1. Spend some time reviewing the model on page 34 of the text on the terrestrial carbon cycle. Review the processes of carbon fixation or photosynthesis, decomposition, herbivory, predation.

2. How do you measure ecosystem function, specifically carbon balance?

a. giant cylinder

b. aerodynamic analysis and modeling

c. eddy covariance

e. small enclosures

3. In detail, explain the giant cylinder; others listed are different examples of the same underlying principal of estimating a carbon balance. Go through the reasoning process to predict what would happen at night, during a typical growing season day, and over a year.

4. Important results of such studies overall:

a. CO2 uptake increases with photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)

b. amount of net carbon fixed varies from year to year

c. net long term fixation is zero

d. boreal forests can use CO2 whenever temperature > 0 degrees.

5. Hint for problem - express your answer as a weight per unit area burned