The Global Carbon Cycle And The Evolution Of Photosynthesis

The book deals with the problem of the interaction and interconditionality of the various processes occurring in both the Earth’s crust and the biosphere. It proposes a model of the global carbon cycle explaining the nature and mechanism of these interactions, showing that the key element of this interaction is the photosynthesis controlled by periodic carbon dioxide injections caused by collision zones of lithospheric plates. Changes in the environment due to the evolution of photosynthesis cause alterations in the carbon cycle, and lead to a stationary state when new features of the cycle are manifested. The main instruments of the analysis here are the isotopic technique and physico-chemical modeling, conducted on the basis of the principle of actualism. The model provides explanations of periodic mass extinctions of organisms, the “explosions of life”, the uneven distribution of organic matter in the sedimentary strata, stratigraphic oil distribution, and various other events in the biosphere in the course of geological history. The book will appeal to geologists, geochemists, climatologists, ecologists, biologists, and specialists in global change.

Trees, CO2 concentration, climate change, herbivores, temperature.

This book describes the mechanisms that allow aquatic photosynthetic organisms to contribute about half of the global primary productivity; in order to mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, they transform the original anoxic atmosphere of the Earth over geological time. Aquatic photosynthesis is performed by a wide diversity of organisms, predominantly involving cyanobacteria, and algae derived from the “red-lineage”, unlike terrestrial primary productivity, which is restricted to “green-lineage” plants. Blue Planet, Red and Green Photosynthesis describes how, in order to maximize productivity, aquatic primary producers have evolved a series of structures and mechanisms that increase the limiting supply of carbon dioxide to the enzyme, Rubisco, which is responsible for carbon dioxide fixation. This book covers the molecular mechanisms involved in aquatic carbon uptake and the global consequences as humankind alters the blue planet.

Leading scientists describe how we can reduce CO2 emissions; for graduate students and researchers.

This book is the outcome of a NAill Advanced Study Institute on the contemporary glo bal carbon cycle, held in n Ciocco, Italy, September 8-20, 1991. The motivation for this ASI originated from recent controversial findings regarding the relative roles of the ocean and the land biota in the current global balance of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Consequently, the pur pose of this institute was to review, among leading experts in the field, the multitude of known constraints on the present day global carbon cycle as identified by the fields of meteorology, physical and biological oceanography, geology and terrestrial biosphere sciences. At the same time the form of an Advanced Study Institute was chosen, thus providing the opportunity to convey the information in tutorial form across disciplines and to young researchers entering the field. The first three sections of this book contain the lectures held in II Ciocco. The first sec tion reviews the atmospheric, large-scale global constraints on the present day carbon cycle including the emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use and it provides a brief look into the past. The second section discusses the role of the terrestrial biosphere and the third the role of the ocean in the contemporary global carbon cycle.

Changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and global climate conditions have altered photosynthesis and plant respiration across both geologic and contemporary time scales. Understanding climate change effects on plant carbon dynamics is critical for predicting plant responses to future growing conditions. Furthermore, demand for biofuel, fibre and food production is rapidly increasing with the ever-expanding global human population, and our ability to meet these demands is exacerbated by climate change. This volume integrates physiological, ecological, and evolutionary perspectives on photosynthesis and respiration responses to climate change. We explore this topic in the context of modeling plant responses to climate, including physiological mechanisms that constrain carbon assimilation and the potential for plants to acclimate to rising carbon dioxide concentration, warming temperatures and drought. Additional chapters contrast climate change responses in natural and agricultural ecosystems, where differences in climate sensitivity between different photosynthetic pathways can influence community and ecosystem processes. Evolutionary studies over past and current time scales provide further insight into evolutionary changes in photosynthetic traits, the emergence of novel plant strategies, and the potential for rapid evolutionary responses to future climate conditions. Finally, we discuss novel approaches to engineering photosynthesis and photorespiration to improve plant productivity for the future. The overall goals for this volume are to highlight recent advances in photosynthesis and respiration research, and to identify key challenges to understanding and scaling plant physiological responses to climate change. The integrated perspectives and broad scope of research make this volume an excellent resource for both students and researchers in many areas of plant science, including plant physiology, ecology, evolution, climate change, and biotechnology. For this volume, 37 experts contributed chapters that span modeling, empirical, and applied research on photosynthesis and respiration responses to climate change. Authors represent the following seven countries: Australia (6); Canada (9), England (5), Germany (2), Spain (3), and the United States (12).

NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) conducts a wide range of satellite and suborbital missions to observe Earth's land surface and interior, biosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, and oceans as part of a program to improve understanding of Earth as an integrated system. Earth observations provide the foundation for critical scientific advances and environmental data products derived from these observations are used in resource management and for an extraordinary range of societal applications including weather forecasts, climate projections, sea level change, water management, disease early warning, agricultural production, and the response to natural disasters. As the complexity of societal infrastructure and its vulnerability to environmental disruption increases, the demands for deeper scientific insights and more actionable information continue to rise. To serve these demands, NASA's ESD is challenged with optimizing the partitioning of its finite resources among measurements intended for exploring new science frontiers, carefully characterizing long-term changes in the Earth system, and supporting ongoing societal applications. This challenge is most acute in the decisions the Division makes between supporting measurement continuity of data streams that are critical components of Earth science research programs and the development of new measurement capabilities. This report seeks to establish a more quantitative understanding of the need for measurement continuity and the consequences of measurement gaps. Continuity of NASA's Earth's Observations presents a framework to assist NASA's ESD in their determinations of when a measurement or dataset should be collected for durations longer than the typical lifetimes of single satellite missions.

This book describes the interlaced histories of life and oxygen. It opens with the generation of oxygen in ancient stars and its distribution to newly formed planets like the Earth. Free O2 was not available on the early Earth, so the first life forms had to be anaerobic. Life introduced free O2 into the environment through the evolution of photosynthesis, which must have been a disaster for many anaerobes. Others found ways to deal with the toxic reactive oxygen species and even developed a much more efficient oxygen-based metabolism. The authors vividly describe how the introduction of O2 allowed the burst of evolution that created today’s biota. They also discuss the interplay of O2 and CO2, with consequences such as worldwide glaciations and global warming. On the physiological level, they present an overview of oxidative metabolism and O2 transport, and the importance of O2 in human life and medicine, emphasizing that while oxygen is essential, it is also related to aging and many disease states.