The world's boreal forests, which lie to the south of the Arctic, are considered to be the Earth's most significant terrestrial ecosystems. A panel of ecologists here provide a synthesis of the important patterns and processes which occur in boreal forests and review the principal mechanisms which control the forest's patterns.

List of contributors; 1. Introduction Herman H. Shugart, Rik Leemans and Gordon B. Bonan; Part I. Processes in Boreal Forests Gordon B. Bonan: 2. Silvics of the circumpolar boreal forest tree species Nedialko Nikolov and Harry Helmisaari; 3. The reproductive process in boreal forest trees John C. Zasada, Terry L. Sharik and Markku Nygren; 4. Soil temperature as an ecological factor in boreal forests Gordon B. Bonan; 5. Fire as a controlling process in the North American boreal forest Serge Payette; 6. The role of forest insects in structuring the boreal landscape C. S. Holling; Part II. Patterns in Space and Time in Boreal Forests Herman H. Shugart: 7. The transition between boreal forest and tundra Luc Sirois; 8. The southern boreal-northern hardwood forest border John Pastor and David J. Mladenoff; 9. Transitions between boreal forest and wetland F. Z. Glebov and M. D. Korzukhin; 10. Remote sensing technology for forest ecosystem analysis K. Jon Ranson and Darrel L. Williams; 11. The nature and distribution of past, present and future boreal forests: lessons for a research and modeling agenda Allen M. Solomon; Part III. Computer Models for Synthesis of Pattern and Process in the Boreal Forest Rik Leemans: 12. Individual-tree-based models of forest dynamics and their application in global change research Herman H. Shugart and I. Colin Prentice; 13. Population-level models of forest dynamics M. D. Korzukhin and M. Ya. Antonovski; 14. A spatial model of long-term forest fibre dynamics and its applications to forests in western Siberia M. Ya. Antonovski, M. T. Ter-Mikaelian and V. V. Furyaev; 15. A simulation analysis of environmental factors and ecological processes in North American boreal forests Gordon B. Bonan; 16. The biological component of the simulation model for boreal forest dynamics Rik Leemans; 17. Role of stand simulation in modeling forest response to environmental change and management interventions Peter Duinker, Ola Sallnas and Sten Nilsson; 18. Concluding comments Herman H. Shugart, Rik Leemans and Gordon B. Bonan; References; Index.