Wise forest management and its linkages to climate change
This paper overviews the diverse links between atmosphere and vegetation in pristine and disturbed forests. These can be classified as indirect linkages, which involve atmospheric constituents as an intermediary, and direct linkage through the exchanges of energy, water and momentum between the vegetation and the air above. The extent and nature of such forest-atmosphere linkage is explored with respect to the limited observational data to hand, with emphasis on information now available from joint. Anglo-Brazilian field studies in Amazonia. On the basis of the overview and these observations, the proposition is made that the wise management of tropical forests with minimum contribution to climate change will involve land cover which mimics the atmospheric interaction of existing forest. In particular, it will involve deep rooted, perennial vegetation with a dense but uneven canopy, which is persistently growing in nutrient stable soil, and which is managed with minimum use of fire. However, field trials will be required to confirm that applying these general criteria do indeed result in a land cover with the more basic climate-related properties required. The recommendation is made that environmental impact assessment in development proposals should address not just local, but also regional and global impacts.
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | biblioteca |
| Published: |
Oxford (RU)
1992
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| Subjects: | MANEJO FORESTAL, CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO, EFECTO INVERNADERO, |
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