Though seasonally dry tropical forests are equally as important to global biodiversity as tropical rainforests, and are one of the most representative and highly endangered ecosystems in Latin America, knowledge about them remains limited because of the relative paucity of attention paid to them by scientists and researchers and a lack of published information on the subject.
Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests seeks to address this shortcoming by bringing together a range of experts in diverse fields including biology, ecology, biogeography, and biogeochemistry, to review, synthesize, and explain the current state of our collective knowledge on the ecology and conservation of seasonally dry tropical forests.
The book offers a synthetic and cross-disciplinary review of recent work with an expansive scope, including sections on distribution, diversity, ecosystem function, and human impacts. Throughout, contributors emphasize conservation issues, particularly emerging threats and promising solutions, with key chapters on climate change, fragmentation, restoration, ecosystem services, and sustainable use.
Seasonally dry tropical forests are extremely rich in biodiversity, and are seriously threatened. They represent scientific terrain that is poorly explored, and there is an urgent need for increased understanding of the system's basic ecology. Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests represents an important step in bringing together the most current scientific information about this vital ecosystem and disseminating it to the scientific and conservation communities.
Autorentext
Rodolfo Dirzo and Harold A. Mooney are Professors, and Hillary S. Young is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Biology, Stanford University. Gerardo Ceballos is a Professor of Biology at Instituto de Ecología, at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Klappentext
Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests brings together a range of experts in diverse fields including biology, ecology, biogeography, and biogeochemistry, to review, synthesize, and explain the current state of our collective knowledge on the ecology and conservation of this endangered ecosystem.
The book offers a synthetic and cross-disciplinary review of recent work with an expansive scope, including sections on distribution, diversity, ecosystem function, and human impacts. Throughout, contributors emphasize conservation issues, particularly emerging threats and promising solutions, with key chapters on climate change, fragmentation, restoration, ecosystem services, and sustainable use.
Seasonally dry tropical forests represent scientific terrain that is poorly explored, and there is an urgent need for increased understanding. This book represents an important step in bringing together the most current scientific information about this vital ecosystem.
Inhalt
Introduction
Rodolfo Dirzo, Hillary S. Young, Harold A. Mooney, and Gerardo Ceballos
PART I SEASONALLY DRY TROPICAL FORESTS AS A NATURAL SYSTEM
Chapter 1 Neotropical Seasonally Dry Forests: Diversity, Endemism, and Biogeography of Woody Plants
Reynaldo Linares-Palomino, Ary T. Oliveira-Filho, and R. Toby Pennington
Chapter 2 The Biogeography of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests in South America
Sofia Caetano and Yamama Naciri
Chapter 3 Extent and Drivers of Change of Neotropical Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
G. Arturo Sánchez-Azofeifa, and Carlos Portillo-Quintero
PART II ANIMAL BIODIVERSITY OF SEASONALLY DRY TROPICAL FORESTS
Chapter 4 Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Soil Diversity and Functioning
Diana H. Wall, Grizelle González, and Breana l. Simmons
Chapter 5 Insect Diversity in Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
Paul E. Hanson
Chapter 6 Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Mammals: Adaptations and Seasonal Patterns
Kathryn E. Stoner and Robert M. Timm
PART III ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES IN SEASONALLY DRY TROPICAL FORESTS
Chapter 7 Primary Productivity and Biogeochemistry of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
Víctor J. Jaramillo, Angelina Martínez-Yrízar, and Robert l. Sanford Jr.
Chapter 8 Physiological Mechanisms Underlying the Seasonality of Leaf Senescence and Renewal in Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Trees
Juan Pablo Giraldo and N. Michele Holbrook
Chapter 9 Water Dynamics at the Ecosystem Level in Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
Manuel Maass and Ana Burgos
PART IV HUMAN IMPACTS AND CONSERVATION IN SEASONALLY DRY TROPICAL FORESTS
Chapter 10 Impact of Anthropogenic Transformation of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests on Ecosystem Biogeochemical Processes
Felipe García-Oliva and Víctor J. Jaramillo
Chapter 11 Human Impacts on Pollination, Reproduction, and Breeding Systems in Tropical Forest Plants
Mauricio Quesada, Fernando Rosas, Ramiro Aguilar, Iorena Ashworth, Víctor M. Rosas-Guerrero, Roberto Sayago, Jorge A. Lobo, Yvonne Herrerías-Diego, and Gumersindo Sánchez-Montoya
Chapter 12 Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Biodiversity and Conservation Value in Agricultural Landscapes of Mesoamerica
Robin L. Chazdon, Celia A. Harvey, Miguel Martínez-Ramos, Patricia Balvanera, Kathryn E. Stoner, Jorge E. Schondube, Luis Daniel Avila Cabadilla, and Mónica Flores-Hidalgo
Chapter 13 Pasture Recolonization by a Tropical Oak and the Regeneration Ecology of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
Jeffrey A. Klemens, Nicholas J. Deacon, and Jeannine Cavender-Bares
Chapter 14 Economic Botany and Management Potential of Neotropical Seasonally Dry Forests
Charles M. Peters
Chapter 15 Ecosystem Services in Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
Patricia Balvanera, Alicia Castillo, and María José Martínez-Harms
Chapter 16 Climatic Change and Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
Patrick Meir and R. Toby Pennington
Chapter 17 Synthesis and Promising Lines of Research on Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
Harold A. Mooney
References
Contributors
Index