Description
Tropical mountain forests are very rich in species and are generally considered as hotspots of biodiversity. They are also of great ecological importance as sources of water and other ecosystem services for millions of people living in the tropics. However, these valuable forest ecosystems are now increasingly being fragmented, reduced and disturbed by human interventions. This book originated from a lecture series on the tropical mountain forest organized by the Göttingen Centre of Biodiversity and Ecology and held at the University of Göttingen, Germany during the summer term of 2007. The volume presents a synthesis of current ecological research in Germany on the tropical mountain forest, from an interdisciplinary perspective.
About the authors
S. Robbert Gradstein is a Professor of Botany at Goettingen University, Germany. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Taxon.
Dirk Gansert is a Senior Lecturer at Albrecht von Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, Goettingen University, Germany.
Jürgen Homeier is a Senior Lecturer at Albrecht von Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, Goettingen University, Germany. Among his research areas are ecology of tropical forests, tree species composition and diversity, tree regeneration and forest dynamics, factors influencing species composition and productivity of tropical forest ecosystems, and plant databases (www.visualplants.de).
