Description

With a complex assemblage of largely intact ecosystems that support the earth's greatest diversity of life, the Amazon basin is a focal point of international scientific interest. And, as development and colonization schemes transform the landscape in increasing measure, scientists from around the world are directing attention to questions of regional and global significance. Some of these qustions are: What are the fluxes of greenhouse gases across the atmospheric interface of ecosystems? How mush carbon is stored in the biomass and soils of the basin? How are elements from the land transferred to the basin's surface waters? What is the sum of elements transferred from land to ocean, and what is its marine "fate"? This book of original chapters by experts in chemical and biological oceanography, tropical agronomy and biology, and the atmospheric sciences will address these and other important questions, with the aim of synthesizing the current knowledge of biochemical processes operating within and between the various ecosystems in the Amazon basin.

Reviews

"I recommend this book for those researchers and policy makers working in the Brazilian Amazon or similar tropical settings having similar geology."--Hydrological Processes

"[T]his setting of ... concerns about carbon sources/ sinks within the social context of land utilisation is refreshing. ... a comprehensive look at progress ... fascinating, well written and readable ... I would strongly recommend it for every library, and for anyone interested in the reported environmental changes associated with the Amazon forests."--Geoscientist

Product Details

384 pages; 90 halftones & line illus; 7 x 10; ISBN13: 978-0-19-511431-7ISBN10: 0-19-511431-0

About the Author(s)