Boreal forests form Earth's largest terrestrial biome. They are rich in ecosystem and landscape diversity, though characterized by relatively few plant species, as compared to other forested regions. The long term viability and sustainability of boreal forests is influenced by many factors. They are subject to interruptions at intervals by large-scale natural disturbances, and increasingly by human activities. Boreal ecosystem development is typically a slow process; hence rapid changes in the global environment may invoke complex responses. Many industrial nations border, or lie within, boreal regions, deriving much of their economic wealth and culture from the forests. The response of boreal forests to changes in the global environment - whether caused by direct human activity or by indirect changes such as the anticipated changes in climate - are therefore of considerable international interest, both for their policy implications and their scientific challenges. This book, which contains almost 50 peer-reviewed papers from a world-wide group of experts assembled under the auspices of IBFRA, the International Boreal Forest Research Association, covers topics which should stimulate further research and the development of constructive policies for improved management and conservation of global boreal forest resources.

Table of Contents:
West-East cooperation in Europe for sustainable boreal forests.- Problems of forest management in Russia.- Conserving the boreal forest by shifting the emphasis of management action from vegetation to the atmosphere.- Forest operations and environmental protection.- Application of a bioeconomic strategic planning model to an industrial forest in Saskatchewan.- Emergence of a biodiversity concept in Swedish forest policy.- Criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management in Canada.- Forestry and the boreal forest: maintaining inherent landscape patterns.- Forest health monitoring in Canada: how healthy is the boreal forest?.- Bioproductivity of spruce stands in northern European Russia.- Long-term experiments in selectively cut Norway spruce (Picea abies) forest.- Reforestation trials in the Khabarovsk Territory, Russia.- Artificial regeneration of spruce on cold, wet soil: 10 years along.- Structure and biomass of larch stands regenerating naturally after clear-cut logging.- Desiccation of white spruce seedlings planted in the southern boreal forest of British Columbia.- Jack pine (Pinusbanksiana) seedling emergence is affected by organic horizon removal, ashes, soil, water and shade.- Modelling forest regeneration processes in clear-cut and burned areas in Angara Region.- Using fuel characteristics to estimate plant ignitability for fire hazard reduction.- Simulation of mixedwood management of aspen and white spruce in northeastern British Columbia.- Application of science to environmental impact assessment in boreal forest management: the Saskatchewan example.- Nitrogen mineralization in boreal forest stands of Isle Royale, northern Michigan.- The Boreal Forest Transect Case Study: global change effects on ecosystem processes and carbon dynamics in boreal Canada.- Litter quality and its potential effect on decay rates of materials from Canadian forests.- Dynamics of the dead wood carbon pool in northwestern Russian boreal forests.- Carbon pools and fluxes of 25-year old coniferous and deciduous stands in middle Siberia.- Carbon stock and deposition in phytomass of the Russian forests.- A survey of the forest site characteristics in a transect through the central Canadian boreal forest.- Carbon in vegetation of Russian forests: methods to estimate storage and geographical distribution.- Simulating carbon dynamics of the boreal forest in Pukaskwa National Park.- Simulating carbon storage in forests of eastern Russia.- Simulation of forest and wood product carbon budget under a changing climate in Finland.- An analysis of future carbon budgets of Canadian boreal forests.- A system for evaluation of growth and mortality in Russian forests.- Boreal forest catchments: research sites for global change at high latitudes.- The Nashwaak Experimental Watershed Project: analysing effects of clearcutting on soil temperature, soil moisture, snowpack, snowmelt and stream flow.- Temporal and spatial variations of terrestrial biomes and carbon storage since 13 000 yr BP in Europe: reconstruction from pollen data and statistical models.- The aspen parkland in western Canada: a dry-climate analogue for the future boreal forest?.- Potential effects of climatic change on some western Canadian forests, based on phonological enhancements to a patch model of forest succession.- Boreal forest futures: modelling the controls on tree species range limits and transient responses to climate change.- Disturbance impacts on forest temporal dynamics.- Predicting the effects of climate change on fire frequency in the southeastern Canadian boreal forest.- Effects of climate change on insect defoliator population processes in Canadas boreal forest: some plausible scenarios.- Global carbon dynamics of higher latitude forests during an anticipated climate change: ecophysiological versus biome-migration view.- Pattern and change of a boreal forest landscape in northeastern China.- Description of the Canadian Regional Climate Model.- Aspen bark photosynthesis and its significance to remote sensing and carbon budget estimates in the boreal ecosystem.- Using aerial photography and satellite imagery to monitor forest cover in western Siberia.- Monitoring primary production from Earth observing satellites.- First Nations perspective on the boreal forest.- List of Conference Participants.- List of Reviewers.- Author Index.