This book recommends research priorities and scientific approaches for global change research. It addresses the scientific approaches for documenting global change, developing integrated earth system models, and conducting focused studies to improve understanding of global change on topics such as earth system history and human sources of global change.

Microbiological basic of NO and N2O production and consumption in soil; Factors controlling NOx emissions from soils; Control of methane production in terrestrial ecosystems; Biological sinks of methane; What regulates production and consumption of trace gases in ecosystems: biology or physicochemistry?; Regional extrapolation of trace gas flux based on soil and ecosystems; Regional extrapolation: Vegetation-atmosphere approach; Global-scale extrapolation: a critical assessment; Aircraft-based measurements of trace gas fluxes; Extrapolation of flux measurements to regional and global scales; Chamber and isotop techniques; Micrometeorological techniques for the measurement of trace gas exchange; Methane flux measurements: methods and results; Fluxes of NOx abovesoil and vegetation; What are the relative roles of biological production, micrometeorology, and photochemistry in controlling the flux of trace gases between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere?; Atmospheric deposition and nutrient cycling; Global climate and trace gas composition: from atmospheric history to the century; Experimental design for studying atmosphere interactions; Trace gas exchange and phsical climate: Critical interactions; Research priorities for studies on trace gas exchange.

Report summarizes and interprets workshop discussions focusing on three areas: Feedback between ecological systems and global change; Consequences of global change for ecological systems; Sustaining and improving ecological systems in the face of global change.