Views on the dynamics of tropical forests are changing rapidly with the recognition that their environment is variable on the decadal to century scale. Fluctuating climatic conditions partly determine tropical forest structure, species composition and dynamics. Tropical communities are also highly contingent in space and time with respect to site and historical factors. Tropical forests have experienced to some degree this disturbance regime in the past, but climatologists are now predicting increasingly frequent extreme events in the new century. The combination of increasing deforestation...
Views on the dynamics of tropical forests are changing rapidly with the recognition that their environment is variable on the decadal to century scale...
Tropical communities are recognized as among the most species-rich and dynamic in the world. Yet, far from existing as dynamic equilibria, large unpredictable disruptive events dominate the longer-term dynamics set against the background of global change. This volume challenges the dynamic equilibrium idea further by arguing for thinking on a timescale of decades to centuries, finding new ways to handle unpredictability and uniqueness, and evaluating species diversity and community change at different scales.
Tropical communities are recognized as among the most species-rich and dynamic in the world. Yet, far from existing as dynamic equilibria, large unpre...
