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Deforestation and species extinction in tropical moist forests
Biological Conservation 1993, 64, 241-247
SELECTED ABSTRACTS The abs=acts reproduced here have been selected from the coverage of Ecological
Abstracts. Further information on Ecological Abstracts, and the associated online database GEOBASE is available from Elsevier/Geo Abstracts, Regency House, 34 Duke Street, Norwich, UK, NR3 3AP.
The species-rich tropical moist forests are being altered or cleared more rapidly than at any time in the past. Deforestation rates during the 1980s were higher than earlier accounts had suggested, yet recent assessments have shown accelerating deforestion rates for many individual countries. The pattern of likely species extinctions depends on the amount and spatial arrangement of forest altered or destroyed. A better understanding of the process of deforestation and their implications for species extinctions is essential in order to set priorities for conservation. Loss of genetic diversity within species is even less easy to detect than species extinction but is an issue of major concem for conservation. -from Authors
NATURE CONSERVATION General 93Z/00001
habitats
Rebirth of nature: new hope for endangered
R.L. DiSilvestro, (Wiley, for National Audubon Society), ISBN (hardback) 0 471 53208 8, price £21.95 (US$34.95), 1992, 276 pp, index. With the aid of colour photographs, this book discusses the threats to wildlife habitats posed by destructive human activity. Following an introduction to the major issues (the importance of habitats, interdependence of species, and the human factor) each chapter covers a specific subject. Firstly, the importance ofrainforests, and the challenges presented in attempting to slow deforestation are illustrated using Costa Rica as an example. The next chapter examines fires, which are a natural part of the life cycle of many plant communities in North America. The effects of agriculture are described in relation to rangelands in W North America and ecological damage in the Great Plains region, and solutions are suggested. Water pollution is tackled in sections on the US coast and the Great Lakes, and some cleanup operations are outlined. The future of the African elephant Loxodonta africana is considered as it competes against both the ivory trade and loss of habitat; and the penultimate chapter looks at the positive and negative aspects of ecotourism. The book concludes with what individuals can do; although the history of human society is a history of habitat change, too much has been lost in the name of progress. -C.Lloyd
93Z/00004 Species conservation in managed tropical forests A. D. Johns, in: Tropical deforestation and species extinction, ed T.C. Whitmore & J.A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for IUCN), 1992, pp 15-53. Timber harvesting is likely to continue to be a major use of tropical forests. It will affect most of the forests lying outside totally protected national parks and reserves in the next few decades. Logging is a major threat to the biological diversity of tropical forests. Many species of vertebrates can persist in logged-over forests, but in some cases many years elapse before certain species recolonize forest even when a source of colonists exists in nearby unlogged forest. A high complement of mature forest species can be maintained in production forests if ecologically sustainable modes of harvesting and silviculture are applied. -from Author 93Z/00005 How many species will there be? W. V. Reid, in: Tropical deforestation and species extinction, ed T.C. Whitmore & J.A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for IUCN), 1992, pp 55-73. Recent evidence that tropical deforestation has accelerated in the 1980s has profound implications for the persistence of tropical species. Based on species-area techniques and current rates of forest loss, over the next 25 yr an estimated 4-8% of closed tropical forest species are likely to be committed to extinction. This loss will take place over a number of years as a new equilibrium number of species is achieved. If forest loss continues to accelerate, by the year 2040 some 17-35% of tropical forest species could be committed to eventual extinction when equilibrium numbers are reached. The 40-90% rise in the rate of deforestation of closed tropical forests that has occurred in the last decade has increased by 60-160% the number of tropical species likely to be condemned to extinction in the next half-century. -from Author
93Z/00002 Tropical deforestation and species extinction ed T. C. Whitmore & J. A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for International Union for Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources), ISBN (paperback) 0 412 45520 X, 1992, 153 pp, index. The book offers conservationists' perceptions of how fast tropical forests are being lost and the consequences for biological diversity, examining extinction rate predictions derived from models of habitat loss and fragmentation, and from direct observation. The individual contributions were presented at a workshop held during the 18th general assembly of the IUCN in Perth, Australia, in 1990. The text of a resolution adopted by participants is reproduced prior to the foreword. The chapters then discuss: deforestation and species extinction in tropical moist forests; species conservation in managed tropical forests; how many species there will be; whether species-area curves predict extinction in fragmented forest; species extinctions in tropical forests; habitat alteration andspecies loss in Brazilian forests; and the influence of deforestation and selective logging operations on plant diversity in Papua New Guinea. -J.W.Cooper
93Z/00006 Do species-area curves predict extinction in fragmented forest? D. Simberloff, in: Tropical deforestation and species extinction, ed T.C. Whitmore & J.A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for IUCN), 1992, pp 75-89. Fragmentation of forests threatens the persistence of some species independently of the species loss predicted by the species-area relationship. No existing theory adequately predicts the extent of extinction that will be caused by fragmentation and loss of area acting jointly. Similarly, for
93Z/00003 Deforestation and species extinction in tropical moist forests T . C . Whitmore & J. A. Sayer, in: Tropical deforestation and species extinction, ed T.C. Whitmore & J.A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for IUCN), 1992, pp 1-14.
