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The Role of Biodiversity in Tropical Managed Ecosystems

  • Conference paper
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Processes in Tropical Forests

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 122))

Abstract

Efforts to preserve biodiversity have been focused primarily on remaining areas of natural ecosystems, but only 5% of the terrestrial environment is unmanaged and uninhabited (Western and Pearl 1989), and only 3.2% is protected in national parks (Reid and Miller 1989), Of the 95% of the world’s land devoted to managed ecosystems, approximately 50% is in agriculture, 20% in commercial forestry, and 25% in human settlements, such as cities, towns, and villages (Western and Pearl 1989). Although the biodiversity of any particular managed ecosystem may be low, a large proportion of the total species of a region may live in such systems (Pimentel et al. 1992). The extent to which biodiversity and ecosystem processes are modified by management varies tremendously. These data suggest that more attention should be paid to understanding patterns of biodiversity in managed ecosystems and how species richness influences the functioning of those systems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Alison G. Power & Alexander S. Flecker

  2. Center for the Environment, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Alexander S. Flecker

Authors
  1. Alison G. Power
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  2. Alexander S. Flecker
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Gordon H. Orians

  2. Centro de Ecología, Univesidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275, 04510, México D.F., México

    Rodolfo Dirzo

  3. Dept. of Biology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, 94928, USA

    J. Hall Cushman

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Power, A.G., Flecker, A.S. (1996). The Role of Biodiversity in Tropical Managed Ecosystems. In: Orians, G.H., Dirzo, R., Cushman, J.H. (eds) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Processes in Tropical Forests. Ecological Studies, vol 122. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79755-2_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79755-2_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

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