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." "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." "[Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests]...provides a much-needed overview of seasonally dry tropical forests in their respective regions. It is perhaps true that rain forests generally receive the lion's share of researcher and conservation attention, but SDTF are no less fascinating, and equally in need of conservation intervention."---Jaboury Ghazoul, The International Biogeography Society "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." "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."
