Climate, forests, and fire - a north-american perspective

@article{663, abstract = {The earth's climate may currently be undergoing a warming in response to the well documented accumulation of CO2\_and other greenhouse gases. Changes in forestland areas and biomass are playing a role in the accumulation. This paper reviews and offers some observations on estimates of the role of forests in the carbon cycle. The temperate forests are roughly in carbon balance, with biomass growth equaling or exceeding losses. The tropical forests, by contrast, are a carbon source with forest area declining due primarily to land-use changes. A number of carbon-sequestering sources, such as wood construction and landfills, may be sequestering more carbon than is commonly assumed. Climate change can also affect forests. A number of mechanisms that influence forest growth and composition are discussed. In the absence of increased precipitation and/or a CO2\_"fertilization" effect, warming is likely to diminish forest area and biomass. Forest burning is part of the natural cycle. During a burn, carbon is released through the post-burning period and typically involves carbon sequestering as the result of regeneration and vigorous growth. In an undisturbed natural system, a steady-state level of global forest biomass would be reached. Anthropogenic factors can upset the natural steady state. In a period of rapid climate transition, such as might accompany a global warming, forests are likely to lose vigor and thus be particularly susceptible to wildfire}, author = {Sedjo, R. A. }, citeulike-article-id = {1309819}, journal = {Environment International}, keywords = {accumulation, biomass, carbon, carbon\_balance, carbon\_cycle, climate, climate\_change, co2, fif, fire, forest, forest\_growth, forests, growth, land\_use\_change, losses, perspective, precipitation, regeneration, review, temperate, temperate\_forest, tropical, tropical\_forest}, pages = {163--168}, posted-at = {2007-05-19 23:34:39}, priority = {2}, title = {Climate, forests, and fire - a north-american perspective}, volume = {17}, year = {1991} }

TY - JOUR ID - 663 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1309819 TI - Climate, forests, and fire - a north-american perspective JF - Environment International VL - 17 SP - 163 EP - 168 N2 - The earth's climate may currently be undergoing a warming in response to the well documented accumulation of CO2_and other greenhouse gases. Changes in forestland areas and biomass are playing a role in the accumulation. This paper reviews and offers some observations on estimates of the role of forests in the carbon cycle. The temperate forests are roughly in carbon balance, with biomass growth equaling or exceeding losses. The tropical forests, by contrast, are a carbon source with forest area declining due primarily to land-use changes. A number of carbon-sequestering sources, such as wood construction and landfills, may be sequestering more carbon than is commonly assumed. Climate change can also affect forests. A number of mechanisms that influence forest growth and composition are discussed. In the absence of increased precipitation and/or a CO2_"fertilization" effect, warming is likely to diminish forest area and biomass. Forest burning is part of the natural cycle. During a burn, carbon is released through the post-burning period and typically involves carbon sequestering as the result of regeneration and vigorous growth. In an undisturbed natural system, a steady-state level of global forest biomass would be reached. Anthropogenic factors can upset the natural steady state. In a period of rapid climate transition, such as might accompany a global warming, forests are likely to lose vigor and thus be particularly susceptible to wildfire KW - accumulation KW - biomass KW - carbon KW - carbon_balance KW - carbon_cycle KW - climate KW - climate_change KW - co2 KW - fif KW - fire KW - forest KW - forest_growth KW - forests KW - growth KW - land_use_change KW - losses KW - perspective KW - precipitation KW - regeneration KW - review KW - temperate KW - temperate_forest KW - tropical KW - tropical_forest AU - Sedjo, RA PY - 1991/// ER -