Academic literature on the topic 'Tropical Evergreen Forests'

A plant functional trait study was conducted to know the existing relationship between important leaf traits namely, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and leaf life span (LL) in tropical dry evergreen forest (TDEFs) of Peninsular India. Widely accepted methodologies were employed to record functional traits. The relationships between SLA and LDMC, LDMC and LL, and SLA and LL were measured. Pearson’s coefficient of correlation showed a significant negative relationship between SLA and LDMC, and SLA and LL, whereas a significant positive relationship was prevailed between LDMC and LL. The mean trait values (SLA, LDMC, and LL) of evergreens varied significantly from deciduous species. SLA had a closer relationship with LDMC than LL. Similarly, LL had a closer relationship with SLA than LDMC. Species with evergreen leaf habits dominated forest sites under study. Evergreen species dominate the study area with a high evergreen-deciduous ratio of 5.34:1. The S strategy score of trees indicated a relatively higher biomass allocation to persistent tissues. TDEFs occur in low elevation, semiarid environment, but with the combination of oligotrophic habitat, high temperature and longer dry season these forests were flourishing as a unique evergreen ecosystem in the drier environment. The relationships found between leaf traits were in concurrence with earlier findings. Trees of TDEFs survive on the poor-nutrient habitat with a low SLA, high LDMC, and LL. This study adds baseline data on key leaf traits to plant functional trait database of India.

India is endowed with a rich forest cover. Over 21% of country’s area is covered by forest of varied composition and structure. Out of 67.5 million ha of Indian forests, about 55% of the forest cover is being subjected to fires each year, causing an economic loss of over 440 crores of rupees apart from other ecological effects. Studies carried out by Forest Survey of India reveals that on an average 53% forest cover of the country is prone to fires and 6.17% of the forests are prone to severe fire damage. Forest Survey of India in a countrywide study in 1995 estimated that about 1.45 million hectares of forest are affected by fire annually. According to Forest Protection Division of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (GOI), 3.73 million ha of forests are affected by fire annually in India. Karnataka is one of the southern states of India extending in between latitude 110 30' and 180 25' and longitudes 740 10' and 780 35'. As per Forest Survey of India's State of Forest Report (SFR) 2009, of the total geographic area of 191791sq.km, the state harbors 38284 sq.km of recorded forest area. Major forest types occurring in the study area are tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen, tropical moist and dry deciduous forests along with tropical scrub and dry grasslands. Typical forest fire season in the study area is from February&ndash;May with a peak during March-April every year, though sporadic fire episodes occur in other parts of the year sq.km, the state harbors 38284 sq.km of recorded forest area. Major forest types occurring in the study area are tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen, tropical moist and dry deciduous forests along with tropical scrub and dry grasslands. Significant area of the deciduous forests, scrub and grasslands is prone to recurrent forest fires every year. <br><br> In this study we evaluate the feasibility of burned area mapping over a large area (Karnataka state, India) using a semi-automated detection algorithm applied to medium resolution multi spectral data from the IRS AWiFS sensor. The method is intended to be used by non-specialist users for diagnostic rapid burnt area mapping.

We provide a check list of angiosperm plant species with their bioresource potential as medicinal plants enumerated from a total of seventy-five tropical dry evergreen forest sites along the Coromandel coast of peninsular India. These are poorly known sites even within Indian sub-continent and form an under-studied forest type. Tropical dry evergreen forests harbour 312 species belonging to 251 genera and 80 families. The families with the greatest numbers of species were Euphorbiaceae (20 species), Apocynaceae (18 species), Rubiaceae (15), Fabaceae (12), Mimosaceae (11) and Capparaceae and Asteraceae (10 each). Physiognomically evergreen species dominated the forest. Plant specimens are identified and confirmed using regional floras. These forests are conserved by the local people on religious ground as sacred groves, although they are also subjected to various levels of anthropogenic impacts.

