The Ecology of Tropical East Asia

Abstract Tropical East Asia is home to over 1 billion people and faces massive human impacts from its rising population and rapid economic growth. It has already lost more than half of its forest cover and has the highest rates of deforestation and logging in the tropics. Hunting and the trade in wildlife products threaten all its large and many smaller vertebrates. Despite these problems, the region still supports an estimated 15–25 per cent of global terrestrial biodiversity and is thus a key focus for global conservation. This book therefore deals with plants, animals, and the ecosystems they inhabit, as well as the diverse threats to their survival and the options for their conservation. It provides the background knowledge of…