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Global Effects of Tropical Deforestation: Towards an Integrated Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Allison G. Cook ,
Anthony C. Janetos  and
W. Ted Hinds
Allison G. Cook
Affiliation:
AScl Corporation, 1365 Beverly Road, McLean, Virginia 22101, USA
Anthony C. Janetos
Affiliation:
Manager, Global Change Research Program, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC 20460, USA
W. Ted Hinds
Affiliation:
Technology, Planning, and Analysis Unit, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, 901 D Street SW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20024-2115, USA.
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Deforestation of the tropical moist forests is taking place at an alarming pace; some experts believe that the entire ecobiome will be virtually destroyed within the next ten years. Although the ultimate ecological effects of tropical deforestation remain controversial, our present scientific understanding is adequate to justify efforts to slow the deforestation trend. The impacts that this trend will probably have on global climate remain unclear, while the effects that it will have on biodiversity will clearly be disastrous. This suggests that the research community should place a high priority on applying data on refugia (documented sites of high endemism and species-richness) to conservation planning, and on investigating the probable combined effects of climatic change and habitat fragmentation on world biodiversity.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1990 , pp. 201 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1990

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