The Yunnan boast three broad-leaved forests, the semi-wet evergreen broad-leaved forest (SWEB) occurring in subtropical plateaus areas, the lower montane evergreen broad-leaved forest (LMEB) in tropical lower montane, and the upper montane evergreen broad-leaved forest (UMEB) in subtropical upper montane regions. Floristic composition and biogeography of these evergreen broad-leaved forests are studied and their diversification and divergence are revealed. I found similarities across the three forest types with species-rich families tending to have cosmopolitan distributions and families with less species exhibiting other distribution types. In biogeographical elements, the SWEB and the UMEB showed similar affinity in the proportion of tropical elements comprising total genera, specifically 45% and 44% respectively, and temperate elements totaling 46% and 48%, of all genera with northern temperate distribution comprising the highest ratio (18% in the SWEB and 20% in the UMEB ). LMEB tropical elements comprised 79% of the total genera, with tropical Asian distributed elements contributing the highest ratio (27%). While the three forest floras comprised of similar families, the same is not true at the genus and species levels. I suggest our results indicate divergence of the three forest floras, possibly from events in the geological history of Yunnan. From recent palaeobotanical studies, the diversification of floras of these evergreen broad-leaved forests in Yunnan occurred during the late Miocene with increased divergence with time in response not only to altitude changes and at the same time global cooling in Yunnan, but also the southeastward extrusion of Indochina geoblock influencing LMEB, and the Himalayan uplift affecting the floras of SWEB and UMEB.

Middle-mountain, moist, evergreen broad-leaved forest is an important forest type of Yunnan Province, SW China. Species composition, vegetation structure, physiognomy, diversity and phenology of this forest in Ailao Mountain were surveyed. The forest has characteristics common to subtropical, evergreen broad-leaved forest elsewhere in China. It also has local features associated with the middle-mountain location at lower latitude and higher altitude, including relatively high humidity and mild temperatures all year. The forest is dominated by species unique to Yunnan. There is a well-developed bamboo layer, fewer megaphanerophytes, more microphylls, more lianas and more epiphytes than in other subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. Floristically, elements of tropical, temperate and endemic flora comprise 54, 43 and 3% of the genera, while tropical, temperate and endemics account for 22, 38 and 40% of the species in the forest. Two-thirds of the trees and shrubs have leaves with drip tips in varying degree. The phenological rhythm of the forest is similar to that of a tropical forest, with plants flowering and bearing fruits almost throughout the year. Species diversity is richer than that of other evergreen broad-leaved forests in central Yunnan. Some management strategies and priorities for this forest are suggested.

Kyunsu township comprises coastal regions and a multitude of small islands covered by vast tropical evergreen and mangrove forests, and a large water body in the Adman Sea of Myanmar. Due to population growth, residents have increasingly expanded their agricultural land areas into natural tropical evergreen and mangrove forests, leading to deforestation. Understanding the processes and consequences of landscape transformation for surrounding ecosystems is crucial for local policy making and for fostering sustainable crop production in this area. Landsat datasets from 1978, 1989, 2000, 2011, and 2020 were used in a time-series post-classification approach to investigate land use land cover (LULC) changes in the Kyunsu township of Southern Myanmar across the last 40 years. Our study also attempted to assess the effects of the transformation of LULC on carbon stocks. Between 1978 and 2020, major LULC changes occurred with the expansion of Paddy Fields (+90%), Plantations (+11%), Open Forests (+81%), Settlement Areas (+115%), Aquaculture Areas (+1594%), and Others (+188%) while the area covered with Closed Forests shrunk by 44% and with Mangrove Forests by 9%. Water Bodies expanded by 0.13%. Our analyses show that between 1978 and 2020 2453 ha of Paddy Fields expanded into Plantations, 1857 ha to Open Forests, and 1146 ha to Mangrove Forests. Additionally, 12,135 ha of Open Forests, 8474 ha of Closed Forests, and 2317 ha of Mangrove Forests became Plantations. Across the 40 year study period, a total of 40,523 ha of Closed Forests were transformed to Open Forests. Our findings show that transformation of agricultural landscapes in the study area significantly affected deforestation and forest degradation of tropical evergreen rain forests and mangrove forests which are vital sources of ecosystem services. These transformations led to estimated losses of carbon stocks between 1978 and 2020 ranged from 89,260–5,106,820 Mg (average of 1,723,250 Mg) in our study area. Our findings call for sustainable resource intensification to increase production efficiency in existing cultivated areas rather than crop land expansion into natural forests. In addition, our data highlight the need for rigorous policies to conserve and protect tropical natural evergreen and mangrove forest, as key local resources providing multiple ecosystem services.

