Publications & Reports

Different species occupy different niches in the web cycle of life. Knowing what species inhabit an ecosystem, and how many of each kind there are, is critical to understanding that ecosystem's structure and function, and predicting future changes. Tropical forest ecosystems are known for sheltering the greatest biodiversity by comparison with many other ecosystems located in the same climatic zone. The tropical Forests are essential for life on earth and about 1.6 billion people depend on them for their livelihood.

Biodiversity is one of the fundamental properties of nature and source of immense potential for economic use and yet the ecological functions performed by the biological diversity are still less understood. Tropical forests are arguably the most biologically diverse places on planet with many endemic and rare species within. Unfortunately an estimated 154 million ha of these tropical forest are cleared each year by human activities for mainly cattle ranching and agriculture.

The establishment of protected areas (PAs) is a central strategy for global biodi- versity conservation. While the role of PAs in protecting habitat has been high- lighted, their effectiveness at protecting mammal communities remains unclear. We analyzed a global dataset from over 8671 camera traps in 23 countries on four continents that detected 321 medium- to large-bodied mammal species.

vMost animals follow distinct daily activity patterns reecting their adaptations1, requirements, and interactions2-4. Specic communities provide specic opportunities and constraints to their members that further shape these patterns3,4. Here, we ask whether community-level diel activity patterns among long-separated biogeographic regions differ or converge and whether the resulting patterns indicate top- down (predation risk) or bottom-up processes (prey availability)?

Water plays a vital role in many aspects of sustaining life, including thermoregulation. Given that increasing temperatures and more extreme weather events due to climate change are predicted to influence water availability, understanding how species obtain and use water is critical. This is especially true for endangered species in small isolated populations which are vulnerable to drought and the risk of extinction.

One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, includ- ing those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground- sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels.

In biodiversity hotspots, there is often tension between human needs and conservation, exacerbated when protected areas prevent access to natural resources. Forest- dependent people may compensate for exclusion by managing unprotected forests or cultivating planted woodlots. Outside Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, household wood product needs are high and population growth puts pressure on the environment. We investigated the role of privately and collectively managed woodlots in provisioning wood products and supporting local livelihoods.