Forests at the Land–Atmosphere Interface

Forests at the Land–Atmosphere Interface

Enlarge

Maurizio Mencuccini, John Grace, J Moncrieff and K McNaughton

Hardback

December 2003

9780851996776

More details

$253.90

Add to Cart

Forest ecosystems exist at the interface between the land and the atmosphere. Understanding the properties of this planetary boundary layer is very important for a number of related disciplines. This book presents an overview of topics that are of significance at this interface, starting at the scale of intra-leaf organelles, ranging to higher levels of organization such as communities and ecosystems. It covers topics such as stomatal functioning, large scale processes, radiation modelling, forest meteorology and carbon sequestration.

Based on proceedings of a conference to mark the retirement of Professor Paul Jarvis from the University of Edinburgh, the book contains contributions from leading international scientists. It will be of significant interest to researchers in forestry, ecology, environmental sciences and natural resources.

"A stimulating and thought provoking account of the structural and operational features of a pilot research program in an area of immense practical importance, political relevance and scientific interest."
- International Forestry Review

Part I: Stomatal Functioning
* Stomatal control of transpiration: A major dilemma 100 years ago
* Stomata as part of the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum
* Effects of elevated CO2 concentration on stomatal conductance and respiration of beech leaves at darkness

Part II: Large Scale Processes
* Top-down models and flux measurements are complementary methods of estimating carbon sequestration by forests: Illustrations using the 3-PG model
* The effects of forest on mesoscale atmospheric processes
* The diurnal cycle over land
* Medium and long-term ecosystem processes: Implications at the forest–atmosphere interface

Part III: Radiation Modelling
* A MAESTRO retrospective, B Medlyn, University of New South Wales, Australia n Thermal radiation, canopy temperature and evaporation from forest canopies

Part IV: Forest Meteorology
* Forest–air exchange in non-ideal conditions: The role of horizontal flux and its divergence
* A review of forest evaporation studies, in Britain during the second half of the twentieth century
* Scaling the estimate of maximum canopy conductance from patch to region and comparison of aircraft measurements

Part V: Carbon Sequestration
* Land sinks: The Kyoto process and scientific implications
* Spatial and temporal assessment of biospheric carbon fluxes at continental scale by neural-network optimisation
* Scaling carbon uptake from leaves to canopies: insights from two forests with contrasting properties

Part VI: From Science to Natural Resource Management
* Links between science and forest management: As illustrated by a model of branch development
* Thoughts on forest science