Forest wealth plays an important role in a country's economic and ecological sta bility. Forests Of tropical countries are declining of an alarming speed due to the interference Of many factors urbanization, industrialization etc. Ecch r 16 mill ion hectares Of virgin forests are cut and burnt. Tropical forest, o storehouse o' Biodiversity for of the world. Indio possesses almost entire range of tropical forest, from dry deciduous to wet evergreen. There is an imbalance in the environment due to deforestation and nudation.

The present investigations were carried out in Jeypore Reserve Forests in Assam valley tropical wet evergreen forests. Phytosociological analysis was carried out as per standard methodology. Total 28 family, 47 genus and 53 species were observed. The poaceae was most dominant family. The Shannon – Winner index (H) for herbs ranges from 1.59 to 3.16. The present study will provide the baseline information for biodiversity conservation of tropical wet evergreen forests.

Abstract. A variety of modelling studies have suggested tree rooting depth as a key variable to explain evapotranspiration rates, productivity and the geographical distribution of evergreen forests in tropical South America. However, none of those studies have acknowledged resource investment, timing and physical constraints of tree rooting depth within a competitive environment, undermining the ecological realism of their results. Here, we present an approach of implementing variable rooting strategies and dynamic root growth into the LPJmL4.0 (Lund-Potsdam-Jena managed Land) dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM) and apply it to tropical and sub-tropical South America under contemporary climate conditions. We show how competing rooting strategies which underlie the trade-off between above- and below-ground carbon investment lead to more realistic simulation of intra-annual productivity and evapotranspiration and consequently of forest cover and spatial biomass distribution. We find that climate and soil depth determine a spatially heterogeneous pattern of mean rooting depth and below-ground biomass across the study region. Our findings support the hypothesis that the ability of evergreen trees to adjust their rooting systems to seasonally dry climates is crucial to explaining the current dominance, productivity and evapotranspiration of evergreen forests in tropical South America.

Tropical forests act as a great carbon reservoir covering about 30% of the global carbon content, however, structural alteration of these forests caused by forest disturbances adversely affects the carbon cycle. One such structural change happening in these tropical forests is the increasing dominance of lianas (woody climbers). Among various tropical forest types, lianas are an integral constituent of the tropical dry evergreen forests (TDEFs) found in peninsular India. A re-inventory of lianas was carried out to observe temporal changes in basal area and carbon stock in two 1-ha permanent plots of two disturbed tropical dry evergreen forest sites (TDEF; Oorani -OR and Puthupet - PP) over a 19-year interval (2001-2020). The total basal area in OR and PP increased respectively by 2.26 m2 ha-1 and 0.93 m2 ha-1. The total biomass and the carbon stock in OR and PP increased by 82% and 51% respectively. The dominant species Strychnos lenticellata showed an increase in its basal area by three-fold in OR, whereas, in PP, a marginal increase of 4% was observed. The lower diameter class (1-6 cm) showed an increase in basal area in OR and PP by 101% and 16% respectively. The mid-diameter class (6-11 cm) was the top contributor of the total biomass/carbon in both OR and PP in the latest re-inventory (2020). The present results show that lianas, although known to negatively affect the forest biomass/carbon stock, play an important role in carbon sequestration, thus providing insights into their ecological importance which will certainly be useful in proposing strategies for the conservation of this forest type dominated by lianas.

Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(農学)
甲第14669号
農博第1751号
新制||農||968(附属図書館)
学位論文||H21||N4442(農学部図書室)
UT51-2009-D381
京都大学大学院農学研究科森林科学専攻
(主査)教授 太田 誠一, 教授 谷 誠, 教授 舟川 晋也
学位規則第4条第1項該当

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-180).
by John J. Graham, Jr.
Ph.D.

Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(農学)
甲第8092号
農博第1088号
新制||農||795(附属図書館)
学位論文||H12||N3349(農学部図書室)
UT51-2000-C42
京都大学大学院農学研究科地域環境科学専攻
(主査)教授 武田 博清, 教授 東 順一, 教授 谷 誠
学位規則第4条第1項該当

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Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq
Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia - FAPEB
(Effect of edge in structure, diversity and phenology in seasonal tropical forest submontane) Forest fragmentation causes physical and biological changes with habitat loss and insularization of populations, and the edge effect the most obvious consequence of this process. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of linear edge in a fragment of submontane seasonal forest in the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil (12?28'31 "S and 41?23'14''W) in order to analyze the structure and composition vegetation, reproductive phenology and the vegetative phenology, classifying the forest as their leaf pattern, and the functional diversity. Were marked 30 plots (10 x 10 m) random and 15 at the forest edge (0 - 100m) and 15 inside (> 150m) in the power line high voltage. For structural studies were marked all individuals with diameter at breast height ?5 cm. The species were classified according to successional category and phytosociological parameters were calculated and diversity indices. The Shannon - Wiener index was compared by t test Hutcheson and the other parameters by ANOVA. From this study the species with the highest importance value and abundance for the other investigations were chosen. In the reproductive phenological study monthly observations were made over 26 months in 481 individuals (282 on the edge (61 species) and 199 inside (50 species) of forest), recording the presence and absence of flowering (and flower button) and fruiting (immature and mature fruit) for all life forms. It is estimated timing, frequency and duration of phenological events and the species were classified as the pollination and dispersal syndromes. Data were analyzed with G test, linear regression and circular statistics. In the study of functional diversity created a matrix of functional traits to the edge and interior including phenological, structural and reproductive aspects. Measurements of leaf traits (thickness, dry dough sheet per unit area, juiciness, density, leaf area ratio and leaf mass fraction), density and wood water saturation were carried out in the dry and wet seasons (September / 2012 and January / 2013) in 20 species. Regressions were made between phenophases and environmental variables (precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, photoperiod and heat stroke), circular statistics and comparisons of leaf traits and wood density between the dry and rainy season through the G test and ANOVA. The species ordination in relation to leaf and wood attributes was evaluated by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The functional groups were defined by cluster analysis with distance Gower and calculated indexes Functional richness (FRic), Functional divergence (FDiv), Functional evenness (FEve), Functional dispersion (FDis). ANOVA and linear regression were used to evaluate the rates between areas. In vegetative phenological study followed up the budding and leaf fall 350 individual trees in the community (39 species). Increase the impact of straight edge on the floristic composition was checked, the diversity and abundance of species, while less interference was observed in the tree community structure, as phytosociological parameters and ratios between the guilds did not differ significantly between edge and interior fragment. The phenological analysis revealed that flowering and fruiting at the edge and interior were continued for long, low-intensity periods, asynchronous and assazonal being for most phenophases, with a significant difference in the individual to button number. Seasonality in flowering and fruiting were observed for bush and grass land in both areas and epiphytes to the edge. Similar proportions in the number of species for pollination and dispersal syndromes were found on the edge and inside, with a predominance of melittophilous and animal dispersed species. The vegetation was evergreen, with budding and continuous leaf fall, low intensity and low sync. The leaf bud was related to rainfall and