The boreal forest is the northern-most woodland biome, whose natural history is rooted in the influence of low temperature and high-latitude. Alaska's boreal forest is now warming as rapidly as the rest of Earth, providing an unprecedented look at how this cold-adapted, fire-prone forest adjusts to change. This volume synthesizes current understanding of the ecology of Alaska's boreal forests and describes their unique features in the context of circumpolar and global patterns. It tells how fire and climate contributed to the biome's current dynamics. As climate warms and permafrost (permanently frozen ground) thaws, the boreal forest may be on the cusp of a major change in state. The editors have gathered a remarkable set of contributors to discuss this swift environmental and biotic transformation. Their chapters cover the properties of the forest, the changes it is undergoing, and the challenges these alterations present to boreal forest managers. In the first section, the reader can absorb the geographic and historical context for understanding the boreal forest. The book then delves into the dynamics of plant and animal communities inhabiting this forest, and the biogeochemical processes that link these organisms. In the last section the authors explore landscape phenomena that operate at larger temporal and spatial scales and integrates the processes described in earlier sections. Much of the research on which this book is based results from the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Program. Here is a synthesis of the substantial literature on Alaska's boreal forest that should be accessible to professional ecologists, students, and the interested public.

This volume in the Long-Term Ecological Research Network Series would present the work that has been done and the understanding and database that have been developed by work on climate change done at all the LTER sites. Global climate change is a central issue facing the world, which is being worked on by a very large number of scientists across a wide range of fields. The LTER sites hold some of the best available data measuring long term impacts and changes in the environment, and the research done at these sites has not previously been made widely available to the broader climate change research community. This book should appeal reasonably widely outside the ecological community, and because it pulls together information from all 20 research sites, it should capture the interest of virtually the entire LTER research community.

Global Change and Forest Soils: Cultivating Stewardship of a Finite Natural Resource, Volume 36, provides a state-of-the-science summary and synthesis of global forest soils that identifies concerns, issues and opportunities for soil adaptation and mitigation as external pressures from global changes arise. Where, how and why some soils are resilient to global change while others are at risk is explored, as are upcoming train wrecks and success stories across boreal, temperate, and tropical forests. Each chapter offers multiple sections written by leading soil scientists who comment on wildfires, climate change and forest harvesting effects, while also introducing examples of current global issues. Readers will find this book to be an integrated, up-to-date assessment on global forest soils. - Presents sections on boreal, temperate and tropical soils for a diverse audience - Serves as an important reference source for anyone interested in both a big-picture assessment of global soil issues and an in-depth examination of specific environmental topics - Provides a unique synthesis of forest soils and their collective ability to respond to global change - Offers chapters written by leading soil scientists - Prepares readers to meet the daily challenges of drafting multi-resource environmental science and policy documents

With a long history and deep connection to the Earth’s resources, indigenous peoples have an intimate understanding and ability to observe the impacts linked to climate change. Traditional ecological knowledge and tribal experience play a key role in developing future scientific solutions for adaptation to the impacts. The book explores climate-related issues for indigenous communities in the United States, including loss of traditional knowledge, forests and ecosystems, food security and traditional foods, as well as water, Arctic sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and relocation. The book also highlights how tribal communities and programs are responding to the changing environments. Fifty authors from tribal communities, academia, government agencies and NGOs contributed to the book. Previously published in Climatic Change, Volume 120, Issue 3, 2013.

This book introduces an interdisciplinary framework to understand the interaction between terrestrial ecosystems and climate change. It reviews basic meteorological, hydrological and ecological concepts to examine the physical, chemical and biological processes by which terrestrial ecosystems affect and are affected by climate. The textbook is written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying ecology, environmental science, atmospheric science and geography. The central argument is that terrestrial ecosystems become important determinants of climate through their cycling of energy, water, chemical elements and trace gases. This coupling between climate and vegetation is explored at spatial scales from plant cells to global vegetation geography and at timescales of near instantaneous to millennia. The text also considers how human alterations to land become important for climate change. This restructured edition, with updated science and references, chapter summaries and review questions, and over 400 illustrations, including many in colour, serves as an essential student guide.

This book unveils forestry science and its policy and management that connect past and present understanding of forests. The aggregated knowledge is presented to cover the approaches adopted in studying forest structure, its growth, functioning, and degradation, especially in the context of the surrounding environment. The application of advance computation, instrumentation, and modelling has been elaborated in various chapters. Forest ecosystems are rapidly changing due to forest fires, deforestation, urbanization, climate change, and other natural and anthropogenic drivers. Understanding the dynamics of forest ecosystems requires contemporary methods and measures, utilizing modern tools and big data for developing effective conservation plans. The book also covers discussion on policies for sustainable forestry, agroforestry, environmental governance, socio-ecology, nature-based solutions, and management implication. It is suitable for a wide range of readers working in the field of scientific forestry, policy making, and forest management. In addition, it is a useful material for postgraduate and research students of forestry sciences.

JOHN L. INNES University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada The interactions between biomass burning and climate have been brought into focus by a number of recent events. Firstly, the Framework Convention on Climate Change and, more recently, the Kyoto Protocol, have drawn the attention of policy makers and others to the importance of biomass burning in relation to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Secondly, the use of prescribed fires has become a major management tool in some countries; with for example the area with fuel treatments (which include prescribed burns and mechanical treatments) having increased on US National Forest System lands from 123,000 ha in 1985 to 677,000 ha in 1998. Thirdly, large numbers of forest fires in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia and elsewhere in 1997 and 1998 received unprecedented media attention. Consequently, it is appropriate that one of the Wengen Workshops on Global Change Research be devoted to the relationships between biomass burning and climate. This volume includes many of the papers presented at the workshop, but is also intended to act as a contribution to the state of knowledge on the int- relationships between biomass burning and climate change. Previous volumes on biomass burning (e. g. Goldammer 1990,Levine 1991a, Crutzen and Goldammer 1993, Levine 1996a, 1996b, Van Wilgen et al. 1997) have stressed various aspects of the biomass–climate issue, and provide a history of the development of our understanding of the many complex relationships that are involved.