In evolutionary time scales natural disturbances have affected the
vegetation on Earth. During the Quaternary the forest biomes of the
tropics were subjected to manifold disturbances. Climate changes and
climate oscillations were associated with changing precipitation and
drought regimes, flooding, siltation, landslides, etc. The prehistorical
forest was also influenced by the effects of large wildlife populations.
Large-scale catastrophies in the forest biomes were mainly caused by
abiotic environmental alterations, the small-scale disturbances were and
still are related to both biotic and abiotic processes. Both the
large-and the small-scale disturbances have played a significant role in
shaping distribution, dynamics, structure and composition of the
paleoforest. After the expansion of hominids and early humans, and
later, by modern humans, the anthropogenic influences on the tropical
forest began to overlap natural disturbances. Today's anthropogenic
impacts on the tropical forests differ qualitatively and quanitatively
from the natural disturbances. The speed of tropical deforestation and
savannization is dramatically increasing. The physical and chemical
impacts of forest conversion and biomass burning add to other
anthropogenic influences on the atmosphere and climate. The expected
anthropogenic climate change will also have considerable impacts on the
tropical flora and fauna. The book on "Tropical Forests in Transition"
synthesizes information on changing environmental conditions and human
impacts on the tropical forest by looking back to the paleoecology,
analyzing the impact of modern human populations and modeling the future
of the tropical forest in a changing environment. The aim of the book is
to strengthen multidisciplinary thinking in disturbance ecology.