sunshine and fall with precipitation and humidity. Significant variation between the dry and wet seasons were observed in the proportion of saturated water in the wood, leaf area ratio and leaf succulence. ACP showed greater variance for wood density (88.7%) and stored water (11.3%), gathering most species with standard perenif?lios phenological and episodic perenif?lios, other attributes showed no relevance to the phenological patterns. The main functional groups formed on the edge and inside were similar, defined based on the way of life, stratum and pollination and dispersal. Of co-occurring species (40 species), 22.5% belong to different functional groups due to different growth patterns. The functional diversity indices showed higher mean values for the edge, except that Fric was higher in the forest. These were not affected by the distance to the edge. Changes were observed inside in relation to species richness and Shannon - Wiener only for Fric. The implementation of linear infrastructure brings similar impacts to those coming from other types of edges in community structure. In other aspects analyzed the changes were subtle for the tree community, but the same was not true for shrubs, herbs and vines. The vegetation can be classified as seasonal submontane rainforest always green, with small annual variation in the physiognomy of the vegetation, and the perenif?lios and perenif?lios types episodic predominant both in number of species and in their abundance. The leaf traits showed no relevance to phenology, not being good descriptors for the seasonal evergreen forest. There is no significant difference in functional diversity, but the highest rate obtained inside for functional wealth reflects the biological loss caused by the installation on the edge of the linear edge. Appearance evidenced by the greater abundance of Eschweilera tetrapetala Mori inside, an endemic species of submontane forests of the region. This study contributes to future conservation work to note the interference the linear edge on the forest ecosystem, as well as to the classification of the Brazilian forests, to verify the occurrence of seasonal evergreen forests in the Caatinga.
(Efeito de borda na estrutura, diversidade e fenologia de floresta tropical estacional submontana) A fragmenta??o florestal causa mudan?as f?sicas e biol?gicas com perda de habitat e insulariza??o das popula??es, sendo oefeito de borda a consequ?ncia mais evidente desse processo.Assim,objetivou-se investigar o efeito da borda linear em um fragmento de floresta estacional submontana na Chapada Diamantina, Bahia,Brasil (12?28?31??S e 41?23?14??W) com o intuito de analisar a estruturae a composi??o da vegeta??o, a fenologia reprodutivae a fenologia vegetativa, classificando a floresta quanto ao seu padr?o foliar, e a diversidade funcional. Foram marcadas 30 parcelas (10 x 10 m) aleat?rias sendo 15 na borda da floresta (0 - 100m) e 15 no seu interior (>150m) em rela??o ? rede el?trica de alta tens?o. Para o estudo estrutural foram marcados todos os indiv?duos com di?metro ? altura do peito ?5 cm. As esp?cies foram classificadas quanto ? categoria sucessional e foram calculados os par?metros fitossociol?gicos e ?ndices de diversidade. O ?ndice de Shannon - Wienerfoi comparado pelo teste t de Hutcheson e os demais par?metros pela ANOVA. A partir desse estudo foram escolhidas as esp?cies com maior valor de import?ncia e abundancia para as demais investiga??es.No estudo fenol?gico reprodutivo foram realizadas observa??es mensais durante 26 meses a 481 indiv?duos (282 na borda (61 esp?cies) e 199 no interior (50 esp?cies) da floresta), registrando-se a presen?a e aus?ncia de flora??o (bot?o e flor) e frutifica??o (frutos imaturo e maturo) para todas as formas de vida. Estimou-se sincronia, frequ?ncia e dura??o dos eventos fenol?gicos e as esp?cies foram classificadas quanto ?s s?ndromes de poliniza??o e dispers?o. Os dados foram analisados com teste G, regress?o linear e estat?stica circular. No estudo da diversidade funcional criou-se uma matriz de tra?os funcionais para a borda e interior incluindo aspectos fenol?gicos, estruturais e reprodutivos.Mensura??es de atributos foliares (espessura, massa seca de folha por unidade de ?rea, sucul?ncia, densidade, raz?o de ?rea foliar e fra??o de massa foliar), densidade e ?gua de satura??o da madeira foram realizadas nas esta??es seca