The study was conducted in tropical lowland forest in the Dumoga Bone National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia. It sought (a) to establish the typical densities of sap-sucking Hemip tera, (b) to quantify the intensity of Hemiptera feeding on leaves, and (c) to investigate, using multivariate techniques, the relationships between Hemiptera density and/or feeding damage and a range of leaf or plant characteristics. Only 3% of shrubs examined had colonial Hemiptera feeding on growing shoots. Feeding punctures on leaves were common but the insects which produced them such as the Cicadellidae and various Heteroptera were scarce. Coccoidea and Aleyrodoidea were the dominant and ubiquitous Hemipterans, feeding primarily on the surface of the leaves. Psylloidea were relatively rare and Aphidoidea were not recorded. For the complete data set, which included all leaves examined, there were few significant correlations, either singly or in combination, between the various measures of insect abundance and the state of the 17 leaf characteristics recorded. However, when the data for young leaves were extracted there was evidence to suggest that the number of feeding punctures cm−2 of leaf and the number of coccids cm−2 of upper leaf surface increased rapidly to a maximum as the young leaf aged and certain characters changed accordingly. Other more stable leaf characteristics such as hairiness, spininess, glossiness, etc. explained only a small additional amount of the total variance in Hemiptera abundance.

Permanent plots totalling 12.4 hectares were established in 1969 in primary tropical wet forest at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica; all stems ≥10 cm diameter at breast height were tagged and measured. In 1982, the plots were again censused, and all live trees re-measured. Mortality over 13 years was 23.2%, or 2.03% per year based on a logarithmic mortality model. This suggests a stand half-life of around 34 years. Mortality was independent of size class in trees ≥10 cm diameter. Recruitment was equal to mortality. Tree growth curves and age-size relationships for 44 species were projected from 13-year diameter increments using a growth simulation procedure. Understorey trees grow slowly and consistently, and have short life spans; subcanopy trees also grow slowly, but live longer; shade-tolerant canopy trees show variable and often rapid growth and are long-lived; and shade-intolerant canopy trees grow rapidly, show little variation, and have short life spans. The longest imputed life span in our sample was around 440 years (years from 10 cm diameter to the maximum diameter); the shortest life span was around 50 years.

The germinable seed bank of the colonizing weed Eupatorium odoratum was studied at the University of Ghana's Agricultural Research Station, near Kade. Five sites representing different successional stages were selected: a closed-canopy forest; intermittent-canopy forest; secondary forest; agricultural land; and a burnt forest. Twenty-five soil samples (each 500 cm3; 10×10×5 cm) were taken at random in each site, to be used for germination experiments. The secondary forest site had significantly more seeds of Eupatorium odoratum (8428 seeds per m2) than any of the other four sites. In this site Eupatorium odoratum constituted 81% of the total seed bank and had significantly more rapid germination of seeds than any other species. The results indicate that the existence of a soil seed bank may depend on: (1) time allowed for seed accumulation; (2) habitat accessibility to dispersing seeds; (3) the type of disturbance that occurs in an area; (4) dispersal capabilities of colonizing species; and (5) the history of the species′ distribution in the area.

The contribution of a population of mound building, detritivorous termites (Amitermes laurensis (Mjöberg)) to nett carbon mineralization in an Australian tropical semi-arid woodland has been examined. Carbon mineralization rates were estimated by measuring daily CO2 flux from five termite mounds at monthly intervals for 12 months. Carbon flux from the mounds was found to be due to microbial activity as well as termite activity. It is conservatively estimated that the association of A. laurensis and the microbial population present in their mounds is responsible for between 4%–10% of carbon mineralized in this ecosystem, and the contribution of all termites together (mound builders and subterranean) may account for up to 20% of carbon mineralized. Regression analysis showed that rates of carbon mineralization in termite mounds were significantly related to mound moisture and mound temperature. Soil moisture was the most important factor in soil carbon mineralization, with temperature and a moisture X temperature interaction term also exerting significant affects.

Published work on the dynamics of forest tree recruitment, growth and mortality in natural tropical forest is reviewed. In most forests studied, annual mortality is between 1% and 2% and is independent of size class in trees >10 cm dbh; mortality is negatively correlated with growth rate and crown illumination; growth rate is highly variable between individual trees, but shows strong autocorrelation between successive measurements on the same tree.

Differences in the rate of dynamic processes can be detected between some species at a site, but data are presently insufficient to determine whether these differences are preserved at other sites where the species occur. None of the studies discussed are of sufficient duration to permit us to draw any conclusions about the equilibrium or non-equilibrium of floristic composition.

Long-term growth rates of 32 palms (Prestoea montana) were studied using height and diameter measurements taken four times between 1946 and 1982. All leaf scars were counted to estimate leaf production rate, and the distance between scars was measured to establish relationships between leaf production and height growth. Height and diameter growth and leaf production of these palms were not constant during this 36-year period. A greater distance between leaf scars was indicative of rapid height growth but not of high leaf production rate. Dominant palms always grew fast (> 20 cm/yr) in height when they were small, but height growth slowed down when they reached the canopy. Small palms with slow height growth remained suppressed and lost the capacity to grow rapidly in height as adults. Diameter growth decreased with age from 0.07 cm/yr (SE = 0.02) between 1946–51 to 0.01 cm/yr (SE = 0.003) between 1951–82. Annual leaf production averaged 4 leaves/yr over the 36 years of study, was significantly different (P = 0.001) between 1946–51 (5.6 leaves/yr) and 1951–82 (3.8 leaves/yr), and was 4.6 leaves/yr for palms that grew >5 m since 1946 and 3.7 leaves/yr for those that remained suppressed. The best estimate for the mean age of all palms was 61.1 yr (SE = 2.4), obtained from long-term population leaf production rates.

A quantitative analysis of the effect of fire regime on the abundance of common lizard species and genera and the species richness of two lizard groups in Kakadu National Park (12° S) is presented. A surprising range of relationships between species abundance and components of fire regimes was revealed. Carlia amax, Heteronotia binoei and Carlia gracilis appear to be fire-sensitive, Diporiphora bilineata and Carlia triacantha are favoured by early hot fires, Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus seems relatively unaffected, Carlia foliorum seems very tolerant of fires, while Ctenotus and Sphenomorphus spp. are favoured by low intensity, patchy fires with high intensity spots.

Lizard species experiencing the high-frequency fire regimes of the savannas and dry forests of the Australian wet-dry tropics are not able to select habitat at different stages of regeneration after fire but select habitat produced by fires of different types. The implication for management is that no one fire regime is optimal for the fauna as a whole. A range of fire regimes within a park should be maintained in order to retain the whole fauna.