Emerging Threats To Tropical Forests

About this book

Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests reveals the remarkably diverse panoply of perils to tropical forests and their biota, with particular emphasis on recent dangers. William F. Laurance and Carlos A. Peres identify four categories of emerging threats: those that have only recently appeared, such as the virulent chytrid fungus that is decimating rainforest amphibians throughout the tropical world; those that are growing rapidly in importance, like destructive surface fires; those that are poorly understood, namely global warming and other climatic and atmospheric changes; and environmental synergisms, whereby two or more simultaneous threats-such as habitat fragmentation and wildfires, or logging and hunting-can dramatically increase local extinction of tropical species. In addition to documenting the vulnerability of tropical rainforests, the volume focuses on strategies for mitigating and combating emerging threats. A timely and compelling book intended for researchers, students, and conservation practitioners, Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests will interest anyone concerned about the fate of the world’s most threatened tropical ecosystems.

Biography

William F. Laurance is staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and president of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. He is coeditor of Tropical Forest Remnants and the author of Stinging Trees and Wait-a-Whiles, both published by the University of Chicago Press. Carlos A. Peres is lecturer and reader in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia and was named an “Environmental Leader for the New Millennium” by Time in 2000.