Ecology and conservation of forests.

Abstract

This paper discusses the interrelationship between forest ecology and the structure and function of forests. Topics covered include: the key processes that interconnect organisms in forest ecosystems; the relationship between environmental change and succession; and biodiversity. Four case studies are given and they are entitled: (1) Mycorrhizal symbioses in forest ecosystems: the ties that bind; (2) Small mammals and their relationship to forests in the Pacific Northwest USA; (3) Puerto Rico and Hawaii: the dilemma of coqui frog [Eleutherodactylus coqui] conservation or eradication in wet tropical forests; and (4) Malaria and land modifications in the Kenyan highlands (Noboru Minakawa).