Stefan Schnitzer

Walter Carson

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

Tropical Forest Community Ecology

Francis E. Putz

Frans Bongers

Robyn J. Burnham

We propose an edited volume on the ecology of lianas comprised of chapters written by some of the foremost ecologists in the field. We have also identified a number of junior scientists who are beginning to make an impact on the field and could contribute new research and exciting results. Ultimately, we believe that this book will address issues of importance for all ecologists, temperate and tropical alike, and will be instrumental in stimulating further research in forest ecology in general, as well as on the ecology of lianas. The main goal of this book is to present a volume on the current status of liana ecology in tropical and temperate forests. In essence, we will use this book as a forum to summarize and synthesize the most recent research in liana ecology and to address how this research fits into the broader field of ecology. In the course of reviewing what is new and exciting, we will point out liana-related issues that deserve more attention from researchers. The intended audience for this book includes advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in forest ecology at the population, community, and ecosystem levels. Ideally, each chapter will include a brief introduction of the relevant concept or theory, a review of the current state of liana-related research on this theory, including the author's own contributions. Although this book will focus on current research in liana ecology, many of the proposed chapters will also cover theories that are applicable to all ecological systems not just tropical ones and not just focusing on lianas. Consequently, we believe that this book will target a broad audience of ecologists. Each chapter will follow a similar format. The first part of the chapter will include a concise history and review of the concept or theory at hand. The rest of the chapter will be devoted to the presentation and interpretation of empirical data addressing that concept or theory. The author of each chapter will have the leeway to use new or unpublished data or to synthesize and summarize his/her data or data of other authors. Although we believe that the way to make this book the best is as outlined above, authors will, of course, write the manuscripts in a way that reflects their approach and style.

Stefan Schnitzer

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