Will the Rainforest Survive? New Threats and Realities in the Tropical Extinction Crisis Part 2
478 views · Published 14 January 2009 · 2:58:17 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: Smithsonian · 2009 · Science & Technology
An important debate has erupted in the scientific community concerning the magnitude of future species extinctions in the tropics. This debate was ignited by an in-depth analysis of expected human-population and forest-cover trends (S. J. Wright & H. Muller-Landau. 2006. Biotropica) and has generated great interest in the fate of tropical biodiversity (reviewed in W. F. Laurance. 2007. Trends in Ecology & Evolution). The debate centers around two different theories: Wrightâs position is based in part on United Nations figures that urbanism and lower population growth will allow abandoned areas to recover and tropical species to be spared versus Lauranceâs claims that secondary and degraded forests will sustain only a fraction of tropical biodiversity and that industrial agriculture, logging, mining, and economic globalization, rather than changing rural and urban populations, are becoming the dominant drivers of tropical deforestation. More: http://www.si.edu/tec
