Global Dry Forest Initiative

The tropical forest biome represents a mosaic of different vegetation forms including at mid elevations of the tropics, the biogeographically restricted cloud forests and at lower elevations the rain forest per se and the seasonally dry tropical forests (Dirzo et al. 2011). Seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) are scattered throughout the three tropical regions of the world, Latin America, Africa and South Asia and account for about 42% of the tropical global vegetation (Murphy and Lugo 1995). Global biodiversity hotspots contain high degree of endemism. Substantial portion of these are composed of seasonally dry tropical forests and are probably amongst the most threatened and least protected terrestrial tropical ecosystems and yet they have received far less attention in terms of research, conservation or development, despite the fact that almost one billion people live and derive their livelihoods (food, fodder, fuel wood) from such landscapes.

However, a lack of spatial information on the distribution, coupled with an ambiguity of definitions of SDTFs makes it difficult to draw management strategies for the conservation of these forests (Leimgruber et al. 2011). SDTFs exhibit specific ecological traits that suggest they possess a capacity to recover from disturbances. Recent research, however, suggests that SDTFs show reduced resilience compared to tropical rainforests. The combination of increasing anthropogenic pressures and low ecological thresholds make these systems prone to experience catastrophic changes (e.g. climatic), therefore increasing the costs of management decisions dramatically. Ignoring these thresholds and associated costs puts people and ecosystems at risk.

The purpose of this project is to develop a better understanding of global dry forest systems in all world regions to design a global research agenda for the management and conservation of SDTFs.

This project is spearheaded by CIFOR.