Introduction to the Tropics

Question 1

What latitude are the tropics of cancer and capricorn?

Answer 1

23.4°N and 23.4°S

Question 2

What is a tropical climate characterised by?

Answer 2

Hot and wet: Stable climate, limited seasonal variation (precipitation, temperature etc)

Question 3

Are the tropical habitats diverse?

Answer 3

Yes, lowland all the way to tierra nevada. Forests are dense, tall and dark. Varzea is seasonally flooded unlike Tierra firme. Dry dipterocarp vs. peatswamp.

Question 4

What sort of variation do you see in tropical forests?

Answer 4

Continental, Hydrological, Altitudinal, Rainfall

Question 5

1 hectare can have how many tree species?

Answer 5

650

Question 6

7 hectares can have how many bird species in Peruvian Amazon?

Answer 6

600

Question 7

Examples of species interactions?

Answer 7

Predation, nutrient cycling, plant pollination by insects birds and bats, zoochory, symbiosis

Question 8

What is a devil’s garden?

Answer 8

Clearing in forest dominated by 1-2 sp. of ant and plant. Trees around the garden have galls, inhabited by ants. Ants are severely nest-site limited, create the galls to increase nest space. Plant-ant mutualism.

Question 9

What is an ecosystem service?

Answer 9

“The provision of a natural resource or process that is valued by humankind”. E.g. carbon storage. Wood, fruits and animal protein. Hydrological services: rainfall and temperature and erosion and flood control.

Question 10

Extinctions per thousand species per millenium?

Answer 10

1000 x more than distant past and predicted to get up to 10 000 x more.

Question 11

Current drivers of biodiversity loss?

Answer 11

Habitat loss and degradation. Overexploitation. Farming, fragmentation, logging and degradations, hunting.

Question 12

Biodiversity loss mainly happens where?

Answer 12

Tropics (especially SE Asia).

Question 13

Why are the tropics important?

Answer 13

Most speciose, endemic species, complex interactions