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Significance Identifying and explaining regional differences in tropical forest dynamics, structure, diversity, and composition are critical for anticipating region-specific responses to global environmental change. Floristic classifications are of fundamental importance for these efforts. Here we provide a global tropical forest classification that is explicitly based on community evolutionary similarity, resulting in identification of five major tropical forest regions and their relationships: ( i ) Indo-Pacific, ( ii ) Subtropical, ( iii ) African, ( iv ) American, and ( v ) Dry forests. African and American forests are grouped, reflecting their former western Gondwanan connection, while Indo-Pacific forests range from eastern Africa and Madagascar to Australia and the Pacific. The connection between northern-hemisphere Asian and American forests is confirmed, while Dry forests are identified as a single tropical biome.

La survie à long terme des paysages forestiers andins (PFA) et de leur capacité à contribuer au développement durable dans un contexte de changement global nécessite des réponses intégrées d'adaptation et d'atténuation éclairées par une compréhension approfondie des interactions dynamiques et complexes entre leurs composantes écologiques et sociales. Cet article propose un programme de recherche qui peut aider à orienter les efforts de recherche de l'AFL pour les 15 prochaines années. L'ordre du jour a été élaboré entre juillet 2015 et juin 2016 à travers une série d'ateliers en Équateur, au Pérou et en Suisse et a impliqué 48 chercheurs et experts en développement travaillant sur l'AFL sous différents angles disciplinaires. Sur la base de notre examen des recherches actuelles et de l'identification des défis urgents pour la conservation et la gouvernance durable de l'AFL, nous proposons un cadre conceptuel qui s'appuie sur les sciences de la durabilité et la recherche sur les systèmes socio-écologiques, et nous identifions un ensemble de buts et d'objectifs de recherche hautement prioritaires organisés en 3 grandes catégories : connaissance des systèmes, connaissance des cibles et connaissance de la transformation. Ce document est destiné à être une référence pour un large éventail d'acteurs engagés dans la politique, la recherche et la mise en œuvre dans la région andine. Nous espérons que cela déclenchera des initiatives de recherche collaborative pour la conservation continue et la gouvernance durable de l'AFL. La supervivencia a largo plazo de los paisajes forestales andinos (AFL) y de su capacidad para contribuir al desarrollo sostenible en un contexto de cambio global requiere respuestas integradas de adaptación y mitigación informadas por un conocimiento profundo de las interacciones dinámicas y complejas entre sus componentes ecológicos y sociales. Este artículo propone una agenda de investigación que puede ayudar a guiar los esfuerzos de investigación de la AFL durante los próximos 15 años. La agenda se desarrolló entre julio de 2015 y junio de 2016 a través de una serie de talleres en Ecuador, Perú y Suiza e involucró a 48 investigadores y expertos en desarrollo que trabajan en AFL desde diferentes perspectivas disciplinarias. Con base en nuestra revisión de la investigación actual y la identificación de desafíos apremiantes para la protección y la gobernanza sostenible de AFL, proponemos un marco conceptual que se basa en las ciencias de la sostenibilidad y la investigación de sistemas socioecológicos, e identificamos un conjunto de metas y objetivos de investigación de alta prioridad organizados en 3 amplias categorías: conocimiento de sistemas, conocimiento objetivo y conocimiento de transformación. Este documento pretende ser una referencia para una amplia gama de actores involucrados en políticas, investigación e implementación en la región andina. Esperamos que desencadene iniciativas de investigación colaborativa para el mantenimiento y la gobernanza sostenible de AFL. The long-term survival of Andean forest landscapes (AFL) and of their capacity to contribute to sustainable development in a context of global change requires integrated adaptation and mitigation responses informed by a thorough understanding of the dynamic and complex interactions between their ecological and social components. This article proposes a research agenda that can help guide AFL research efforts for the next 15 years. The agenda was developed between July 2015 and June 2016 through a series of workshops in Ecuador, Peru, and Switzerland and involved 48 researchers and development experts working on AFL from different disciplinary perspectives. Based on our review of current research and identification of pressing challenges for the conservation and sustainable governance of AFL, we propose a conceptual framework that draws on sustainability sciences and social–ecological systems research, and we identify a set of high-priority research goals and objectives organized into 3 broad categories: systems knowledge, target knowledge, and transformation knowledge. This paper is intended to be a reference for a broad array of actors engaged in policy, research, and implementation in the Andean region. We hope it will trigger collaborative research initiatives for the continued conservation and sustainable governance of AFL. يتطلب بقاء المناظر الطبيعية لغابات الأنديز على المدى الطويل وقدرتها على المساهمة في التنمية المستدامة في سياق التغير العالمي استجابات متكاملة للتكيف والتخفيف مستنيرة بفهم شامل للتفاعلات الديناميكية والمعقدة بين مكوناتها الإيكولوجية والاجتماعية. تقترح هذه المقالة أجندة بحثية يمكن أن تساعد في توجيه جهود البحث في اللغة العربية كلغة أجنبية للسنوات الخمس عشرة القادمة. تم تطوير جدول الأعمال بين يوليو 2015 ويونيو 2016 من خلال سلسلة من ورش العمل في الإكوادور وبيرو وسويسرا وشارك فيها 48 باحثًا وخبراء تطوير يعملون على اللغة العربية كلغة أجنبية من وجهات نظر تأديبية مختلفة. بناءً على مراجعتنا للبحوث الحالية وتحديد التحديات الملحة للحفظ والحوكمة المستدامة لـ AFL، نقترح إطارًا مفاهيميًا يعتمد على علوم الاستدامة وبحوث النظم الاجتماعية والبيئية، ونحدد مجموعة من الأهداف والغايات البحثية ذات الأولوية العالية المنظمة في 3 فئات واسعة: معرفة النظم، والمعرفة المستهدفة، ومعرفة التحول. تهدف هذه الورقة إلى أن تكون مرجعًا لمجموعة واسعة من الجهات الفاعلة المشاركة في السياسات والبحوث والتنفيذ في منطقة الأنديز. نأمل أن يؤدي ذلك إلى إطلاق مبادرات بحثية تعاونية من أجل الحفظ المستمر والحوكمة المستدامة لـ AFL.

