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Forest Canopies as Earth’s Support Systems: Priorities for Research and Conservation

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Treetops at Risk

Abstract

In this chapter we address three sets of questions about the present and future role of canopy science within the larger context of forest science. First we review research that either promotes or constrains canopy science as a distinct field. Second, we examine what is known about how canopies are being altered by human use of tropical forests, and consider priorities for research in human interactions with forest canopies. Third, we ask how canopy science can help address the urgent need to understand patterns of human impacts and global environmental changes, specifically in tropical forest ecosystems. It is evident from this volume that canopy researchers are shifting their priorities toward forest canopy conservation by embracing whole-forest approaches with reference to ecosystem services, forest health, climate change, sustainability science, economics, education, and the social sciences.

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Acknowledgments

 The Bangalore workshop and the work on this manuscript were supported by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (DEB 0542130 and DEB 0956301).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA, 02125, USA

    Reinmar Seidler

  2. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore, KA, India

    Kamaljit S. Bawa

  3. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, North Carolina State University, 121 W. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC, 27603, USA

    Margaret Lowman

  4. Center for Science and Mathematics Education, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84103, USA

    Nalini M. Nadkarni

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  1. Reinmar Seidler
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  2. Kamaljit S. Bawa
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  3. Margaret Lowman
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  4. Nalini M. Nadkarni
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Correspondence to Reinmar Seidler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Nature Research Center, North Carolina State University, 11 W. Jones Street, Raleigh, 27601, North Carolina, USA

    Margaret Lowman

  2. the Environment, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560 064, India

    Soubadra Devy

  3. the Environment, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560 064, India

    T. Ganesh

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Seidler, R., Bawa, K.S., Lowman, M., Nadkarni, N.M. (2013). Forest Canopies as Earth’s Support Systems: Priorities for Research and Conservation. In: Lowman, M., Devy, S., Ganesh, T. (eds) Treetops at Risk. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7161-5_4

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