Extensive research in geology, atmospheric science, and paleontology provides a detailed history of CO2 in the atmosphere and an understanding of factors that have influenced changes in the past. This knowledge is used to illuminate the role of atmospheric CO2 in the modern carbon cycle and in the evolution of plants and animals. With an understanding of the history and dynamics of the biosphere, the authors address the future role of atmospheric CO2 and its likely effects on ecosystems. This book incorporates the advances of various earth science, environmental, and ecological fields into an overall account of global change and the changing dynamics of life on Earth.

Inhalt
Record.- The Rise of Trees and How They Changed Paleozoic Atmospheric CO2, Climate, and Geology.- Atmospheric CO2 During the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic: Estimates from Indian Soils.- Alkenone-Based Estimates of Past CO2 Levels: A Consideration of Their Utility Based on an Analysis of Uncertainties.- Atmospheric CO2 Data from Ice Cores: Four Climatic Cycles.- Atmospheric CO2 and 13CO2 Exchange with the Terrestrial Biosphere and Oceans from 1978 to 2000: Observations and Carbon Cycle Implications.- Biotic Responses to Long-Term Changes in Atmospheric CO.- Evolutionary Responses of Land Plants to Atmospheric CO2.- Cretaceous CO2 Decline and the Radiation and Diversification of Angiosperms.- Influence of Uplift, Weathering, and Base Cation Supply on Past and Future CO2 Levels.- Atmospheric CO2, Environmental Stress, and the Evolution of C4 Photosynthesis.- The Influence of Atmospheric CO2, Temperature, and Water on the Abundance of C3/C4 Taxa.- Evolution and Growth of Plants in a Low CO2 World.- Environmentally Driven Dietary Adaptations in African Mammals.- Terrestrial Mammalian Herbivore Response to Declining Levels of Atmospheric CO2 During the Cenozoic: Evidence from North American Fossil Horses (Family Equidae).- CO2, Grasses, and Human Evolution.- and Modern Ecosystems.- The Carbon Cycle over the Past 1000 Years Inferred from the Inversion of Ice Core Data.- Remembrance of Weather Past: Ecosystem Responses to Climate Variability.- Effects of Elevated CO2 on Keystone Herbivores in Modern Arctic Ecosystems.- Ecosystem Responses to a Future Atmospheric CO.- Modern and Future Forests in a Changing Atmosphere.- Modern and Future Semi-Arid and Arid Ecosystems.- Effects of CO2 on Plants at Different Timescales.- Herbivory in a World of Elevated CO2.- Borehole Temperatures and Climate Change: A Global Perspective.