An Introduction to Tropical Rain Forests - Tapa blanda

A greater awareness has led to bolder initiatives emerging to promote sustainable management of these forests, such as the rapidly approaching Year 2000 Objective set by the ITTO. The most significant changes in this edition address these issues with an extra chapter added, focusing on management for sustainability. ... In the end this excellant book is positive that a sustainable balance might be struck before the forests disappear. Tim Baker/East African Wilde Life Society/Afr. Jr. Ecol.,38, 93-94

This new edition of Whitmore's classic introduction to tropical rain forests has been comprehensively revised and updated, reflecting the changes which have taken place since it was first published in 1990. The sections on human impact have been extended to include a new global assessment of deforestation as well as details of new research on biodiversity and conservation. Discussion of the future of the rain forests and priorities for action is incorporated. The book remains unique in linking rain forest biology and ecology with silviculture, and with concerns over sustainable resource utilization and the future of the tropical rain forests. It includes sections on the diverse animal and plant life forms which are found in the rain forest, and the interconnections between them. Nutrient cycles and forest dynamics are fully explained, with new data on ecophysiology and forest microclimates. The geologic and climatic history of rain forests, and the wide-spread canopy disturbances now understood to have occurred in the past, are explored. Accessibly written, and illustrated throughout with line-drawings and photographs, this is a must for biology and geography students, and anyone else who seeks to know more about the nature and importance of the world's tropical rain forests.