MANAGEMENT OF TROPICAL BIODIVERSITY

Increasing demands for products and services from tropical forests require solutions that conserve biodiversity while responding to human needs. I review various paradigms of tropical forest resiliency and fragility to focus attention on the management of biodiversity. The management of tropical biodiversity is possible within the context of land use programs that focus on ecosystem management. New ecological paradigms of tropical-forest resiliency underpin tropical-ecosystem management. They can and/or should replace paradigms that highlighted ecosystem fragility and led to the belief that tropical forests cannot be managed. To lead the way in tropical-ecosystem management, ecologists must also consider social, political, and economic factors that affect the way people relate to the biota. Ecosystem management will require use of modern technology to mitigate the negative consequences of poor development and land use practices. In spite of efforts to preserve ecosystems as they occur today, species composition of future tropical forest landscapes will be different than today's.