Emerging infectious diseases eids caused by fungi are increasingly recognized as presenting a worldwide threat to food security 1,2 table 1 and supplementary table 1. Interactions from increasing temperatures, drought, native insects and pathogens, and uncharacteristically severe wildfire are. Each year, some 140,000 sq km of rainforests are destroyed. Although disturbances such as fire and native insects can contribute to natural dynamics of forest health, exceptional droughts, directly and in combination with other disturbance factors, are pushing some temperate forests beyond thresholds of sustainability. Emerging threats to tropical forests reveals the remarkably diverse panoply of perils to tropical forests and their biota, with particular emphasis on recent dangers william f.
In emerging threats to tropical forests laurance, w. Emerging issues for small island developing states isbn. May 26, 2006 the news focus item along the road from kyoto e. The few winners and many losers paradigm revisited. The astounding richness and biodiversity of tropical forests is rapidly dwindling.
Forests provide multiple ecosystem services that are critical to sustain societies and ecosystems. Each country development strategy statement or other country plan prepared by the agency for international development. Bioeconomic approaches to sustainable management of. Rodrigues8 abstract over the past 150 years, brazil has played a pioneering. Tropical forests are beleaguered by an array of threats driven by different scales of anthropogenic perturbations, which vary in the degree to which they can be detected by remote sensing. Chief pathologist for the usda forest service forest health protection, washington d. Emerging threats and opportunities for largescale ecological restoration in the atlantic forest of brazil miguel calmon,1 pedro h. Emerging threats to tropical forests, austral ecology 10. Brancalion,2,3 adriana paese,4 james aronson,5,6 pedro castro,7 sabrina c. Yet since the onset of human arrival, 1,000 years ago, their history has largely been one of loss and destruction. However, the news report fails to mention that the numbers used in its graphs of total. I highlight new and emerging threats to tropical forests, the worlds most biologically diverse ecosystems. Conserving tropical forests and biodiversity for human. Extant tropical moist and dry forests cover some 20 million square kilometres and support a high proportion of terrestrial biodiversity.
At present, less than 10% of tropical forests are in conservation reserves. Seasonally dry forests have the only truly distinct wet and dry seasons. Tropical deforestation has severe consequences for biodiversity. A 1992 report by the institute of medicine iom on emerging infections, which underscored the microbial threats to health in the united states 1, 2, 12, provided the impetus for current widespread attention on emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. Instead, our approach is to a recognize and describe the reality of the anthropocene for tropical. Mckinney and lockwood 1999 compiled evidence suggesting that as the relentless process of human disturbance increases in spatial extent and intensity, few highly resilient species winners gradually come to dominate ecological communities at the expense of native species that cannot tolerate humaninduced disturbances losers. With multiple ecosystem services provided by forests, there are several emerging threats that need a renewed approach to forest management. Industrial drivers of forest conversionsuch as logging, largescale soy and cattle farming, oilpalm plantations, and oil and gas developmenthave escalated in importance, buoyed by rapid globalization, economic growth, and. Detecting anthropogenic disturbance in tropical forests. In general, oldgrowth forests are vanishing rapidly and being replaced by fragmented, secondary, and logged forests. The drivers of tropical forest destruction and key perils to biodiversity have changed over the past decade and will continue to evolve in the future. Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem.
Artists impression of an african dry forest 3 4 1 2 why tropical dry forests matter to people food. Mar 16, 2015 i highlight new and emerging threats to tropical forests, the worlds most biologically diverse ecosystems. He initially aspired to direct his own zoo, but later turned to ecology and. Tropical deforestation and climate change edited by paulo moutinho and stephan schwartzman. Biological terrorism, emerging diseases, and national security. Climate temperature variation in a tropical rainforest is minimal. Also, tropical rainforests are cut down in order to mine for coal and fossil fuels. Peres identify four categories of emerging threats. Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of tropical forest conservation jan bo. There is a need for a renewed thinking on protecting forests exposed to emerging threats like urbanization, invasive species, climatic change, natural disasters, and new pests or diseases. Ijerph free fulltext emerging mosquitoborne threats. Last stand the vanishing hawaiian forest orests can change dramatically over relatively short periods of history. An interdisciplinary group of experts in entomology, pathology, dendrology, economics, and law, committed to use a coordinated, team approach to research and to provide outreach on emerging threats to forests.
Due to a combination of anthropogenic change, including the effects on global climate and wildlife migration there is strong evidence that temperate regions are undergoing. For example, between 1991 to 2000, the amount of land cleared in the amazon. These various environmental insults often operate in concert, magnifying their impacts and posing an even greater threat to tropical forest canopies and their biodiversity. Some usaid programs like psa, pwrf, cenergy and amore. Forests are the worlds most important terrestrial storehouses of carbon and play an important role in controlling the climate.
Conserving tropical forests and biodiversity for human development and inclusive growth this report was prepared by the ateneo school of government. Nevertheless the threats to an effective international emissions reduction regime are serious and. Dr moltzan will explain how new research gets incorporated into decisionmaking, and will illuminate the evolution of relationships between agencies that are protecting forests from emerging threats. In this landscape context, vast tracts of tropical forests may experience a form of wlrs that is primarily driven by native species. An approach to combine resilience strategies for threats to forests. Martin persson8, sven wunder9 1 center for development research zef, university of bonn, and center for international forestry.
