A Commentary on: Tropical Forests: Present Status and Future Outlook

Abstract

If what we read here is true, and there is no reason to think otherwise, then the future of tropical forests is poor and should be a major concern of all students of climate change. If deforestation continues at the rate predicted, it will continue to be a major contributor to the net increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and therefore to climate change. Alterations to the boundaries between tropical forests and savanna should be a good way of monitoring the effects of climatic change upon vegetation. Historic data from palynology (e.g., Van der Hammen, 1974; Livingstone, 1982) have shown that during the Pleistocene and Holocene, small changes in temperature and rainfall greatly altered the distribution of tropical forests and savanna and of treeline level in the Andes. Climate change could also be an added factor in the reduction and distribution of tropical forest. It is a pity that deforestation is likely to obscure the boundaries and to render the study of changes in forest/savanna margins less useful as a monitoring device for the effect of climate change.