As the Earth warms, many species are likely to disappear, often because of changing disease dynamics. Here we show that a recent mass extinction associated with pathogen outbreaks is tied to global warming. Seventeen years ago, in the mountains of Costa Rica, the Monteverde harlequin frog (Atelopus sp.) vanished along with the golden toad (Bufo periglenes). An estimated 67% of the 110 or so species of Atelopus, which are endemic to the American tropics, have met the same fate, and a pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) is implicated. Analysing the timing of losses in relation to changes in sea surface and air temperatures, we conclude with 'very high confidence' (> 99%, following the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC) that large-scale warming is a key factor in the disappearances. We propose that temperatures at many highland localities are shifting towards the growth optimum of Batrachochytrium, thus encouraging outbreaks. With climate change promoting infectious disease and eroding biodiversity, the urgency of reducing greenhouse-gas concentrations is now undeniable.

No abstract

Understanding the multifaceted relationship between biodiversity and landuse intensity is key to conservation policy. To begin to characterize this relationship in a tropical region, we investigated the bird fauna in an agricultural landscape in southern Costa Rica. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data show that about 27% of the land remains forested in the 15 km radius study region encompassing our sites. The rest was cleared about 40 yr ago for relatively small-scale coffee and cattle production, intermixed with other crops. Our goals were to: (1) compare the composition of the avifauna found in forestfragment and open habitats of the countryside; (2) assess the faunal change that has occurred since deforestation; and (3) provide a baseline for future comparisons.We surveyed the avifauna of eight forest fragments (0.3-25 ha) and 13 open-habitat sites (1.0 ha each) in the agricultural landscape. The pre-deforestation avifauna was approximated by the long-term bird list for the largest forest fragment (Las Cruces, LC; 227 ha) in the study region. We assumed conservatively that a species recorded in LC but not detected elsewhere occurred only in LC. Of the 272 locally extant bird species considered in this study, 149 (55%) occurred in forest habitats only. There was a significant positive correlation between forest fragment size and species richness for these forest birds. Of the remaining 123 species, 60 (22% of the total) occurred both in forest and open habitats. Sixty-three species (23%) occurred in open habitats only; the three nonnative species (1%) are in this group. Based on comparisons with larger forest tracts outside of the study region, it appeared that between 4 and 28 species (1-9% of the possible original totals) have gone locally extinct since deforestation began. The avifauna of open habitats was similar throughout the study region and did not vary with proximity to extensive forest.A substantial proportion of the native bird fauna occurs in a densely (human) populated, agricultural landscape almost a half-century after extensive clearance. There are, however, cautionary messages: (1) the common occurrence of forest birds in human-dominated countryside (including both forest-fragment and open habitats) does not necessarily imply that these species maintain sustainable populations there; (2) about half of the species have little prospect of surviving outside of the forest; and (3) ongoing intensification of land use may greatly reduce avian diversity in countryside habitats. Nonetheless, countryside habitats may buy time for the conservation of some species; at best, they may even sustain a moderate fraction of the native biota.

We evaluated the intention, implementation, and impact of Costa

Our understanding of the human and biophysical dimensions of tropical dry forest change and its cumulative effects is still in the early stages of academic discovery. The papers in this special section on Neotropical dry forests cover a wide range of sites and problems ranging from the use of multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing platforms to the impact of hurricanes on tropical dry forest regeneration. Here, we present to the scientific community the results of a workshop on which research priorities for tropical dry forests were discussed. This discussion focuses on the need to develop linkages between remote sensing, ecological, and social science research. The incorporation of social sciences into ecological research could contribute dramatically to our understandings of tropical dry forests by providing important contextual information to ecologists, and by helping to develop an important science–policy–public nexus on which environmental management can succeed.