3. What Ecological Lessons Can We Learn from Deforestation Processes in the Past?

 C.O.Tamm
       Department of Ecology and Environmental Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7072, S- 75007, Uppsala, Sweden

3.1 Introduction 3.2 Deforestation and other vegetational transformations in the past and present 3.3 'Forest influences'- brief overview  3.3.1 Radiation balance and temperature climate  3.3.2 Evapotranspiration, runoff, soil physical processes  3.3.3 Accumulation and dissipation of organic matter and nutrients in forest ecosystems  3.3.4 Soil chemical and biological changes  3.3.5 Biological diversity 3.3.6 Site susceptibility to fire, erosion, etc. 3.4 Archives for ecological information on effects of vegetation changes 3.5 Is it possible to combine our historical evidence with our present knowledge of forest influences to get a reliable picture of man's role for changes in the environment? References