e chuvosa (setembro/2012 e janeiro/2013) em 20 esp?cies. Foram feitas regress?es entre as fenofases e as vari?veis ambientais (precipita??o, temperatura, umidade relativa, fotoper?odo e insola??o), estat?stica circular e compara??es dos atributos foliares e densidade de madeira entre a esta??o seca e chuvosa atrav?s do teste G e ANOVA. A ordena??o das esp?cies em rela??o aos atributos foliares e de madeira foi avaliada pela An?lise do Componente Principal (ACP). Os grupos funcionais foram definidos por Cluster analysis com dist?ncia de Gower e calculados os ?ndices Functional richness (FRic), Functional divergence (FDiv), Functional evenness (FEve), Functional dispersion (FDis). ANOVA e regress?o linear foram usadas para avaliar os ?ndices entre ?reas. No estudo fenol?gico vegetativo acompanhou-se o brotamento e queda foliar de 350 indiv?duos arb?reos na comunidade (39 esp?cies). Foi verificado um maior impacto da borda linear sobre a composi??o flor?stica,a diversidade e abund?ncia das esp?cies, enquanto menor interfer?ncia foi verificada na estrutura da comunidade arb?rea, uma vez que par?metros fitossociol?gicos e propor??es entre as categorias sucessionais n?o diferiram significativamente entre borda e interior do fragmento.As an?lises fenol?gicas revelaram que a flora??o e frutifica??o na borda e interior foram cont?nuas por per?odos longos e com baixa intensidade, sendo assincr?nico e assazonal para a maioria das fenofases, com diferen?a significativa no n?mero de indiv?duo para bot?o.Sazonalidade na flora??o e frutifica??o foi observada para arbusto e erva terrestre em ambas as ?reas e ep?fitas para a borda.Propor??es semelhantes no n?mero de esp?cies por s?ndromes de poliniza??o e dispers?o foram encontradas na borda e no interior, com predomin?ncia de esp?cies melit?filas e zooc?ricas.A vegeta??o foi perenif?lia, com brotamento e queda foliar cont?nuos, baixa intensidade e baixa sincronia. O brotamento foliar relacionou-se com precipita??o e insola??o e a queda com precipita??o e umidade. Varia??o significativa entre as esta??es seca e chuvosa foram observadas na propor??o de ?gua saturada na madeira, raz?o de ?rea foliar e sucul?ncia da folha. ACP revelou maior varian?a para densidade da madeira (88,7%) e ?gua armazenada (11,3%), agrupando a maioria das esp?cies com padr?o fenol?gico perenif?lios e perenif?lios epis?dicos, os demais atributos n?o apresentaram relev?ncia em rela??o aos padr?es fenol?gicos. Os principais grupos funcionais formados na borda e no interior foram semelhantes, definidos com base na forma de vida, estrato e s?ndrome de poliniza??o e dispers?o. Das esp?cies co-ocorrentes (40 esp?cies), 22,5% pertencem a grupos funcionais distintos devido a diferentes padr?es fenol?gicos. Os ?ndices de diversidade funcional apresentaram valores m?dios superiores para a borda, exceto FRic que foi superior no interior da floresta. Estes n?o foram alterados pela dist?ncia com a borda. Altera??es foram observadas no interior em rela??o ? riqueza de esp?cie e ao ?ndice de Shannon - Wiener apenas para FRic.A implementa??o de infraestruturas lineares traz impactos semelhantes ?queles advindos de outros tipos de bordas na estrutura da comunidade. Nos demais aspectos analisados as varia??es foram sutis para a comunidade arb?rea, mas o mesmo n?o ocorreuem rela??o a arbustos, ervas e trepadeiras. A vegeta??o p?de ser classificada como floresta tropical estacional submontana sempre verde, com pequena varia??o anual na fisionomia da vegeta??o, sendo os tipos perenif?lios e perenif?lios epis?dicos predominantes tanto em n?mero de esp?cies quanto na sua abund?ncia. Os atributos foliares n?o apresentaram relev?ncia em rela??o aos padr?es fenol?gicos, n?o sendo bons descritores para a floresta estacional sempre verde. N?o h? diferen?a significativa na diversidade funcional, mas o maior ?ndice obtido no interior para a riqueza funcional reflete a perda biol?gica ocasionada na borda pela instala??o da borda linear.Aspecto evidenciado pela maior abund?ncia deEschweilera tetrapetala Mori no interior, esp?cie end?mica das florestas submontanas da regi?o. O presente estudo p?de contribuir com futuros trabalhos de conserva??o por constatar a interfer?ncia da borda linear no ecossistema florestal, bem como com a classifica??o das florestas brasileiras, ao verificar a ocorr?ncia de florestas estacional sempre verde no Bioma Caatinga.

