Bradshaw and colleagues note that while more than 60 percent of known biodiversity is found in the tropics, these regions face an onslaught of threats, including high population growth, poverty, poor governance and corruption, and "unprecedented" rates of habitat loss. Degradation and destruction of these ecosystems not only put biodiversity at risk but threatens human well-being.
|
Market hunting is leaving some forests "empty" of key seed dispersers.
|
"The majority of the world's population live in the tropics and what is at stake is the survival of species that pollinate most of the world's food crops, purify our water systems, attenuate severe flood risk, sequester carbon... and modify climate."
Bradshaw and colleagues argue that valuing ecosystems for the services they provide will be a critical step to protecting them for the benefit of future generations.
clipped from: news.mongabay.com