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Understanding Boreal Forests and Forestry in a Changing World
Anatoly Shvidenko and Mike Apps
Published in: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Publisher: Springer Netherlands
ISSN: 1381-2386 (Paper) 1573-1596 (Online) DOI: 10.1007/s11027-006-0986-6
Issue: Volume 11, Number 1
Date: January 2006
Pages: 5 - 32
Abstract
Boreal forests represent a biome of the planet whose unique characteristics are changing rapidly under the influence of
both human and natural pressures. These forests hold the key to current and future supply of coniferous industrial wood
and at the same time play a significant role in regulating Earth's climatic system. Expected to be one of the most rapidly
impacted regions of the world by future climate change, the boreal biome has already been substantially affected by global
change. It is likely that if unabated, continued change will lead to impoverishment and degradation of boreal ecosystems,
with consequent loss of vital services upon which human society depends. An improved systems understanding of the
functioning of circumpolar boreal forests is a pressing challenge for boreal forest science and is needed in order to
estimate their resilience to perturbations, to predict likely responses to the changing environment, and to design
mitigation strategies. With such understanding, coordinated international efforts can be focused on developing
anticipatory strategies for adaptation to, and mitigation of dangerous consequences of global change for boreal
resources. The International Boreal Forest Research Association (IBFRA) provides a focus for international research
on these issues and serves as a global window for boreal forest science and sustainable forest management in the
boreal region.
Keywords
biogeochemical cycles - boreal biome - carbon - circumpolar - climate change - disturbance - ecology - forest science - global change - IBFRA - sustainable forest management
Link to Springer
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