Forest vegetation is distributed in monsoon Asia continuously from boreal forests through temperate to tropical rain forests. This vegetation - the richest in the world - is being subjected to global change on an unprecedented scale. It has been predicted that boreal forests will experience the most significant change in response to global warming, while tropical forests are endangered by rapid changes in land use due to high population pressure. An increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration will severely affect ecosystem function in this area. This volume presents a review of terrestrial ecosystems in monsoon Asia and assesses possible effects of global change on the structure and function of forest ecosystems and feedback routes to the global carbon cycle.
Audience: Vital reading for plant ecologists, vegetation scientists, environmental managers and government decision makers.

Latitudinal comparison of altitudinal changes in forest structure, leaf-type, and species richness in humid monsoon Asia.- The boreal forests of north-eastern Eurasia.- Composition, dynamics and disturbance regime of temperate deciduous forests in monsoon Asia.- Tropical seasonal forests in monsoon Asia: With emphasis on continental southeast Asia.- Human impacts on tropical forest dynamics.- Terrestrial transects for global change research.- Temperature effects on the photosynthetic response of C3 plants to long-term CO2 enrichment.- Environmental regulation of surface conductance for evaporation from vegetation.- The basis for variation in leaf longevity of plants.- Factors determining distributions of tree species and plant functional types.- A size-distribution-based model of forest dynamics along a latitudinal environmental gradient.- Maintenance of forest species diversity and latitudinal gradient.- A role-type model (rope) and its application in assessing climate change impacts on forest landscapes.- Simulation of soil carbon cycling and carbon balance following clear-cutting in a mid-temperate forest and contribution to the sink of atmospheric CO2.- The role of temperate trees and forests in CO2 fixation.- Contribution of monsoon Asia to the carbon budget of the biosphere, past and future.- Abstracts.