The increasing concern of global climate change has caused an increasing interest in all aspects of carbon exchange of natural ecosystems. In a world of atmospheric increase of CO2, we are becoming aware that natural ecosystems, especially the boreal forest, might be major sinks for carbon, and may slow down the effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on climate. Fortunately enough, following 30 years of intensive research in the ecophysiology of photosynthesis, we may be just about ready to actually model global photosynthesis to the necessary level of complexity for predictions of effects of CO2 change on global vegetation. For many parameters this seems to be actually possible. However, it is also quite clear that important information is still missing, such as the uncertainty about adaptations of plants to high CO2, and about the unknown balance between respiratory and assimilatory processes at the canopy level. The present volume will review the progress which has been made in understanding photosynthesis in the past decades. It will attempt to develop a global map of photosynthesis, which would not have been possible without the recent history of intensive research on the ecophysiology of photosynthesis, which started in the early 1950s, and was intensified during the International Biological Program.
