Tropical Forest Ecology: A View from Barro Colorado Island

By Egbert Giles Leigh Jr. and Egbert Giles Leigh

Book Overview

In Tropical Forest Ecology, Egbert G. Leigh, Jr., one of the world's foremost tropical ecologists, introduces readers to the tropical forest and describes the intricate web of interdependence among the great diversity of tropical plants and animals. Focusing on the tropical forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama, Leigh shows what Barro Colorado can tell us about other tropical forests--and what tropical forests can tell us about Barro Colorado.
This book considers three essential questions for understanding the ecological organization of tropical forests. How do they stay green with their abundance of herbivores? Why do they have such a diversity of plants and animals? And what role does mutualism play in the ecology of tropical forests? Beautifully written and abundantly illustrated, Tropical Forest Ecology will certainly appeal to a wide variety of scientists in the fields of evolution, tropical biology, botany, zoology, and natural history.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195096037
• ISBN13: 9780195096033
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.3" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

A joy to read

The recent proliferation of books on tropical ecology is a goodthing, but it might make it difficult to decide which books toread. I've read almost all the books on tropical ecology and taughtseveral tropical ecology courses, and this is the best work I've seenyet. It is definitely not a text book and should not be used as such,but it covers all the major issues in tropical ecology while focusingon one of the best studied neotropical ecosystems: Barro ColoradoIsland. I recommend this book to anyone interested in tropicalecology.