User:Zerodee/Tropical ecology

Bibliography:

NEUDERT, R., GANZHORN, J. U., & WÄTZOLD, F. (2016). Global benefits and local costs – the dilemma of tropical FOREST conservation: A review of the situation in Madagascar. Environmental Conservation, 44(1), 82-96. doi:10.1017/s0376892916000552

Sketching out contributions:

• conservation measures have multiple benefits to the ecosystem and the community. There are health, economic, and environmental benefits to conserving tropical ecosystems, and conserving these benefits requires communication between local people, governments, and stakeholders. Communication between these groups facilitates the most benefit from conserving tropical ecosystems.
• Conservation efforts in the tropics can be difficult to start, as many communities have developed a culture around the ecology in many locations, and in many cases, people make their livelihood off some aspect of the ecology. :)
• Tropical regions are hotspots for biodiversty, so conservation efforts are important to focus on in these places. Many species can be observed and conserved in the tropics.  :)— Preceding unsigned comment added by Zerodee (talk • contribs) 16:16, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J., Kastner, T., Moran, D., Schmidt, S., & Wood, R. (2019). Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. Global Environmental Change, 56, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.03.002

• Deforestation contributes to CO2 emissions, which is a cause of climate change. Much of the deforestation in the tropics is the result of agricultural land use.

Muenchow, J., Dieker, P., Kluge, J., Kessler, M., & von Wehrden, H. (2017). A review of ecological gradient research in the Tropics: identifying research gaps, future directions, and conservation priorities. Biodiversity and Conservation, 27(2), 273–285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1465-y

• With the large amount of biodiversity present in the tropics, it is a good access point for research. Most research in the tropics has been done on species richness, however more research needs to be done on other aspects of the tropics.

My contributions added to the actual article:

Tropical regions are hotspots for biodiversty, so conservation efforts are important to focus on in these places. Many species can be observed and conserved in the tropics. The tropics receive a lot of attention when it comes to conservation and management due to increased public awareness of the significance of tropical ecosystems and the delicacy with which they must be treated. Conservation efforts in the tropics can be difficult to start, as many communities have developed a culture around the ecology in many locations, and in many cases, people make their livelihood off some aspect of the ecology. Conservation measures have multiple benefits to the ecosystem and the community. There are health, economic, and environmental benefits to conserving tropical ecosystems, and conserving these benefits requires communication between local people, governments, and stakeholders. Communication between these groups facilitates the most benefit from conserving tropical ecosystems.

The rainforests are subjects of heightened attention due to the excessive deforestation and logging that occurs in those ecosystems. Deforestation contributes to CO2 emissions, which is a cause of climate change. Much of the deforestation in the tropics is the result of agricultural land use. In the 1980s, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization conducted a study that concluded that 15.4 million hectares (100 acres) of tropical forest was lost per year. In addition, 5.6 million hectares were logged each year. This landmark study sparked widespread interest in the tropical ecosystem, and a great number of non-profits and outspoken ecologists engaged in an extended fight to "save the rainforest" that continues today. This battle has manifested itself in a number of ways, one of which is the outcropping of biodiversity institutes in tropical locations dedicated to stopping the excessive deforestation of the landscape, one of the most notable of which was established in Costa Rica. The work of the Costa Rican National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) has served as a model for other biodiversity institutes. First, it must be noted that rainforests harbor the most alkaloid-producing plants of any biome; alkaloids are compounds that are crucial to the production of Western drugs. Due to the abundance of these compounds, pharmaceutical companies all over the world look to the rainforests for new medicinal treatments. In the early 1990s, the heads of INBio signed a deal with the pharmaceutical behemoth Merck that called for cooperation between the two entities in discovering and exploring new natural treatments in the Costa Rican rainforests. Ecologists, government officials, and corporations alike praised this decision as decisive progress in an ongoing struggle to work cooperatively in utilizing tropical biodiversity while ensuring the stability of tropical ecosystems.

It is advantageous for ecologists and naturalists to study plants, animals, and ecosystems in the tropical climate for a number of reasons. For one, the tropics are home to a wide array of ecosystems, from rainforests to deserts. In that sense, the tropics are a great place for ecologists to conduct diverse studies without traveling too far from a research center. With the large amount of biodiversity present in the tropics, it is a good access point for research. Most research in the tropics has been done on species richness, however more research needs to be done on other aspects of the tropics. Secondly, the temperature in the tropics rarely hinders plant growth and activity; flora can be studied nearly year round, as cold weather never stunts plant activity. In addition to climatic reasons, the traditionally sparse population of the tropics has greatly aided research in the area, as the landscape is largely untainted by mankind and machinery. While this may not be the case so much as of late, the vast amounts of untapped land in the tropics still make for prime research territory. Finally, the tropics are valuable to ecologists because they are home to some of the oldest lands on Earth, including Chile's Atacama Desert and Australia's Peneplain. Thus, plant communities have been growing and evolving for millions of uninterrupted years, which makes for interesting study. That being said, while it may be advantageous to study ecology in the tropics, this is not to say that it is without difficulty. The ecosystems native to the tropics and the biodiversity they boast are dwindling. Half of the species located in biodiversity hotspots are in danger of extinction, and many of the plants with potential medicinal uses are dying off. In this sense, ecological study in the tropics is not as easily conducted as it once was; this is the reason why much of the modern ecological work in the field is aimed towards conservation and management as opposed to general research.