Laurance grew up in the western us, in oregon and idaho. Industrial drivers of forest conversion, such as logging, largescale soy and cattle farming, oilpalm plantations, and oil and gas. Very little rainfall, if any, occurs for 34 months of the year. Aug 21, 2015 although disturbances such as fire and native insects can contribute to natural dynamics of forest health, exceptional droughts, directly and in combination with other disturbance factors, are pushing some temperate forests beyond thresholds of sustainability. In the neotropics, which contains the largest percentage of the worlds remaining tropical rainforests, the production of biofuel crops, such as sugarcane and oil palm, is emerging as a primary threat to these ecosystems. This formal designation seemed to have drawn greater attention and placed the issue.
Forests are a critical part of sustainability of human and ecological systems. May 01, 2007 emerging threats to tropical forests w. Biological terrorism, emerging diseases, and national security forests,18 as cities in the developing world become more crowded and sanitation ever more problematic, and as greater numbers of people travel or flee across international borders,9, more new diseases will appear or take hold in the human population. Tropical dry forests contribute to local diets with. The extent of different patterns of cryptic disturbance often far exceeds the total area deforested, as shown by two recent studies on selective logging in amazonia. Tropical forests in the anthropocene yadvinder malhi. Seasons, where they exist, are described only in terms of the weatherwet or dry. In this elegant book, we have defined tropical forests broadly, into five different themes. Tropical dry forests center for international forestry. However, multiple direct threats to the in situ conservation are currently more imminent.
Emerging threats and opportunities for largescale ecological. This has severely altered the vital biogeochemical cycles of carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen etc. Parr and chown, 2003, research on threats to forests throughout southern africa are often conducted through governing. Alexander, emerging threats to dryland forest resources. Industrial drivers of forest conversion, such as logging, largescale soy and cattle farming, oilpalm plantations, and oil. Resilience and strategies at system scale 747 22 ip cc, land use, landuse change and forestry, spe cial report, intergovernmental panel on climate change.
Abstract i highlight new and emerging threats to tropical forests, the worlds most biologically diverse ecosystems. Rainforests are perhaps the most endangered habitat on earth. Emerging threats to tropical forests reveals the remarkably diverse panoply of perils to tropical forests and their biota, with particular emphasis on recent dangers. A number of threats to tropical forests, however, are jeopardizing their integrity and future existence. Interactions from increasing temperatures, drought, native insects and pathogens, and. With a rising population, rearing of cattle and other domestic animals and farming domestic crops are responsible for loss of rainforests all over the world. Industrial drivers of forest conversion, such as logging, largescale soy and cattle farming, oilpalm plantations, and oil and. The drivers of tropical forest destruction and key perils to biodiversity have changed over the past one to two decades and will continue to evolve in the future. Industrial drivers of forest conversion, such as logging, largescale soy and cattle farming, oilpalm.
Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of tropical forest. Emerging prospects for tropical forest biodiversity. Emerging threats to tropical forests, laurance, peres. However, these are most commonly referred to as simply tropical rainforests, a term coined by a german scientist as early as 1898. Emerging threats associated with climate change could be addressed with bioeconomic models that consider the resilience of tropical forests to potentially catastrophic changes. Divided into six sections, the book dissects different threats to tropical rain forests, including 1 climatic and atmospheric change, 2 synergistic impacts of simultaneous environmental changes, 3 pathogens and invaders, 4 insidious and poorly understood threats, 5 solving and mitigating emerging threats, and 6 summary and implications. Protecting the forest systems become imperative as human demand for forest products and services increase. Emerging threats to tropical forests1,2 semantic scholar. However, the news report fails to mention that the numbers used in its graphs of total emissions and global. In general, oldgrowth forests are vanishing rapidly and being replaced by.
Tropical forests are hot spots of biodiversity and provide multiple goods and ecosystem services which benefit people in many ways forest also play an important role in healthrelated legends, myths, and fairy tales from all over the world, and are important sources of new potential emerging microbial threats to human. Like cultivated arabica coffee elsewhere, also wild arabica coffee is susceptible to climate change, and a bioclimatic model for c. Yet in many parts of the world forests are degraded and destroyed to expand agricultural land, gain timber, or clear space for infrastructure or mining. In a tropical climate, temperature is fairly constant. In addition to current stressors, several emerging threats pose serious implications on the survival and sustainability of forest ecosystems. Brancalion,2,3 adriana paese,4 james aronson,5,6 pedro castro,7. Hawaiis native forests evolved over millions of years to become one of the most remarkable natural assemblages on earth. Understanding biological health in our forests this article provides strategies for conserving forest biodiversity, provides a brief overview of species of concern in pennsylvania, and suggests ways you can conserve biodiversity in your forest. Laurance born 12 october 1957, also known as bill laurance, is distinguished research professor at james cook university, australia and has been elected as a fellow of the australian academy of science. Conserving tropical forests and biodiversity for human development and.
Climate change is increasingly emerging as a potentially serious driver of change in the tropics, and some fauna, such as amphibians, are being decimated by emerging pathogens. This involves digging up the soil to a certain depth and then extracting the fuels. Industrial drivers of forest conversionsuch as logging, largescale soy and cattle farming, oilpalm plantations, and oil and gas developmenthave escalated in importance, buoyed by rapid globalization, economic. Mosquitoborne viruses are the cause of some of the greatest burdens to human health worldwide, particularly in tropical regions where both human populations and mosquito numbers are abundant.
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