AUSTRALIA—GERMANY WORKSHOP ON BIODIVERSITY
The Shine Dome, 13-17 March 2006
Ecosystem processes and the maintenance of diversity in tropical landscapes
by Dr David Westcott, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems and Rainforest CRC
Our understanding of the structuring of tropical rainforest communities has moved progressively towards one characterised by complex dynamics operating at a variety of scales. Simultaneously, conservation managers have moved to a perspective of managing landscapes rather than reserves. Both perspectives point to a need to understand ecosystem processes in a landscape context — a still-distant goal in tropical rainforests. This talk will outline our framework for describing seed dispersal processes at a community-wide and landscape level for tropical rainforests. It will describe complete dispersal curves for a keystone group, figs, and outline the impact of landscape modification on dispersal outcomes.
