Spatial and temporal patterns of biotic exchanges of CO{sub 2} between the atmosphere and tropical landscapes and their role in the global carbon cycle. Final report
Land cover change is one of the most important components of global change. It might be argued that over the next 20 to 50 years the global effects on ecosystems and human habitability from land cover conversion will be much larger than any estimated to arise from climate change. Only a few datasets exist, and these suffer from a number of technical and interpretive problems. There are three areas of uncertainty which need much better documentation and analysis: (1) the state (ie information on biomass, net primary production, etc.) and distribution on existing land cover, (2) the rate and distribution of land cover conversion, both historically and currently, and (3) the underlying driving forces which determine the rate and extent of land cover conversion. Some combination of historical reconstruction and remote sensing are needed to refine the first two areas. Future research can be developed around three general areas: (a) acquisition and analysis of new data on existing and pre-disturbance land cover, using a combination of satellite data, historical reconstructions, and maps, (b) acquisition and analysis of mapped data on the distribution of primary agents of land cover change, such as deforestation or agricultural expansion using satellite data for the contemporary period (since 1978), and tabular census data for historical periods, (c) development of models, both explanatory and numerical, which are abased on simple extrapolation for short term analyses and socio-economic factors for long term analyses.
- Research Organization:
- New Hampshire Univ., Durham, NH (United States). Inst. for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-90ER61083
- OSTI ID:
- 216174
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/61083-4; ON: DE96009162
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: [1994]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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