Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1989, Qupperneq 43

tion (ritstj. L. Kaufmann & K. Mallo-
ry). The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Prance, G. T. 1989. A growing sphere of
knowledge. Nature 337. 27.
Ramanathan, V. 1988. The greenhouse
theory of climate change: A test by an
inadvertent global experiment. Science
240. 293-99.
Richards, P. W. 1952. The Tropical Rain
Forest. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge. 450 bls.
Rubinoff, I. 1983. A strategy for preserv-
ing tropical forests. Bls. 465-76 í: Trop-
ical Rain Forest: Ecology and Manage-
ment. Special Publication Scries of the
British Ecological Society (ritstj. S. L.
Sutton, T. C. Whitmore & A. C.
Chadwick). Blackwell Scientific
Publications, Oxford.
Salati, E. & P. B. Vose 1984. Amazon ba-
sin: a system in equilibrium. Science
225. 129-38.
Shaffer, M. L. & F. B. Samson 1985. Pop-
ulation size and extinction: a note on
determining critical population size.
American Naturalist 125. 144-52.
Silvertown, J. 1980. The evolutionary
ecology of mast seeding in trees. Bi-
ological Journal of the Linnean Society
14. 235-50.
Smith, N. J. H. 1981. Colonizations lesson
from a tropical forest. Science 214. 755-
61.
The Global 2000 Report to the President.
Entering the Twenty-First Century.
The Council of Environmental Quality
and the Department of State. Wash-
ington D.C. Penguin útgáfa 1982. 766
bls.
Whitmore, T. C. 1980. The conservation
of tropical rain forest. Bls. 303-18 í:
Conservation Biology. An Evolution-
ary-Ecological Perspective (ritstj. M.
E. Soulé & B. A. Wilcox). Sinauer
Ass., Inc., Sunderland, Mass.
Whitmore, T. C. 1984. Tropical Rain For-
ests of the Far East. 2. útgáfa. Clar-
endon Press, Oxford. 352 bls.
Whittaker, R. H. 1975. Communities and
Ecosystems. 2. útgáfa. Macmillan
Publ. Co., Inc., New York. 385 bls.
Wilcove, D. S. & R. M. May 1986. Na-
tional park boundaries and ecological
realities. Nature 324. 206-7.
Woodwell, G. M., R. M. Whittaker, W.
A. Reiniers, G. E. Likens, C. C. Del-
wiche, & D. B. Botkin 1978. The biota
and the world carbon budget. Science
199. 141-44.
Woodwell, G. M., J. L. Hobbie, R. A.
Houghton, J. M. Melillo, B. Moore,
B. J. Peterson, & G. R. Shaver 1983.
Global deforestation: Contribution to
atmospheric carbon dioxide. Science
222. 1081-86.
World Conservation Strategy. Living Re-
source Conservation for Sustainable
Development. Um útgáfuna sáu Inter-
national Union for the Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN),
United Nations Environment Pro-
gramme (UNEP) og World Wildlife
Fund (WWF) ásamt FAO og UNES-
CO, 1980.
SUMMARY
Tropical rain forests
by
Thora Ellen Thorhallsdottir
Institute of Biology
University of Iceland
Grensásvegur 12
IS-108 REYKJAVÍK
Iceland
Tropical rain forests, which form a global
girth at the equator, are the earth’s most
complex and species-rich biome. The dis-
tribution and history of these forests are
briefly outlined and their structure and di-
versity illustrated with examples, mainly
from the Far East. Aspects of their ecol-
ogy are discussed, along with a short de-
scription of tropical soils. The rapid clear-
ing of tropical rain forests is described, the
present and predicted rates of destruction
and finally, the manifold consequences of
their disappearance.
37