Synthesis and Promising Lines of Research on Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests

Abstract

In the mid 1990s the first global synthesis of our knowledge of the biology of seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) was published (Bullock et al. 1995). The motivation for that synthesis was the fact that vast areas of tropical dry forests of the world were poorly studied and yet they represent one of the most threatened ecosystems of the world. These systems provide a vast treasure of biological information on the adaptive modes of organisms to an environment that is not thermally limited but where water availability varies greatly within and between seasons. It was hoped that revealing the knowledge that had accrued would be a stimulus to further research on these unique ecosystems as well as new efforts for their conservation.