S.P. Long - Böcker

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has sponsored a programme of intensive research into the primary productivity of grass ecosystems in both the tropics and subtropics, resulting in this book. It therefore represents the first internationally integrated study of bio-productivity since the International Biological Programme (IBP) of the early 1970s. The large international team of scientists sponsored by UNEP identified five different grassland ecosystems, determining their levels of productivity as well as the effect of climatic variation on primary production and photosynthesis. The methods and results described indicate a three to ten-fold increase in estimates of productivity from the IBP figures, raising implications for a number of important questions such as: the understanding of how carbon is cycled, the environmental impact of removing grasslands, assessment of these ecosystems as genetic resources of productive grasses, assessing the impact of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, and establishing ground truth data for remote sensing of grassland productivity.This book provides a comprehensive assessment of an extremely important but under-researched biome. It should be of interest to a wide range of environmental scientists, including ecologists, atmospheric scientists, biogeographers, and environmental physiologists.

The majority of the world's people depend research work should be carried out at the local and regional level by locally trained on plants for their livelihood since they grow them for food, fuel, timber, fodder and people. many other uses. A good understanding Following the success of our earlier book of the practical factors which govern the (Techniques in Bioproductivity and Photo­ synthesis; Pergamon Press, 1985), which productivity of plants through the process of photosynthesis is therefore of paramount was translated into four major languages, importance, especially in the light of cur­ the editors and contributors have exten­ rent concern about global climate change sively revised the content and widened the and the response of both crops and natural scope of the text,· so it now bears a title ecosystems. in line with current concern over global The origins of this book lie in a series of climate change. · In particular, we have training courses sponsored by the United added chapters on remote sensing, con­ Nations Environment Programme (Project trolled-environment studies, chlorophyll No. FP/6108-88-0l (2855); 'Environment fluorescence, metabolite partitioning and changes and the productivity of tropical the use of mass isotopes, all of which grasslands'), with additional support from techniques are increasing in their applica­ many international and national agencies. tion and importance to this subject area.

This text is an updated version of a previously published title "Techniques in Bioproductivity and Photosynthesis", 2nd edition (Coombs et al) and, like its predecessor, has derived from UNEP-sponsored training courses which are internationally known and respected. It provides coverage of many measurement techniques of photosynthesis and relates them to the subject of global climate change, which is becoming of increasing concern. The editors, themselves of high international standing, have brought together an extremely eminent team of plant scientists, each of whom provides up-to-date information on a single important parameter of plant growth, the techniques employed in its measurement and a detailed review of the techniques themselves.

Managed ecosystems cover a large part of the Earth's land surface, provide almost all of our food and most of our wood and fibre, and are increasingly a source of renewable energy. Forecasting the ability of managed ecosystems to continue these vital roles in a globally changing environment is an inter-disciplinary challenge.To elucidate the complex responses of managed systems to elevated [CO2], several free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) facilities were established. These FACE systems allow large areas to be exposed to the elevated [CO2] we expect by the middle of the century. This volume summarizes the main findings from 13 experiments with annual crops, permanent pastures and plantation forests at 11 sites throughout the world during the past ten years. The results significantly alter our perception of how rising [CO2] will directly affect these managed ecosystems, with implications for policy, plant-breeding objectives and adaptation.