Keyword: Rain forests

While tropical forests remain threatened and their future is uncertain, the importance of understanding how well individual protected areas avoid deforestation increases. Researchers from the University of Turku and University of Helsinki, Finland, have investigated this question in a newly published study that focuses on the State of Acre in Brazilian Amazonia.

An international team of researchers has compiled a large set of field data and reports that the number of hyperdominant tree species in Amazonian rain forests is three times greater than believed thus far. Hyperdominants are the most abundant species that together make up at least half of all the individuals that are studied. These results can be used for better planning of conservation and use of Amazonian forests.