Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T06:45:47.251Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Scientific Tools

from Part II - The Scientific Basis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2023

Gordon Bonan
Affiliation:
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
Get access

Summary

Scientific methods to study how forests affect climate are distinguished as environmental monitoring, experimental manipulation, or modeling. Meteorological measurements of air temperature and wind speed in forests and adjacent clearings characterize microclimates. More complex measurements of energy, water, and carbon dioxide fluxes obtained using principles of eddy covariance required sophisticated instruments on tall towers extending above the forest canopy. In situ measurements of leaves and individual trees reveal physiological functioning and can be extrapolated to an entire forest. Whole-ecosystem manipulations that warm the soil or enrich the air with carbon dioxide provide insight to ecosystem responses to environmental change. Ecosystem studies monitor carbon and elemental stocks and fluxes, and watershed studies monitor water flows. Remote sensing instruments that acquire radiative signatures of the land provide an indicator of vegetation type, health, and productivity. Numerical models of terrestrial ecosystems and climate provide a means to test theories and develop understanding of the biosphere-atmosphere system.

Type
Chapter
Information
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Forests, Climate Change, and Our Future
, pp. 127 - 138
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Scientific Tools
  • Gordon Bonan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  • Book: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
  • Online publication: 02 February 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108601559.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Scientific Tools
  • Gordon Bonan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  • Book: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
  • Online publication: 02 February 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108601559.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Scientific Tools
  • Gordon Bonan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  • Book: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
  • Online publication: 02 February 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108601559.011
Available formats
×