Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Symposium and Workshop
- Introduction
- Part I Current trends and perspectives on people–land use–water issues
- Part II Hydrological processes in undisturbed forests
- 10 An overview of the meteorology and climatology of the humid tropics
- 11 Synoptic and mesoscale rain producing systems in the humid tropics
- 12 Climatic variability in the tropics
- 13 Controls on evaporation in lowland tropical rainforest
- 14 Runoff generation in tropical forests
- 15 Erosion and sediment yield in the humid tropics
- 16 Rainforest mineral nutrition: the ‘black box’ and a glimpse inside it
- 17 Hydrology of tropical wetland forests: recent research results from Sarawak peatswamps
- 18 Tropical montane cloud forest: a unique hydrological case
- Part III Forest disturbance, conversion and recovery
- Part IV New methods for evaluating effects of land-use change
- Part V Critical appraisals of best management practices
- Conclusion: Forests, water and people in the humid tropics: an emerging view
- Plate section
- References
12 - Climatic variability in the tropics
from Part II - Hydrological processes in undisturbed forests
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Symposium and Workshop
- Introduction
- Part I Current trends and perspectives on people–land use–water issues
- Part II Hydrological processes in undisturbed forests
- 10 An overview of the meteorology and climatology of the humid tropics
- 11 Synoptic and mesoscale rain producing systems in the humid tropics
- 12 Climatic variability in the tropics
- 13 Controls on evaporation in lowland tropical rainforest
- 14 Runoff generation in tropical forests
- 15 Erosion and sediment yield in the humid tropics
- 16 Rainforest mineral nutrition: the ‘black box’ and a glimpse inside it
- 17 Hydrology of tropical wetland forests: recent research results from Sarawak peatswamps
- 18 Tropical montane cloud forest: a unique hydrological case
- Part III Forest disturbance, conversion and recovery
- Part IV New methods for evaluating effects of land-use change
- Part V Critical appraisals of best management practices
- Conclusion: Forests, water and people in the humid tropics: an emerging view
- Plate section
- References
Summary
ANALYSIS OF THE HISTORY OF FORESTS AND ASSOCIATED CLIMATES
Previously, dense tropical forests were considered to be the most stable ecosystems on the planet, and their exceptional richness has often been associated specifically with their resistance to past climate changes. Because of recent advances in paleoecology, however, it has been shown that dense forests, such as those in Africa and in Amazonia, have in fact undergone profound changes in response to global climatic changes.
The history of dense forests and their dynamics can be reconstructed by the study of fossils such as pollens or – much rarer – wood or carbon, within specific disciplines such as palynology, paleo-botany or anthracology. Reconstitution of paleo-vegetation is one method, among others, of reconstructing the paleo-climates of past eras. Nevertheless, even though there has been much progress in studying the history of intertropical forests and their associated climates, several problems remain, linked mainly to the small amount of data available. This introduces subjectivity in describing the succession of paleo-environments.
Nearly all trees in dense tropical forests are angiosperms. It would be logical to begin the history of these forests at the time when angiosperms evolved, i.e. during the lower Cretaceous era through to the Barremian and the Aptian eras, around 120 million BP (Maley, 1996a). Up until then, gymnosperms were the dominant plant form but by the end of the Cretaceous, dense tropical forests had become made up almost entirely of angiosperms.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Forests, Water and People in the Humid TropicsPast, Present and Future Hydrological Research for Integrated Land and Water Management, pp. 267 - 286Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
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