In Part II, the main academic knowledge gathered to date on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases with relevance for infectious diseases control in low-income countries has been reviewed. We have seen that many pathogens affecting human populations rely strongly on environmental determinants, such as climate, water, abiotic characteristics and inter-specific relationships, among other factors. This is especially important for low-income countries that are mostly located in tropical areas and, therefore, are exposed to high variability in terms of climatic conditions in environments ranging from the deep evergreen equatorial forests to arid deserts....

Most of South America lies within the tropics, and lowland tropical ecosystems make up the majority of its landscapes. Although there is great concern for the Amazon ecosystem, the largest of the world’s tropical forests, there are many other fascinating and in some cases more endangered types of lowland forest. Such forests may be defined as lying below 1,000 m above sea level, although it is difficult to set arbitrary limits (Hartshorn, 2001). The two main lowland moist evergreen forests are the Hylea (a term coined by Alexander von Humboldt to denote rain forests of the Amazon Basin) and the much smaller Chocó forest on the Pacific coast between Panama and Ecuador. Two related yet distinctive types of forest are the Mata Atlântica or Atlantic moist evergreen forest and the Mata Decidua or dry deciduous forest, including the caatinga woodland, which is both deciduous and xerophytic (Rizzini et al., 1988). The latter two formations are among the most threatened of all South American forests. Lowland forests vary from dense and multilayered to open and single-layered, from evergreen to deciduous, and from flooded or semi-aquatic to near-arid. Tree heights range from 30 to 40 m with emergent trees reaching over 50 m, to forests where the tallest trees barely attain 20 m (Harcourt and Sayer, 1996; Solorzano, 2001). However, because of its extent and importance, Amazonia will form the principal focus of this chapter. Amazonia covers a vast area (>6 × 106 km2) and contains some 60% of the world’s remaining tropical forest. The Amazon and Orinoco basins influence not only regional climates and air masses, but also atmospheric circulation patterns both north and south of the Equator. The sheer size and diversity of Amazonia exhausts a normal repertoire of grandiose adjectives. The Amazon may or may not be the longest river in the world but it is by far the greatest in terms of discharge, sending around one fifth of the world’s fresh water carried by rivers to the oceans(see chapter 5; Eden, 1990; Sioli, 1984). The drainage basin is twice as large as any other of the world’s catchments.

The above quote by the German poet, novelist, and painter Herman Hesse highlights the cultural significance of forests in nineteenth- and twentieth-century western culture as the ‘natural’ contrast to growing urban populations and industrial expansion. Hesse’s focus on the ‘ancient’ element of these environments is certainly valid in a tropical context, given that tropical forests are some of the oldest land-based environments on the planet, existing for over one thousand times longer than Homo sapiens (Upchurch and Wolf, 1987; Davis et al., 2005; Ghazoul and Shiel, 2010; Couvreur et al., 2011). This antiquity also makes them one of the richest and most diverse terrestrial ecosystems on the planet (Whitmore, 1998; Ghazoul and Shiel, 2010). Tropical rainforests, for example, contain over half of the world’s existing plant, animal, and insect species (Wilson, 1988). A significant portion of the developed world’s diet today originated in tropical forests—including staples such as squash and yams, spices such as black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and sugar cane, and fruits including bananas, coconuts, avocados, mangoes, and tomatoes (Iriarte et al., 2007; Roberts et al., 2017a). Tropical forests also often provide ample freshwater for their inhabitants. However, despite popular perceptions of forests, and specifically tropical forests, as uniform, they are, in fact, highly variable across space and time. In tropical evergreen rainforests productivity is often primarily allocated to wood products, meaning that edible plants and animals for human subsistence have been considered lacking, or at least more difficult to extract, relative to more open tropical forest formations (Whitmore, 1998; Ghazoul and Shiel, 2010). Similarly, while evergreen tropical rainforests generally receive significant precipitation and freshwater, seasonally dry tropical forests are subject to sub-annual periods of aridity. Therefore, while archaeologists and anthropologists have tended to see ‘tropical forest’ as a uniform environmental block, it is important to explore the diversity within this category.

This presentation will discuss Khao Sok National Park; one of the oldest and most diverse tropical evergreen forests. Khao Sok National Park has faced many threats and conservation issues like logging, palm-oil plantations, poaching, etc. However, this presentation will focus on three of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals regarding the park’s threats and conservation issues; quality education, climate action, and life on land. Exploring the connection between mass tourism and climate change on economical, sociopolitical, ecological, and agricultural aspects of Khao Sok National Park. SDG Theme: SDG 4 - Quality Education, SDG 13 - Climate Action, SDG 15 - Life on Land Type: Short talk (e.g. PowerPoint, Google Slides)