A History of Atmospheric CO2 and Its Effects on Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems

Based in extensive research in geology, atmospheric science, and paleontology, this book offers a detailed history of CO2 in the atmosphere, and an understanding of factors that have influenced changes in the past. The text illuminates the role of atmospheric CO2 in the modern carbon cycle and in the evolution of plants and animals, and addresses the future role of atmospheric CO2 and its likely effects on ecosystems.

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.

Part 1 The Atmospheric CO2 Record -- 1 The Rise of Trees and Their Effect on Paleozoic CO2, Climate and Geology (Robert A. Berner) -- 2 Atmospheric CO2 During the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic: Estimates from Indian Soils (Prosenjit Ghosh, S.K. Bhattacharya, and Parthasarathi Ghosh) -- 3 Alkenone-Based Estimates of Past CO2 Levels: A Consideration of Their Utility Based on an Analysis of Uncertainties
(Katherine H. Freeman and Mark Pagani) -- 4 Atmospheric CO2 Data over Four Climatic Cycles from Ice Cores (Thomas Blunier, Eric Monnin, and Jean-Marc Barnola) -- 5 Atmospheric CO2 and CO2 Exchange with the Terrestial Biosphere and Oceans from 1978 to 2000: Observations and Carbon Cycle Implications (C. David Keeling, Stephen C. Piper, Robert B. Bacastow, Martin Wahlen, Timothy P. Whorf, Martin Heimann, and Harro A. Meijer) -- Part II Biotic Responses to Long-Term Changes in Atmospheric CO2 -- 6 Evolutionary Responses of Land Plants to Atmospheric CO2
(David J. Beerling) -- 7 Cretaceous CO2 Decline and the Radiation and Diversification of Angiosperms -- (Jennifer C. McElwain, K.J. Willis, and R. Lupia) -- 8 Influence of Uplift, Weathering and Base Cation Supply on Past and Future CO2 Levels (Jacob R. Waldbauer and C. Paige Chamberlain) -- 9 Atmospheric CO2, Environmental Stress and the Evolution of C4 Photosynthesis (Rowan F. Sage) -- 10 On the Influence of Atmospheric CO2, Temperature, and Water on the Abundance of C3/C4 Taxa (James R. Ehleringer) -- 11 Evolution and Growth of Plants in a Low CO2 World (Joy K. Ward) -- 12 Environmentally Driven Dietary Adaptations in African Mammals (Thure E. Cerling, John M. Harris, and Meave G. Leakey) -- 13 Terrestrial Mammalian Herbivore Response to Declining Levels of Atmospheric CO2 During the Cenezoic: Evidence from North American Fossil Horses (Family Equidae) (Bruce J. MacFadden) -- 14 CO2, Grasses, and Human Evolution (Nicholas J. van der Merwe) -- Part III  Atmospheric CO2 and Modern Ecosystems -- 15 The Carbon Cycle over the Last 1,000 Years Inferred from the Inversion of Ice Core Data (Cathy Trudinger, Ian Enting, David Etheridge, Roger Francy, and Peter Rayner) -- 16 Remembrance of Weather Past: Ecosystem Responses to Climate Variability (David Schimel, Galina Churkina, Bobby H. Braswell, and James Trenbath) -- 17 Effects of Elevated CO2 in Keystone Herbivores in Modern Arctic Ecosystems (Scott R. McWilliams and James O. Leafloor) -- Part IV  Ecosystem Responses to a Future Atmospheric CO2 -- 18 Modern and Future Forest in a Changing Atmosphere (Richard J. Norby, Linda A. Joyce, and Stan D. Wullschleger) -- 19 Modern and Future Semi-Arid Ecosystems (M. Rebecca Shaw, Travis E. Huxman, and Christopher P. Lund) -- 20 CO2 Effects on Plants at Different (Time Scales, Belinda E. Medlyn and Ross E. McMurtrie) -- 21 Herbivory in an Elevated CO2 World (Richard L. Lindroth and M. Denise Dearing) -- 22 Borehole Temperatures and Climate Change: A Global Perspective (Robert N. Harris and David S. Chapman)

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