Vegetation and the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle
Vegetation and the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle
$121.00
USDPlants have colonised and modified the World's surface for the last 400 million years. In this book the authors demonstrate that an understanding of the role of vegetation in the terrestrial carbon cycle during this time can be gained by linking the key mechanistic elements of present day vegetation processes to models of the global climate during different geological eras. The resulting interactive simulations of climate and vegetation processes tie in with observable geological data, such as the distributions of coals and evaporites, supporting the validity of the authors' approach. Simulation of possible conditions in future centuries are also presented, providing valuable predictions of the status of the Earth's vegetation and carbon cycle at a time of global warming.
- Focuses on mechanistically-based models of present day vegetation processes linked to global climate models to simulate past conditions
- Simulations tie in with observable geological data
- Models used to predict future scenarios
- Includes full colour diagrams of vegetation processes and distributions to support the simulations
Reviews & endorsements
"Readers will learn about the changing dynamics of atmospheric oxygen, temperature, and carbon dioxide during different geological eras. In addition, readers will understand relationships among atmospheric changes and current global climate change, carbon sequestration, and predicted warming. An important resource for graduate students, scientists of climatology, geoscientists, ecologists, and the general public interested in global change." Choice
"...an excellent reference to a new approach using data on vegetation and the carbon cycle." Environmental Geology
"...well written and understandable, especially given the subject matter...I would recommend this book for those interested in a better understanding of large-scale simulation and the integration of GCMs with terrestrial vegetation models." Natural Areas Journal
"...a fine contribution to this topic.... The book is an impressive integration of geology, climatic modeling and plant ecology, spanning large differences in temporal and spatial scales. It shows what can be achieved with the mixture of these three components, and thus how vegetation has affected the evolution of the Earth, and vice versa." Ecoscience
Product details
January 2005Adobe eBook Reader
9780511032455
0 pages
0kg
123 b/w illus. 69 colour illus. 33 tables
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Investigating the past from the present
- 3. Climate and terrestrial vegetation of the present
- 4. The global climate system and terrestrial carbon cycle
- 5. The late Carboniferous
- 6. The Jurassic
- 6. The Cretaceous
- 8. The Eocene
- 9. The late Quaternary
- 10. Climate and terrestrial vegetation in the future
- 11. Endview
- References
- Index.