Biological Conservation 0006-3207/93/$06.00 © 1993 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd. 241
SELECTED ABSTRACTS The abs=acts reproduced here have been selected from the coverage of Ecological
Abstracts. Further information on Ecological Abstracts, and the associated online database GEOBASE is available from Elsevier/Geo Abstracts, Regency House, 34 Duke Street, Norwich, UK, NR3 3AP.
The species-rich tropical moist forests are being altered or cleared more rapidly than at any time in the past. Deforestation rates during the 1980s were higher than earlier accounts had suggested, yet recent assessments have shown accelerating deforestion rates for many individual countries. The pattern of likely species extinctions depends on the amount and spatial arrangement of forest altered or destroyed. A better understanding of the process of deforestation and their implications for species extinctions is essential in order to set priorities for conservation. Loss of genetic diversity within species is even less easy to detect than species extinction but is an issue of major concem for conservation. -from Authors
NATURE CONSERVATION General 93Z/00001
habitats
Rebirth of nature: new hope for endangered
R.L. DiSilvestro, (Wiley, for National Audubon Society), ISBN (hardback) 0 471 53208 8, price £21.95 (US$34.95), 1992, 276 pp, index. With the aid of colour photographs, this book discusses the threats to wildlife habitats posed by destructive human activity. Following an introduction to the major issues (the importance of habitats, interdependence of species, and the human factor) each chapter covers a specific subject. Firstly, the importance ofrainforests, and the challenges presented in attempting to slow deforestation are illustrated using Costa Rica as an example. The next chapter examines fires, which are a natural part of the life cycle of many plant communities in North America. The effects of agriculture are described in relation to rangelands in W North America and ecological damage in the Great Plains region, and solutions are suggested. Water pollution is tackled in sections on the US coast and the Great Lakes, and some cleanup operations are outlined. The future of the African elephant Loxodonta africana is considered as it competes against both the ivory trade and loss of habitat; and the penultimate chapter looks at the positive and negative aspects of ecotourism. The book concludes with what individuals can do; although the history of human society is a history of habitat change, too much has been lost in the name of progress. -C.Lloyd
93Z/00004 Species conservation in managed tropical forests A. D. Johns, in: Tropical deforestation and species extinction, ed T.C. Whitmore & J.A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for IUCN), 1992, pp 15-53. Timber harvesting is likely to continue to be a major use of tropical forests. It will affect most of the forests lying outside totally protected national parks and reserves in the next few decades. Logging is a major threat to the biological diversity of tropical forests. Many species of vertebrates can persist in logged-over forests, but in some cases many years elapse before certain species recolonize forest even when a source of colonists exists in nearby unlogged forest. A high complement of mature forest species can be maintained in production forests if ecologically sustainable modes of harvesting and silviculture are applied. -from Author 93Z/00005 How many species will there be? W. V. Reid, in: Tropical deforestation and species extinction, ed T.C. Whitmore & J.A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for IUCN), 1992, pp 55-73. Recent evidence that tropical deforestation has accelerated in the 1980s has profound implications for the persistence of tropical species. Based on species-area techniques and current rates of forest loss, over the next 25 yr an estimated 4-8% of closed tropical forest species are likely to be committed to extinction. This loss will take place over a number of years as a new equilibrium number of species is achieved. If forest loss continues to accelerate, by the year 2040 some 17-35% of tropical forest species could be committed to eventual extinction when equilibrium numbers are reached. The 40-90% rise in the rate of deforestation of closed tropical forests that has occurred in the last decade has increased by 60-160% the number of tropical species likely to be condemned to extinction in the next half-century. -from Author
93Z/00002 Tropical deforestation and species extinction ed T. C. Whitmore & J. A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for International Union for Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources), ISBN (paperback) 0 412 45520 X, 1992, 153 pp, index. The book offers conservationists' perceptions of how fast tropical forests are being lost and the consequences for biological diversity, examining extinction rate predictions derived from models of habitat loss and fragmentation, and from direct observation. The individual contributions were presented at a workshop held during the 18th general assembly of the IUCN in Perth, Australia, in 1990. The text of a resolution adopted by participants is reproduced prior to the foreword. The chapters then discuss: deforestation and species extinction in tropical moist forests; species conservation in managed tropical forests; how many species there will be; whether species-area curves predict extinction in fragmented forest; species extinctions in tropical forests; habitat alteration andspecies loss in Brazilian forests; and the influence of deforestation and selective logging operations on plant diversity in Papua New Guinea. -J.W.Cooper
93Z/00006 Do species-area curves predict extinction in fragmented forest? D. Simberloff, in: Tropical deforestation and species extinction, ed T.C. Whitmore & J.A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for IUCN), 1992, pp 75-89. Fragmentation of forests threatens the persistence of some species independently of the species loss predicted by the species-area relationship. No existing theory adequately predicts the extent of extinction that will be caused by fragmentation and loss of area acting jointly. Similarly, for
93Z/00003 Deforestation and species extinction in tropical moist forests T . C . Whitmore & J. A. Sayer, in: Tropical deforestation and species extinction, ed T.C. Whitmore & J.A. Sayer, (Chapman & Hall, for IUCN), 1992, pp 1-14.
Biological Conservation 0006-3207/93/$06.00 © 1993 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd. 241