Kirjahaku

Forest conservation has become one of the most important environmental issues currently facing humanity, as a result of widespread deforestation and forest degradation. Pressures on remaining natural forests continue to intensify, leading to high rates of biodiversity loss. Understanding how human activities influence ecological processes within forests is essential for developing effective conservation action. This book describes research methods and techniques relevant to understanding forest ecology, with a particular focus on those that are relevant to practical conservation and sustainable forest management. This information is currently disparate and difficult to locate and, as with other books in this series, the intention is to provide a comprehensive synthesis for use by graduate students, researchers and practising conservationists. Methods are presented for assessing forest extent and condition, structure and composition, and forest dynamics at a variety of scales. Techniques for assessing genetic variation and reproductive ecology, and for evaluating the habitat value of forests are also described. Particular emphasis is given to state-of-the-art techniques such as remote sensing, GIS, computer modelling and molecular markers. However, traditional methods of forest mensuration and ecological survey are also presented. The methods and techniques described are generally applicable to all forest types, including both temperate and tropical forest ecosystems.

Increasing concern surrounding the loss of natural forests and the decline in biodiversity has lead to a rise in research and policy initiatives in recent years. However, interest has focused primarily on lowland tropical rainforests. Tropical montane and temperate rainforests, which face similar pressures from human activities and play major roles in the livelihood of rural communities, are often ignored. Biodiversity Loss and Conservation in Fragmented Forest Landscapes is the product of over 10 years of intensive field research into the changing montane and temperate rainforests of Mexico and South America. By concentrating on these largely overlooked environments, the studies reported allow for comparative analysis across areas and help identify how human disturbance has impacted the biodiversity of all forest types. Chapters incorporate features of landscape ecology, floristic biodiversity, conservation and policy and vary from in-depth investigations of a single study area to integrated examinations across regions.