Book description
Historically, tropical ecology has been a science often content with
descriptive and demographic approaches, which is understandable given
the difficulty of studying these ecosystems and the need for basic
demographic information. Nonetheless, over the last several years,
tropical ecologists have begun to test more sophisticated ecological
theory and are now beginning to address a broad array of questions that
are of particular importance to tropical systems, and ecology in
general. Why are there are so many species in tropical forests and what
mechanisms are responsible for the maintenance of that vast species
diversity? What factors control species coexistence? Are there common
patterns of species abundance and distribution across broad geographic
scales? What is the role of trophic interactions in these complex
ecosystems? How can these fragile ecosystems be conserved?
Containing contributions from some of the world's leading tropical
ecologists, Tropical Forest Community Ecology provides a
summary of the key issues in the discipline of tropical ecology:
- Includes contributions from some of the world's leading tropical
ecologists
- Covers patterns of species distribution, the maintenance of
species diversity, the community ecology of tropical animals, forest
regeneration and conservation of tropical ecosystems
Dr. Walter P. Carson
obtained his doctorate from Cornell University and did postdoctoral
work at both Princeton University and the University of Minnesota USA.
He has conducted extensive research on the ecology of both tropical and
temperate forests. He is currently an Associate Professor at the
University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Dr. Stefan A. Schnitzer obtained his doctorate from the
University of Pittsburgh, followed by postdoctoral research at the
University of Minnesota USA and Wageningen University in The
Netherlands. He has studied tropical forests in Borneo, Costa Rica,
Ecuador, French Guiana, and the Republic of Panama. Dr. Schnitzer is
currently an Assistant Professor at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA and a Research Associate with the
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Republic of Panama.
