CONSERVATION BIOLOGY OF TROPICAL TREES - DEMOGRAPHIC AND GENETIC CONSIDERATIONS

Deforestation and fragmentation of tropical forests continues at alarm ing rates, resulting in problems ranging from species extinction to gl obal environmental changes. Central to conservation science is the use of population biology studies for management and preservation of spec ific species. In this paper, two basic aspects of population biology - demography and genetics - of tropical plant populations are reviewed to assess the present state of knowledge, and its potential Implicatio ns for the conservation of tropical tress. Data on demography of tropi cal plants populations is obtained from complete or partial demographi c studies on specific plants and from long-term surveys monitoring lar ge plots of tropical forests. From these studies mortality schedules a nd growth and reproduction performance of several plant species have b een obtained, providing a good picture of demographic patterns in trop ical plants. In contrast, genetic studies of tropical plants are scarc e. Those that do exist have focused on estimations of outcrossing rate s, genetic diversity and the extent of genetic differentation between populations using isozyme markers. Future research in this area is nee ded to provide reliable proposals for the conservation biology of trop ical trees. Meanwhile, strong efforts should be made to avoid the irra tional destruction of remnant forests. Sociological, political and eco nomical problems are intrinsically involved in conservation biology is sues and, it is unlikely that the problem of conserving the remaining tropical forests will be solved if people's behavior and situation do not change.