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Tropical ecology is the study of all aspects of the ecology of tropical areas, which are those found approximately 23.5 degrees either side of the Equator. Notable tropical ecosystems include the rainforests of Amazonia, Africa and South East Asia, savannah grasslands and coral reefs.
Epiphytic plants are a highly biodiverse group of tropical species at high risk of extinction from climate change. In this study, a multi-year transplant experiment, paired with distributional surveys in Central America, shows that many of these species may not survive projected changes in climate, providing empirical evidence for hypotheses raised by previous studies.
An analysis of the impact of logging intensity on biodiversity in tropical forests in Sabah, Malaysia, identifies a threshold of tree biomass removal below which logged forests still have conservation value.
The authors use a mechanistic microclimate model to model the below-canopy conditions for 300,000 tropical forest locations across 30 years. They show that small temperature increases have already resulted in novel temperature regimes across most sites, and highlight areas that may act as refugia.
A field experiment in Uganda shows how potassium and phosphorus keep leaves functioning during times of water scarcity, highlighting the need to consider ecosystem-scale processes in studying the response of forests to nutrient limitation.
A network of more than 100 researchers tracked trees for up to 30 years in forest plots across South America, enabling estimation of the impacts of record temperatures and drought on carbon dynamics. The carbon sink in these forests ceased during the 2015–2016 El Niño, with drier forests losing the most carbon.
An analysis of millions of wildlife photographs has revealed that survival and colonization probabilities of mammals in protected areas are associated with people and what they do both inside and outside these areas.
Many coral reefs suffer from the effects of overfishing, which threatens biodiversity and erodes human livelihoods. A study now reveals where fished reefs boost their total productivity, providing a means of resilience.