Scientists have long believed the lack of nutrients in tropical forests soils meant that they weren’t very productive when it came to plant growth. But at the same time, trees…
A recent report tracking the health of the Mesoamerican Reef indicates that conservation efforts might be helping to turn the tide for the reef itself and the people who depend…
Coral bleaching has accelerated to a clip at which established reefs can no longer keep up, reports a team of scientists Thursday in the journal Science. Severe bleaching can blot…
Trees from one of South America’s fastest-disappearing landscapes are ending up as charcoal on the shelves of European supermarkets, according to a report by the NGO Earthsight. The London-based watchdog…
By the middle of the century most of the world’s projected population of 9.5 billion people will be living in the Tropics, including almost two-thirds of its children. The region…
Deforestation is a big source of atmospheric carbon, one that is increasingly targeted by climate change mitigation projects around the world. Now, even forests in protected areas can be “significant”…
Biodiversity in tropical forests is particularly high — and, it appears, particularly sensitive to the impacts of climate change. Understanding how tropical species will fare in a warming world requires…
Tropical countries that are richest in biodiversity spend the least on conservation, a new study has found. These countries tend to be poor, have weak national governance, and have different…
Look up; look around. Look to the forests in your community. Odds are, they are secondary-growth forests (SFs), forests that regrow following major disturbances. These forests are becoming more common…
It is well understood that large-bodied species of mammals, fish, and birds are especially susceptible to steep population declines and even extinction due to environmental pressures and overhunting. But new…
Rainforest in Kinabatangan, Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Scientists at the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts have developed vegetation height maps for the entire tropics at…
A bird's eye view of speciation in the Neotropics How long does it take for a new species to develop? Not long, it turns out. In fact, only a few…
If you thought your relatively northerly or southerly location sheltered you from Mother Nature’s worst storms, think again For years we have known that the tropics are expanding towards the…
This article is based on a Mongabay-Indonesia story by Lili Rambe: Sejumlah Spesies Ikan Baru dan Langka Ditemukan di Hutan Harapan Jambi. In early April, Indonesian scientists discovered an endangered…
Fruit-eating bats play an important role in forest regeneration, collecting and spreading seeds far and wide. However, human development may be stymying bat-mediated dispersal. In a new study published in…
The notion of spiders using ants as bodyguards seems a bit contradictory, but that is exactly what occurs on the tropical forest floors of the Philippines. The jumping spider (Phintella…
Ongoing burning of fossil fuels could flip which portion of the tropics receive more rainfall: the southern hemisphere or the northern. Currently, the northern hemisphere tropics is the wetter of…
Last week U.S. scientists with the biotech company, Sanaria, announced a possible breakthrough on an experimental malaria vaccine: an early trial led to a success rate of 80 percent for…
Devastated rainforest in Indonesian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. In 48 years wildlife populations in the tropics, the region that holds the bulk of the world's biodiversity, have fallen…
