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All Ebook Formats $49.99 ISBN: 9781610910217 Published February 2011
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Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests

Ecology and Conservation

Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
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Edited by Rodolfo Dirzo, Hillary S. Young, Harold A. Mooney, and Gerardo Ceballos

408 pages | 6 x 9
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.
“Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests emphasizes the growing impact of human activities on ecological processes in these forests—a topic of critical importance given the high rate of conversion and fragmentation of tropical dry forests around the world.”
Katherine Renton, Chamela Biological Station, National Autonomous University of Mexico


“Seasonally dry tropical forests, now the most severely threatened of the large tropical ecosystems, once covered more than half of the forested tropics. Just in time, this volume provides detailed, up-to-date information on how to restore these magnificent forests and the critical habitat they provide.”
Daniel H. Janzen, Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund


"If you are interested in dry tropical forests, what they are like and what's happening to them, then this book is an excellent starting point."
Julian Evans, Chartered Forester


"Given the state of the global environment and seasonally dry tropical forests in particular, any comprehensive book must consider the role of society as was so effectively done in this new volume...Taken as a whole, and given the strength of the fourth section 'Human Impacts and Conservation,' this book is a necessary addition for the library of scientists and conservation practitioners throughout the tropics."
Sarah Otterstrom, Biotropica


"In sum, this book offers exceptional insight into the history, characteristics, current status, and future outlook of SDTFs [seasonally dry tropical forests]...This book is a significant contribution to the study of SDTFs and will provide a baseline reference for both new students and experienced researchers."
Quarterly Review of Biology


"Overall, this latest book on seasonally dry forests is likely to become a major source of reference in years to come. It certainly will occupy a prominent place in my bookshelf."
Ecology


Contents

Introduction

Rodolfo Dirzo

Part 1: 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 R.and Toby Pennington

chapter 2: The Biogeography of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests in South AmericaSofia Caetano and Yamama Naciri

chapter 3: Extent and Drivers of Change of Neotropical Seasonally Dry Forests

G. Arturo Sánchez-Azofeifa and Carlos Portillo-Quintero

 

Part 2: 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 3: 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 Forests 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 4: 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, Lorena Ashworth, Victor M. Rosas-Guerrero, Roberto Sayago, Jorge A. Lobo, Yvonne Herrerías-Diego and Gumersindo Sanchez-Montoya

chapter 12: Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Biodiversity and Conservation Value in Agricultural Landscapes of Mesoamerica

Robin L. Chazdon, Celia A. Harvey , Miguel Martinez-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

Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Jeffrey A. Klemens, Nicholas J. Deacon

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 Toby Pennington

chapter 17: Synthesis and Promising Lines of Research on Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests

Harold A. Mooney

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Ecosystem Science & Management

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