| Abstract Detail
Healing the planet: Conservation of the world`s tropical forests Laurance, William [1]. Paradise in Peril: Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests. I will highlight new and emerging threats to tropical forests, the world's most biologically diverse ecosystems. The drivers of tropical forest destruction and key perils to biodiversity have changed over the past two decades. Industrial drivers of forest conversion—such as logging, large-scale soy and cattle farming, oil-palm plantations, and oil and gas development—have escalated in importance in recent decades, buoyed by rapid globalization, economic growth, and rising standards of living in developing nations. Biofuels are likely to grow rapidly as a driver of future forest destruction. 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. In general, old-growth forests are vanishing rapidly and being replaced by fragmented, secondary, and logged forests. These various environmental insults often operate in concert, magnifying their impacts and posing an even greater threat to tropical forests and their biodiversity. Broader Impacts:
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1 - James Cook University, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, PO Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia
Keywords:
none specified
Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY09
Location: Maryland Room/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Time: 10:15 AM
Number: SY09006
Abstract ID:693 |
