Global Climate Change and Agricultural Production : Direct and Indirect Effects of Changing Hydrological, Pedological and Plant Physiological Processes

Contents: Preface. 1. The climate change - agriculture conundrum/W.G. Sombroek and R. Gommes. 2. The effects of changes in the world hydrological cycle on availability of water resources/T.E. Evans. 3. The effects of global change on soil conditions in relation to plant growth and food production/R. Brinkman and W.G. Sombroek. 4. The CO2 fertilization effect: higher carbohydrate production and retention as biomass and seed yield/L.H. Allen, J.T. Baker and K.J. Boote. 5. The effects of elevated CO2 and temperature change on transpiration and crop water use/S.C. Van de Geijn and J. Goudriaan. 6. Effects of higher day and night temperatures on growth and yields of some crop plants/Y.P. Abrol and K.T. Ingram. 7. Adverse effects of elevated levels of Ultraviolet (UV)-B radiation and Ozone (O3) on crop growth and productivity/S.V. Krupa and H. Jager. 8. Combined effects of changing CO2, temperature, UV-B radiation and O3 on crop growth/M.H. Unsworth and W.E. Hogsett. 9. The potential effects of climate change on world food production and security/G. Fischer, K. Frohberg, M.L. Parry and C. Rosenzweig. 10. Climate change, global agriculture and regional vulnerability/J. Reilly. 11. Integrating land-use change and evaluating feedbacks in global change models: the image 2 approach/R. Leemans, G.J. Van den Born and L. Bouwman. 12. Global change impacts on agriculture, forestry and soils: the programme of the global change and terrestrial ecosystems Core Project of IGBP/B. Tinker, J. Goudriaan, P. Teng, M. Swift, S. Linder, J. Ingram and S. Van de Geijn. 13. Global climatic change and agricultural production: an assessment of current knowledge and critical gaps/F.A. Bazzaz and W.G. Sombroek.

"This book reports on the results of experiments to assess the effects of global climate change on the agricultural production of crops and livestock. It covers issues such as the CO2 fertilization effect, the adverse effects of elevated levels of UV-B radiation and ozone on plant growth and productivity and on livestock. Combined effects are also studied, including changing CO2, temperature, and UV-B radiation and O3 simultaneously on crop growth.

The concluding chapters given an idea of the overall global picture in terms of the effects already discussed. Changes in the world hydrological cycle, the regional availability of water resources, changes in soil conditions and the impact of this on food production, as well as modelling techniques, are all examined."