About the Book
Tropical ecosystems house a significant proportion of global biodiversity. To understand how these ecosystems function we need to appreciate not only what plants, animals and microbes they contain, but also how they interact with each other. This volume, first published in 2005, synthesises the state of knowledge in this area, with chapters providing reviews or case studies drawn from research conducted in both Old and New World tropics and including biotic interactions among taxa at all trophic levels. In most chapters plants (typically trees) are the starting point, but, taken together, the chapters consider interactions of plants with other plants, with micro-organisms and with animals, and the inter-relationships of human-induced disturbance with interactions among species. An underlying theme of the volume is the attempt to understand the maintenance of high diversity in tropical regions, which remains one of the most significant unexplained observations in ecological studies.
Table of Contents:
Preface; Part I. Plant-Plant Interactions: 1. Plant-plant interactions in tropical rainforests John J. Ewel and Ankila Hiremath; 2. Resource capture and use by tropical forest tree seedlings and its consequences for competition Lourens Poorter; 3. Role of life-history trade-offs in the equalisation and differentiation of tropical tree species Jim Dalling and David Burslem; 4. Neighbourhood effects on sapling growth and survival in a neotropical forest and the ecological equivalence hypothesis Maria Uriarte, Stephen P. Hubbell, Robert John, Roger Condit and Charles D. Canham; 5. Ecological drift in niche-structured communities: neutral pattern does not imply neutral process Drew Purves and Steve Pacala; Part II. Plant-Microbe Interactions: 6. Dimensions of disease in tropical forests Greg Gilbert; 7. Mycorrhizas and ecosystem processes in tropical rain forests: implications for diversity Ian Alexander and Lee Su See; 8. An overview of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal composition, distribution, and host effects from a tropical moist forest Edward Allen Herre, Damond Kyllo, Scott Mangan, Rebecca Husband, Luis C. Mejia and Ahn-Heum Eom; 9. Tropical plants as chimera: some implications of foliar endophytic fungi for the study of host plants defense, physiology, and genetics Edward Allen Herre, S. A. Van Bael, Z. Maynard, N. Robbins, J. Bischoff, A. E. Arnold, E. Rojas, L. C. Mejia, R. A. Cordero, C. Woodward and D. A. Kyllo; Part III. Plant-Animal Interactions: 10. Implications of spatial distribution on pollination and seed production and dispersal Jaboury Ghazoul; 11. Seed dispersal of woody plants in tropical forests: concepts, examples and future directions Helene Muller-Landau and Denise Hardesty; 12. The role of trophic interactions in community initiation, maintenance and degradation Joe Fragoso; 13. Impacts of herbivores on tropical plant diversity Bob Marquis; 14. Have the impacts of insect herbivores on the growth of tropical tree seedlings been underestimated? Fergus Massey, Malcolm Press and Sue Hartley; 15. Multi-trophic interactions and biodiversity: beetles, ants, caterpillars and plants Deborah Letourneau and Lee Dyer; 16. The trophic structure of tropical ant-plant-herbivore interactions: community consequences and coevolutionary dynamics Doyle McKey, Laurence Gaume, Carine Brouat, Bruno Di Gusto, Laurence Pascal, Gabriel Debout, Ambroise Dalecky and Martin Heil; 17. Multitrophic interactions in a neotropical savanna: ant-hemipteran systems, associated insect herbivores, and a host plant Paulo S. Oliveira and Kleber Del-Claro; Part IV. Biotic Interactions in Human-Sominated Landscapes: 18. The disruption of biotic interactions in fragmented tropical landscapes William F. Laurance; 19. Effects of natural enemies on tropical plant invasions Saara DeWalt; 20. A new mix of alien and native species coexist in Puerto Rico's landscapes Ariel Lugo and Thomas Brandeis; 21. The dynamics of a tropical dry forest in India: climate, fire, elephants and the evolution of life history strategies R. Sukumar, H. S. Suresh, H. S. Dattaraja, A. Srinidhi and C. Nath; 22. Changes in plant communities associated with timber management in natural forests in the moist tropics Michelle Pinard.
About the Author :
David Burslem is Senior Lecturer in Tropical Plant Science at the University of Aberdeen. His current research focuses on tropical forest sites in Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Ecuador. Michelle Pinard is Lecturer in Tropical Forestry at the University of Aberdeen. Her research focuses on sites in Ghana, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Brazil and Bolivia. Sue Hartley is Reader in Ecology at the University of Sussex, specialising in the study of plant-animal interactions.
Review :
Key topics include the maintenance of tree species richness, ant-plant interactions, mycorrhizal fungi, seed dispersal, and pollination biology. An extensive index, literature review, and handsome production make this volume a valuable addition to libraries. Choice "I am convinced this volume will be useful for a variety of readers, ranging from students to experienced researchers in tropical biology." Rodolfo Dirzo, ECOLOGY
