This book reviews current topics on plant metabolism of air pollutants and elevated CO2, responses of whole plants and plant ecosystems, genetics and molecular biology for functioning improvement, experimental ecosystems and climate change research, global carbon-cycle monitoring in plant ecosystems, and other important issues. The authors, conducting research in Europe, the United States, Australia, and East Asia, present a wealth of information on their work in the field.

Autorentext

Charmaine Pauls est née à Bloemfontein, en Afrique du Sud. Elle est diplômée en Communication de l'Université de Potchestroom et a fait carrière dans le journalisme, les relations publiques, la publicité, la communication, le graphisme et le marketing. L'écriture a toujours fait partie intégrante de ses diverses professions.

Zusammenfassung
The main force behind climate change is the elevated concentration of CO2 in the at­ mosphere. Carbon dioxide and air pollutants come mostly from the same industrial sources and diffuse globally, so that air pollution is also part of global change in the pre­ sent era. The impacts on plants and plant ecosystems have complex interrelationships and lead to global change in a circular manner as changes in land cover and atmospheric and soil environments. Plant metabolism of CO2 and air pollutants and their gas fluxes in plant ecosystems influence the global gaseous cycles as well as the impacts on plants. The 6th International Symposium on Plant Responses to Air Pollution and Global Changes was held at the Tsukuba Center for Institutes and Epochal Tsukuba, in Tsukuba, Japan, October 19-22, 2004. The aim of the symposium series is to bring together scien­ tists of various disciplines who are actively involved in research on responses of plant metabolism to air pollution and global change. The previous symposia were held in Ox­ ford, UK, 1982 (1st), in Munich, Germany, 1987 (2nd), in Blacksburg, USA, 1992 (3rd), in Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands, 1997 (4th), and in Pulawy, Poland, 2001 (5th).

Inhalt
Plant Responses to Air Pollution.- Metabolism of atmospheric sulfur gases in onion.- Impact of atmospheric NH3 deposition on plant growth and functioning a case study with Brassica oleracea L..- How sensitive are forest trees to ozone? - New research on an old issue.- Northern conditions enhance the susceptibility of birch (Betula pendula Roth) to oxidative stress caused by ozone.- Physiological responses of trees to air pollutants at high elevation sites.- Complex assessment of forest condition under air pollution impacts.- Evaluation of the ozone-related risk for Austrian forests.- Causes of differences in response of plant species to nitrogen supply and the ecological consequences.- Plant Responses to Climate Change.- Long-term effects of elevated CO2 on sour orange trees.- Plant responses to climate change: impacts and adaptation.- Effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration on wood structure and formation in trees.- Plant Responses to Combination of Air Pollution and Climate Change.- Carbon dioxide and ozone affect needle nitrogen and abscission in Pinus ponderosa.- Effects of air pollution and climate change on forests of the Tatra Mountains, Central Europe.- Genetics and Molecular Biology for Functioning Improvement.- MAPK signalling and plant cell survival in response to oxidative environmental stress.- Expression of cyanobacterial ictB in higher plants enhanced photosynthesis and growth.- Improvement of photosynthesis in higher plants.- Modification of CO2 fixation of photosynthetic prokaryote.- Specificity of diatom Rubisco.- Regulation of CO2 fixation in non-sulfur purple photosynthetic bacteria.- Experimental Ecosystem and Climate Change Research.- Experimental ecosystem and climate change research in controlled environments: lessons from theBiosphere 2 Laboratory 19962003.- Importance of air movement for promoting gas and heat exchanges between plants and atmosphere under controlled environments.- Pros and cons of CO2 springs as experimental sites.- Global Carbon Cycles in Ecosystem and Assessment of Climate Change Impacts.- Carbon dynamics in response to climate and disturbance: Recent progress from multi-scale measurements and modeling in AmeriFlux.- Synthetic analysis of the CO2 fluxes at various forests in East Asia.- 3-D remote sensing of woody canopy height and carbon stocks by helicopter-borne scanning lidar.- Assessments of climate change impacts on the terrestrial ecosystem in Japan using the Bio-Geographical and GeoChemical (BGGC) Model.- Air Pollution and Global Change in Asia.- Establishing critical levels of air pollutants for protecting East Asian vegetation A challenge.- Major activities of acid deposition monitoring network in East Asia (EANET) and related studies.- Land degradation and blown-sand disaster in China.- Impact of meteorological fields and surface conditions on Asian dust.- A case study on combating desertification at a small watershed in the hills-gully area of loess plateau, China.- A recipe for sustainable agriculture in drylands.