Data from a global network of large, permanent plots in lowland tropical forests demonstrate (1) that the phenomenon of tropical tree rarity is real and (2) that almost all the species diversity in such forests is due to rare species. Theoretical and empirically based reasoning suggests that many of these rare species are not as geographically widespread as previously thought. These findings su...

• Linking tree diversity to carbon storage can provide further motivation to conserve tropical forests and to design carbon-enriched plantations. Here, we examine the role of tree diversity and functional traits in determining carbon storage in a mixed-species plantation and in a natural tropical forest in Panama. • We used species richness, functional trait diversity, species dominance and fun...

The effects of the fires that burned over 4.7 million ha of Indonesia’s tropical forests during 1997 and 1998 are largely unknown. We assess the immediate impacts of these fires on five forest areas representing several different habitats in Kalimantan 1-2 months after the fires went out. Comparisons of transects in burned and unburned forest areas were conducted at three sites: Tanjung Puting ...

Tropical and subtropical dry forest life zones support forests with lower stature and species richness than do tropical and subtropical life zones with greater water availability. The number of naturalized species that can thrive and mix with native species to form novel forests in dry forest conditions in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands is lower than in other insular life zones. These no...

based on the importance and role of species diversity and richness as ameasurement of the health of an ecosystem; studying of their components can lead toevaluate the health condition of rangeland. this research was carried out in a part ofhighland mountainous rangeland of mount alborz range in iran. diversity and richnesswere assessed as an ecosystem health indicator. the study area was locate...

Fire has become a common feature in tropical drained peatlands, and it may have detrimental impacts on the overall biodiversity of the forest ecosystem. We investigated the effect of fire on termite and ant assemblages and the importance of remnant forest in restoring species diversity in fire-impacted tropical peat swamp forests. The species loss of both termites and ants was as high as 50% in...

Fig trees (Ficus) are often ecologically significant keystone species because they sustain populations of the many seed-dispersing animals that feed on their fruits. They are prominent components of riparian zones where they may also contribute to bank stability as well as supporting associated animals. The diversity and distributions of riparian fig trees in deciduous and evergreen forests in ...

A fundamental question in ecology is how many species occur within a given area. Despite the complexity and diversity of different ecosystems, there exists a surprisingly simple, approximate answer: the number of species is proportional to the size of the area raised to some exponent. The exponent often turns out to be roughly 1/4. This power law can be derived from assumptions about the relati...