Tropical Forest Ecology A View from Barro Colorado Island [Hardcover]

InTropical Forest Ecology, Egbert G. Leigh, Jr., one of the world's foremost tropical ecologists, introduces the reader 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 on 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.

Introduction
1. Barro Colorado Island: The Background
2. Dramatis Personaie
3. Tropical Climates
4. Runoff, Erosion, and Soil
5. Telling the Trees from the Forest: Tree Shape and Leaf Arrangement
6. Biomass and Productivity of Tropical Forest
7. The Seasonal Rhythms of Fruiting and Leaf Flush, and the Regulation of Animal Populations
8. Tropical Diversity
9. The Role of Mutualism in Tropical Forest
10. The Rainforest Endangered