Abstract
The high species diversity of tropical rainforests, as compared with temperate woodlands, has attracted a great deal of attention for almost a Century. Several recent papers (including Pianka, 1966;Orians, 1969; Terborgh, 1980; Terborghand Robinson, 1986; Bourliere, 1983, 1984; and Blondel, 1986) have again discussed this issue, and tried to weigh the relative importance of various contributory factors. This is not, in any case, an easy task. Indeed, as pointed out by Bourliere (1984), species richness in any animal Community certainly does not depend on a Single determinant, but rather on a combination of long-term historical events and shorter term ecological factors.
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Erard, C. (1989). Bird Community Structure in Two Rainforests: Africa (Gabon) and South America (French Guiana)-A Comparison. In: Harmelin-Vivien, M.L., Bourlière, F. (eds) Vertebrates in Complex Tropical Systems. Ecological Studies, vol 69. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3510-1_4
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