In boreal forests, which contain large amounts of the world's terrestrial organic carbon, fire is a natural and fundamental disturbance regime essential in controlling many ecosystem processes. As a result of predicted climate change in the future, the fire regime and, consequently, the forest cover and carbon storage of boreal regions will undergo dramatic alterations.
Fire, Climate Change and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest discusses the direct and indirect mechanisms by which fire and climate interact to influence carbon cycling in North American boreal forests. The first section summarizes the information needed to understand and manage fire's effects on the ecology of boreal forests and its influence on global climate change issues. Following chapters discuss in detail the role of fire in the ecology of boreal forests. Subsequent sections present data sets on fire and the distribution of carbon, discuss the use of satellite imagery in monitoring these regions and discuss approaches to modeling the relevant processes.
Fire, Climate Change and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest offers the following new results: improved estimates of carbon released during fires at a variety of scales, from individual sites to the entire North American boreal forest region; direct evidence of enhanced soil respiration after fire in Alaskan boreal forests; studies of the influence of fire on long-term forest-succession patterns; modeling results of the effects of climate warming on the fire regime; examples of the use of satellite imagery to monitor surface characteristics important in carbon cycling; modeling results of how climate change will interact with the fire regime to influence carbon storage.
Partial table of contents:
- Preface
- Introduction
Section I: Information Requirements and Fire Management and Policy Issues
- The Role of Boreal Ecosystems in the Global Carbon Cycle
- Boreal Forest Fire Emissions and the Chemistry of the Atmosphere
- The Eurasian Perspective of Fire: Dimension, Management, Policies and Scientific Requirements
- Fire Management in the Boreal Forests of Canada
- Effects of Climate Change on Management, Policy and Mitigation Options in the Boreal Forest
Section II: Processes Influencing Carbon Dynamics in the Boreal Forest
- The Distribution of Forest Ecosystems and the Role of Fire in the North American Boreal Region
- Extent, Distribution and Ecological Role of Fire in Russian Forests
- Long-term Perspectives on Fire-Climate-Vegetation Relationships in the North American Boreal Forest
- Controls on Patterns of Biomass Burning in Alaskan Boreal Forests
- Post-Fire Stimulation of Microbial Decomposition in Black Spruce (Picea mariana L.) Forest Soils: A Hypothesis
- The Influence of Fire on Long-Term Patterns of Forest Succession in Alaskan Boreal Forests
Section III: Spatial Data Sets for the Analysis of Carbon Dynamics in Boreal Forests
- And much more..