Throughout the tropics, vast areas of rainforest and other biologically
diverse lands are being cleared for agricultural or related uses.
Rainforests, the most dramatic example of tropical habitat destrucLion,
are estimated to be disappearing at the rate of up to 20.4 million
hectares per year world-wide (based on FAO estimates; see World
Resources 1990-1991, Oxford University Press)- more than 2% of the total
area covered by tropical rainforests per year. Destruction of these
complex habitats results in the irreversible loss of both plant and
animal diversity, and dramatically illustraLes the need to investigate
these threatened species for potentially useful constituents-especially
the identification and characterization of novel biologically-active
phytochemicals with pharmacologiical and/or pesticidal properties. This
volume is based on papers presented by invited speakers at an
international symposium entitled "Phytochemical POlential of Tropical
Plants: held in conjunction with the second joint meeting of the
Phytochemical nd Societies of Europe and North America, as well as the
32 annual meeting of the latter society. The meeting was held at the
Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida, USA from August 8-12,1992. One
hundred and twenty-five participants from more than 20 countries
attended this meeting.