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Professor Colin Prentice said that biosphere modelling was easy. I think this is typical British understatement. I say that good biosphere modelling is difficult. In my summary I should like to comment on the general remarks of Professor Prentice with respect to biosphere modelling, on the global Biome Model by Prentice et al. [7], generally referred to as Biome1, and on the results from the Biome2 model, which is not yet published, so I have a little difficulty to review it. As an introduction to my comments I should like, however, to relate to the general boundary conditions for modelling the biosphere and the global carbon cycle.

List of Contents.- 1 Forest Resources: Past, Present and Future Role of Managed and Unmanaged Forests in the Global Carbon Balance.- 1.1 Historic Role of Forests in the Global Carbon Cycle.- 1.2 The History and Future Dynamics of Carbon Sequestration in Finland's Forest Sector.- 1.3 Dynamics of Forest Resources of the Former Soviet Union with Respect to the Carbon Budget.- 1.4 Past and Possible Future Carbon Dynamics of Canada's Boreal Forest Ecosystems.- 1.5 Assessment of Humid Tropical Forest Distribution and Conditions Using Remote Sensing at a Global Scale.- 2 Implementation of Carbon Dioxide Mitigation Measures in Forestry and Wood Industry on a National and International Scale.- 2.1 Analysis and Potential for Mitigation Options.- 2.2 Carbon Mitigation Potential of German Forestry Considering Competing Forms of Land Use.- 2.3 Present and Future Options of Forests and Forestry for CO2-Mitigation in Germany.- 2.4 Afforestation in Europe: Experiences and Future Possibilities.- 2.5 Implementing Carbon Mitigation Measures in the Forestry Sector - a Review.- 3 Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of Carbon Dioxide Mitigation in Forestry and Wood Industry.- 3.1 World Forests: The Area for Afforestation and their Potential for Fossil Carbon Sequestration and Substitution.- 3.2 Substitution of Wood from Plantation Forestry for Wood from Deforestation: Modelling the Effects on Carbon Storage.- 3.3 Life Cycle Assessment of Wood Products.- 3.4 The Face Foundation.- 3.5 Climate Stabilisation and Conservation of Biodiversity - Two Goals - One Way?.- 4 Forestry Mitigation Options under Future Climate Change and Socioeconomic Pressures.- 4.1 Future Development of the Carbon Cycle: The Role of the Biota/Forests within the IPCC Stabilisation Scenarios.- 4.2 The Frankfurt Biosphere Model (FBM): Regional Validation Using German Forest Yield Tables and Iventory Data and Extrapolation to a 2xCO2 Climate.- 4.3 The Direct Effect of CO2 Enrichment on the Growth of Trees and Forests.- 4.4 Ecosystem Properties and the Continued Operation of the Terrestrial Carbon Sink.- 4.5 The Distribution of Future Global Forests as Affected by Changing Climate and Land Use.

Temperate forests currently cover about 600 MHa, about half of their potential. Almost all these forests have been directly impacted by humans. The total living biomass in trees (including roots) was estimated to contain 33.7 Gt C. The total C pool for the entire forest biome was estimated as 98.8 Gt. The current net sink flux of biomass was calculated at 205 Mt yr1, with a similar amount removed in harvests for manufacture into various products. The major cause of this C sink is forest regrowth. Forest regrowth is possible because fossil fuels are the major source of energy in temperate countries, instead of fuelwood. Future C in these forests will be greatly influenced by human activity. Options to sequester more C include conservation of forest resources, activities that increase forest productivity such as adopting rotation ages to optimize C production, afforestation, improvement of wood utilization, and waste management.