Abstract
The global budget of radiatively active gases such as carbondioxide (C02)is at present not fully understood. Because knowledge of this budget is essential in understanding climate dynamics and possible future climate changes, the global carbon budget has been identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as one of the priority research topics (Houghtonetai, 1995; see also Spence&Townsend,1995). The strong need for direct and long-term measurements of CO2 and water vapour exchange between miscellaneous ecosystems and the atmosphere was also emphasised at a Workshop on Strategies for Long - term Studies of CO2 and Water Vapour Fluxes over Terrestrial Ecosystems(Baldocchiet ai, 1996)...