Tropical Ecosystems in the 21st Century
This special issue of Advances in Ecological Research brings together papers describing these anthropogenic threats, including the impacts of habitat change, altered fire regimes and climate change.
Image: A truck carries the trunks of dipterocarp trees away from logging operations in lowland rainforest in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (copyright Tom M. Fayle).
Tropical ecosystems are highly diverse and provide myriad ecosystem services to humanity. However, these habitats are increasingly threatened by human activities. This special issue of Advances in Ecological Research brings together papers describing these anthropogenic threats, including the impacts of habitat change, altered fire regimes and climate change. The work covers various tropical ecosystems, both terrestrial and marine, and study organisms ranging from insects up to the largest tropical trees. Multiple papers describe large-scale “whole ecosystem” experiments, an emerging method for understanding direction of causation in complex tropical ecosystems. Of particular note is the first ever experimental warming of a tropical forest. Methods for ameliorating these impacts are also discussed, with a focus on monitoring vulnerable populations with environmental DNA, use of novel statistical tools, and active restoration of tropical habitats. Understanding how to maintain the functioning of hyper-diverse tropical ecosystems has never been more important, and this special issue represents another step towards achieving this goal.
Dumbrell A.J., Turner E.C. & Fayle, T.M. – Editors (2020) Tropical Ecosystems in the 21st Century. Advances in Ecological Research. Academic Press. Volume 62. 494pp.
https://www.elsevier.com/books/tropical-ecosystems-in-the-21st-century/dumbrell/978-0-12-821134-2
