Although tropical rain forests form the world?s most species-rich ecosystems, their origin and history remain unclear, except on the very short timescale of the last 40 000 years or so. This book provides the first comprehensive review of the history of tropical rain forests on a long term geological timescale, commencing with the origin of the angiosperms over 100 million years ago, which today overwhelmingly dominate these forests. Tropical rain forest evolution is discussed in a global context within an up to date plate tectonic, palaeogeographical and palaeoclimatic framework, primarily by reference to the record of fossil pollen and spores. A particularly important aspect of this book is that in addition to published literature, it relies heavily on unpublished palynological data generated for petroleum companies during the course of hydrocarbon exploration programmes. Without access to such data the book could not have been written. The main text of the book reviews the evolution of tropical rain forests on a continent by continent basis, culminating with a global synthesis of their history in relation to the changing positions of the world?s tectonic plates and changing climates. This section also establishes the age of the great tropical rain forest blocks and identifies the world?s oldest tropical rain forests. The final chapter compares 20th Century tropical rain forest destruction with prehistoric forest clearance in temperate regions, and looks for analogues of the present phase of destruction within the geological record before considering long term implications of total rain forest destruction. The book will be of interest to all concerned with tropical rain forests, especially biologists, botanists, ecologists, and students of evolution. It will be valuable for postgraduates and advanced undergraduates, as well as stratigraphers, palaeobotanists, palynologists, and petroleum geologists.

The first edition of Tropical Rain Forests: an Ecological and Biogeographical Comparison exploded the myth of ‘the rain forest’ as a single, uniform entity. In reality, the major tropical rain forest regions, in tropical America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and New Guinea, have as many differences as similarities, as a result of their isolation from each other during the evolution of their floras and faunas. This new edition reinforces this message with new examples from recent and on-going research. After an introduction to the environments and geological histories of the major rain forest regions, subsequent chapters focus on plants, primates, carnivores and plant-eaters, birds, fruit bats and gliding animals, and insects, with an emphasis on the ecological and biogeographical differences between regions. This is followed by a new chapter on the unique tropical rain forests of oceanic islands. The final chapter, which has been completely rewritten, deals with the impacts of people on tropical rain forests and discusses possible conservation strategies that take into account the differences highlighted in the previous chapters. This exciting and very readable book, illustrated throughout with color photographs, will be invaluable reading for undergraduate students in a wide range of courses as well as an authoritative reference for graduate and professional ecologists, conservationists, and interested amateurs.

The Equatorial Rain Forest: A Geological History presents the equatorial vegetation as a dynamic entity with varied and highly significant history. It also discusses other types of equatorial regions. It addresses the vegetational history from a palaeoecological viewpoint. Some of the topics covered in the book are the vegetation of equatorial regions; the prelude to the quaternary; the quaternary vegetation of equatorial Latin America; the quaternary vegetation of equatorial Africa; the cretaceous period; and the quaternary vegetation of equatorial indo-malesia. The value of vegetational history is fully covered. The effect of man on vegetation is discussed in detail. The text describes in depth the methods of studying vegetational history. The Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene epochs are presented completely. A chapter is devoted to the palynological evidence and synthesis. Another section focuses on the xeroseres, hydroseres and related successions. The book can provide useful information to botanists, geologists, students, and researchers.

Seasonality. Growth of the forest. Kinds of forest. Man and the tropical rain forest.

Synthesizing theoretical & empirical analyses of the processes that help shape these unique ecosystems, 'Tropical Rainforests' looks at the effects of evolutionary histories, past climate change, & ecological dynamics on the origin & maintenance of tropical rainforest communities.

Rain forests represent the world's richest repository of terrestrial biodiversity, and play a major role in regulating the global climate. They support the livelihoods of a substantial proportion of the world's population and are the source of many internationally traded commodities. They remain (despite decades of conservation attention) increasingly vulnerable to degradation and clearance, with profound though often uncertain future costs to global society. Understanding the ecology of these diverse biomes, and peoples' dependencies on them, is fundamental to their future management and conservation. Tropical Rain Forest Ecology, Diversity, and Conservation introduces and explores what rain forests are, how they arose, what they contain, how they function, and how humans use and impact them. The book starts by introducing the variety of rain forest plants, fungi, microorganisms, and animals, emphasising the spectacular diversity that is the motivation for their conservation. The central chapters describe the origins of rain forest communities, the variety of rain forest formations, and their ecology and dynamics. The challenge of explaining the species richness of rain forest communities lies at the heart of ecological theory, and forms a common theme throughout. The book's final section considers historical and current interactions of humans and rain forests. It explores biodiversity conservation as well as livelihood security for the many communities that are dependent on rain forests - inextricable issues that represent urgent priorities for scientists, conservationists, and policy makers.