The seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) have an enormously rich flora and fauna, which at continental scale may be almost as species-rich as rain forests. SDTF also provide multiple ecosystem services for human communities living in and around them. SDTF are generally areas of vegetation with a closed canopy that are deciduous in the dry season. Due to the higher canopies which provide shade, and in contrast to savannas, SDTF lack an abundant grass layer and they do not burn. Under this definition, SDTF are concentrated in the Americas, where they are found from northern Mexico to the north of Argentina and some in areas of the Caribbean. Elsewhere, SDTF are also found in some parts of Africa, Madagascar, and some small areas of Southeast Asia. Regardless of their wide distribution and species richness, these forests have received relatively little attention from ecologists and conservationists. Moreover, new evidence indicates that their representativeness within the current protected areas is woefully inadequate, while the distribution and survival of inhabiting species (both threatened and non-threatened) could be strongly affected by global climate change.
The marked and long dry season (4-8 months) of the SDTF represents the main driver for many biological and ecosystem processes. Tropical dry forests harbor a contrasting availability of resources, even at small spatial gradients. Environmental variables such as temperature, solar radiation, precipitation, and relative humidity can cause variations in climatic conditions. Thus, resources and conditions also define the presence or absence of some species, and their variation (i.e., drought gradient) affect the functional traits of individuals. In these ecosystems, water availability is largely mediated by precipitation, topography, and soil characteristics and, therefore, water availability is considered one of the main factors influencing niche partitioning and spatial organization of plant SDTF communities.
Studies focused on SDTF biodiversity are therefore urgent, for example understanding how species diversity varies through different microenvironmental conditions and how species respond in functional and phylogenetical terms. With environmental changes occurring rapidly at global scales, SDTF may be facing changes in their vegetation structure and in their biodiversity in general. Such changes in biodiversity highlight the challenges and threats to the long-term protection of SDTF. It is extremely important to consider the potential effects of both land use and climate change in order to support policymakers at both national and global scales.
Our aim for this Research Topic is to bring together cutting-edge studies which help us to understand the biodiversity of SDTF, their distribution patterns, their structures, and the processes and mechanisms contributing to maintaining them. We are also interested in studies evaluating SDTF deforestation regionally, nationally or internationally with pure and applied questions based on modelling approaches committed to evaluating the effect of habitat loss and climate change. We hope the Research Topic will contribute scientific research for the use of readers, scientists, conservationists, and decision-making managers.
This Research Topic aims to compile studies executed on any component of biodiversity (i.e. plants, animals) within SDTF worldwide including the Americas, Africa, Madagascar and Southeast Asia, which analyse the composition and structure of communities and their variation through the landscape, community dynamics, and approaches integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional information into community ecology, as well as the conservation of the forests in general or of particular species. We welcome studies based on field ground observations and greenhouse and lab-based experimental analysis, long-term censuses, literature and herbarium research to meta-analysis, or those relating to remote sensing and modelling approaches – especially those studies considering the potential impacts of future climate changes in the SDTF across the world.
The seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) have an enormously rich flora and fauna, which at continental scale may be almost as species-rich as rain forests. SDTF also provide multiple ecosystem services for human communities living in and around them. SDTF are generally areas of vegetation with a closed canopy that are deciduous in the dry season. Due to the higher canopies which provide shade, and in contrast to savannas, SDTF lack an abundant grass layer and they do not burn. Under this definition, SDTF are concentrated in the Americas, where they are found from northern Mexico to the north of Argentina and some in areas of the Caribbean. Elsewhere, SDTF are also found in some parts of Africa, Madagascar, and some small areas of Southeast Asia. Regardless of their wide distribution and species richness, these forests have received relatively little attention from ecologists and conservationists. Moreover, new evidence indicates that their representativeness within the current protected areas is woefully inadequate, while the distribution and survival of inhabiting species (both threatened and non-threatened) could be strongly affected by global climate change.
The marked and long dry season (4-8 months) of the SDTF represents the main driver for many biological and ecosystem processes. Tropical dry forests harbor a contrasting availability of resources, even at small spatial gradients. Environmental variables such as temperature, solar radiation, precipitation, and relative humidity can cause variations in climatic conditions. Thus, resources and conditions also define the presence or absence of some species, and their variation (i.e., drought gradient) affect the functional traits of individuals. In these ecosystems, water availability is largely mediated by precipitation, topography, and soil characteristics and, therefore, water availability is considered one of the main factors influencing niche partitioning and spatial organization of plant SDTF communities.
Studies focused on SDTF biodiversity are therefore urgent, for example understanding how species diversity varies through different microenvironmental conditions and how species respond in functional and phylogenetical terms. With environmental changes occurring rapidly at global scales, SDTF may be facing changes in their vegetation structure and in their biodiversity in general. Such changes in biodiversity highlight the challenges and threats to the long-term protection of SDTF. It is extremely important to consider the potential effects of both land use and climate change in order to support policymakers at both national and global scales.
Our aim for this Research Topic is to bring together cutting-edge studies which help us to understand the biodiversity of SDTF, their distribution patterns, their structures, and the processes and mechanisms contributing to maintaining them. We are also interested in studies evaluating SDTF deforestation regionally, nationally or internationally with pure and applied questions based on modelling approaches committed to evaluating the effect of habitat loss and climate change. We hope the Research Topic will contribute scientific research for the use of readers, scientists, conservationists, and decision-making managers.
This Research Topic aims to compile studies executed on any component of biodiversity (i.e. plants, animals) within SDTF worldwide including the Americas, Africa, Madagascar and Southeast Asia, which analyse the composition and structure of communities and their variation through the landscape, community dynamics, and approaches integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional information into community ecology, as well as the conservation of the forests in general or of particular species. We welcome studies based on field ground observations and greenhouse and lab-based experimental analysis, long-term censuses, literature and herbarium research to meta-analysis, or those relating to remote sensing and modelling approaches – especially those studies considering the potential impacts of future climate changes in the SDTF across the world.