief look into the past. The second section discusses the role of the terrestrial biosphere and the third the role of the ocean in the contemporary global carbon cycle."

Many terms often used to describe old-growth forests imply that these forests are less vigorous, less productive and less stable than younger forests. But research in the last two decades has yielded results that challenge the view of old-growth forests being in decline. Given the importance of forests in battling climate change and the fact that old-growth forests are shrinking at a rate of 0.5% per year, these new results have come not a moment too soon.

This book is the first ever to focus on the ecosystem functioning of old-growth forests. It is an exhaustive compendium of information that contains original work conducted by the authors. In addition, it is truly global in scope as it studies boreal forests in Canada, temperate old-growth forests in Europe and the Americas, and global tropical forests. Written in part to affect future policy, this eminently readable book is as useful for the scientist and student as it is for the politician and politically-interested layman.

The interactions of biogeochemical cycles influence and maintain our climate system. Land use and fossil fuel emissions are currently impacting the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur on land, in the atmosphere, and in the oceans.
This edited volume brings together 27 scholarly contributions on the state of our knowledge of earth system interactions among the oceans, land, and atmosphere. A unique feature of this treatment is the focus on the paleoclimatic and paleobiotic context for investigating these complex interrelationships.
* Eight-page colour insert to highlight the latest research
* A unique feature of this treatment is the focus on the paleoclimatic context for investigating these complex interrelationships.

Das Buch bietet eine Einfuhrung in die moderne Klimatologie mit ihren Prognose- und Interpretationsmodellen. Es gibt einen Uberblick uber die Vorstellungen, die man heute vom Klima und von klimarelevanten Prozessen hat, und wie man diese konzeptionell und quantitativ - also mit Modellen - zu beschreiben versucht. Der Text ist allgemein verstandlich geschrieben und setzt keine besonderen Kenntnisse der Mathematik und Physik voraus. Dieses Lehrbuch basiert auf einer Vorlesung am Meteorologischen Institut der Universitat Hamburg und richtet sich hauptsachlich an Studenten der Geowissenschaften und Physik, daneben an ebenfalls mit Klima befassten Disziplinen der Land-, Forst- und Umweltwissenschaften."