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.

Auteur

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.

Contenu

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-HidalgoChapter 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