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Managing the Future of Southeast Asia's Valuable Tropical Rainforests pp 21–55Cite as

A Biogeographic History of Southeast Asian Rainforests

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Part of the book series: Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research ((AAHER,volume 2))

Abstract

The species-rich ecological assemblages of SE Asia have been molded via both historical and ecological processes. Over both short and long timeframes, environmental inconstancy and heterogeneity play a fundamental part in shaping speciation and organismal diversity. Climate change has been important in past transformations of SE Asian ecosystems, which can bounce back, change, or go extinct. This account has brought together botanical and zoological examples, integrating palaeontological and archaeological information, as well as insights from molecular studies, to provide a synoptic look at the biogeography of SE Asia. The coming together of the sciences has enriched our understanding of the connections among landforms, ecosystems and species, the role of changes in the environment, both past and present, and how some losses brought about by anthropogenic activities could be minimized.

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Acknowledgments

Parts of this review were enabled by a Mercer Fellowship from Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, July to November 2007. I am grateful to Bob Cook, Stuart Davies, Chuck Davis, Dave Boufford, Kanchi Gandhi, Judith Warnement, Gretchen Wade, William Tootle, Lisa DeCesare, Emily Wood, Zhang Wenheng (Harvard University); Richard Primack (Boston University); John Beaman (then Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew); Chris Yusheng Liu (East Tennessee State University); Haji Mohamed Abdul Majid, Amru Nasrulhaq Boyce, A.L. Lim (University of Malaya); Y.F. Lee, R.C. Ong, Anuar Mohammad (Forest Research Centre, Sandakan); C.L. Chan (Natural History Publications, Borneo); S.C. Chin and Christina Soh (Singapore Botanic Gardens) for facilitating my studies and help with literature. I thank the Earl of Cranbrook and James Richardson (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) for comments on a manuscript version of this chapter.

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  1. Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore, 259569, Singapore

    K. M. Wong

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  1. School of Env. & Natural Resource Sci., Faculty of Science & Technology, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, 43600, Malaysia

    Ratnam Wickneswari

  2. , Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, 666303, China, People's Republic

    Chuck Cannon

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Wong, K.M. (2011). A Biogeographic History of Southeast Asian Rainforests. In: Wickneswari, R., Cannon, C. (eds) Managing the Future of Southeast Asia's Valuable Tropical Rainforests. Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2175-3_2

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