Burleigh Dodds Science: Instant Insights

This book discusses the utilisation of tropical and temperate forests as tools for monitoring and managing carbon. The book also considers how agroforestry systems can be utilised to improve soil fertility, food security and land restoration. This book features five peer-reviewed reviews on carbon monitoring and management in forests. The first chapter summarises the effects of different forest management practices on soil organic carbon storage and discusses whether and how they can be optimised under climate change. The second chapter considers the potential of agroforestry systems to respond to multiple challenges related to soil carbon sequestration, including soil fertility improvement, land restoration, food security and adaptation to climate change. The third chapter provides an update on advances in monitoring and reporting emissions from mostly tropical forests in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The chapter also discusses the development and submission of Action Plans for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). The fourth chapter examines the importance of forest carbon content and methods of monitoring it. The chapter also addresses whether forests should be considered as sources or sinks of carbon. The final chapter reviews the interactions between tropical forests and climate, the role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle, as well as the impacts of climate change on forests in different parts of the tropics.