AbstractAimLarge tropical trees form the interface between ground and airborne observations, offering a unique opportunity to capture forest properties remotely and to investigate their variations on broad scales. However, despite rapid development of metrics to characterize the forest canopy from remotely sensed data, a gap remains between aerial and field inventories. To close this gap, we propose a new pan‐tropical model to predict plot‐level forest structure properties and biomass from only the largest trees.LocationPan‐tropical.Time periodEarly 21st century.Major taxa studiedWoody plants.MethodsUsing a dataset of 867 plots distributed among 118 sites across the tropics, we tested the prediction of the quadratic mean diameter, basal area, Lorey's height, community wood density and aboveground biomass (AGB) from the ith largest trees.ResultsMeasuring the largest trees in tropical forests enables unbiased predictions of plot‐ and site‐level forest structure. The 20 largest trees per hectare predicted quadratic mean diameter, basal area, Lorey's height, community wood density and AGB with 12, 16, 4, 4 and 17.7% of relative error, respectively. Most of the remaining error in biomass prediction is driven by differences in the proportion of total biomass held in medium‐sized trees (50–70 cm diameter at breast height), which shows some continental dependency, with American tropical forests presenting the highest proportion of total biomass in these intermediate‐diameter classes relative to other continents.Main conclusionsOur approach provides new information on tropical forest structure and can be used to generate accurate field estimates of tropical forest carbon stocks to support the calibration and validation of current and forthcoming space missions. It will reduce the cost of field inventories and contribute to scientific understanding of tropical forest ecosystems and response to climate change.

AbstractTropical mountain ecosystems are threatened by climate and land-use changes. Their diversity and complexity make projections how they respond to environmental changes challenging. A suitable way are trait-based approaches, by distinguishing between response traits that determine the resistance of species to environmental changes and effect traits that are relevant for species' interactions, biotic processes, and ecosystem functions. The combination of those approaches with land surface models (LSM) linking the functional community composition to ecosystem functions provides new ways to project the response of ecosystems to environmental changes. With the interdisciplinary project RESPECT, we propose a research framework that uses a trait-based response-effect-framework (REF) to quantify relationships between abiotic conditions, the diversity of functional traits in communities, and associated biotic processes, informing a biodiversity-LSM. We apply the framework to a megadiverse tropical mountain forest. We use a plot design along an elevation and a land-use gradient to collect data on abiotic drivers, functional traits, and biotic processes. We integrate these data to build the biodiversity-LSM and illustrate how to test the model. REF results show that aboveground biomass production is not directly related to changing climatic conditions, but indirectly through associated changes in functional traits. Herbivory is directly related to changing abiotic conditions. The biodiversity-LSM informed by local functional trait and soil data improved the simulation of biomass production substantially. We conclude that local data, also derived from previous projects (platform Ecuador), are key elements of the research framework. We specify essential datasets to apply this framework to other mountain ecosystems.