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Boreal Forest

  • Chapter
Global Biodiversity in a Changing Environment

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 152))

Abstract

The boreal forest biome occupies 13 × 106km2. It comprises approximately 25% of the world’s forest land (Olson et al. 1983; Apps et al. 1993) and includes 2.6 × 106 km2 of peatlands (Gorham 1991). Changes in the extent or functioning of the boreal forest could substantially modify global climate through (1) release of its large stocks of soil carbon (Post et al. 1982; Kurz and Apps 1995), (2) changes in methane fluxes from peatlands (Reeburgh and Whalen 1992; Roulet and Ash 1992), or (3) changes in winter albedo and regional energy exchange (Bonan et al. 1992; Thomas and Rowntree 1992). Boreal forests have also been implicated as the “missing sink” for atmospheric carbon dioxide (Ciais et al. 1995). For these reasons, there has been considerable interest and speculation about future changes in the extent, structure, and functioning of the boreal forest.

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Authors
  1. F. Stuart Chapin III
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  2. Kjell Danell
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA

    F. Stuart Chapin III

  2. Department of Ecology and IFEVA Faculty of Agronomy, University of Buenos Aires and CONICET, Buenos Aisres, 1417, Argentina

    Osvaldo E. Sala

  3. Departmento de Ingeniería Ambiental y Manejo de Recursos Naturales, Instituto Potosino de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas, San Luis Potosí, SLP, México

    Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald

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Chapin, F.S., Danell, K. (2001). Boreal Forest. In: Chapin, F.S., Sala, O.E., Huber-Sannwald, E. (eds) Global Biodiversity in a Changing Environment. Ecological Studies, vol 152. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0157-8_6

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