Books

Responses of Northern U.S. Forests to Environmental Change
ISBN 0-387-98900-5

Book Jacket Summary:

The altered physical and chemical environment associated with global change has increasingly affected the health and productivity of Northern temperate forest ecosystems. Among the most important environmental changes in the Northeastern and North Central United States are increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, deposition of sulfur and nitrogen compounds, increasing ozone exposure, disturbance, altered land-use patterns, and increasing climate variability. Since Northern Forests contribute an estimated two thirds of the total United States accumulation of carbon in forest ecosystems, maintaining these forests in a healthy and productive state will ensure their continued role as reservoirs of carbon.

This volume presents a synthesis of research conducted by scientists in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service's Northern Global Change Program. This long-term research program contributes to our understanding of how interacting stresses affect Northern forest ecosystems at multiple spatial and temporal scales. The research presented in this book also provides a sound scientific basis for understanding the sequestration, accumulation, and cycling of carbon in Northern forest and forest soils.

Chapters include studies of depletion of base cations in forest soils, changes in climate and atmospheric deposition, carbon and nitrogen cycling, insect, and disease outbreaks, interacting effects of multiple stresses, and modeling the regional effects of global change. The book provides ecological information for land managers and policy makers, as well as for researchers in ecology, forestry, atmospheric science, soil science, and biogeochemistry.

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