Robin L. Chazdon is professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and coeditor of Foundations of Tropical Forest Biology and Tropical Forest Plant Ecophysiology. She lives in Storrs, CT.
"Second Growth combines an in-depth review with an eloquent case
for the importance of understanding, promoting, and managing forest
regeneration in contexts ranging from climate change to provision
of ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. In doing so,
it may help to meet those challenges by providing evidence to
ensure that the value of secondary forests is recognized. It will
certainly stimulate the science needed to support practical
action."--Valerie Kapos "Science"
"Second Growth provides broad coverage of a subject that, despite
its importance, has received less popular attention than 'old
growth' tropical rain forests. Chazdon does an excellent job of
synthesizing key ideas and bringing together recent research on
tropical forest regeneration. . . . Chazdon's work is a valuable
resource, providing both a solid review for those with knowledge in
the field and a starting point for those new to the topic. . . .
Highly recommended."--B. D. Orr, Michigan Technological University
"Choice"
"A complete review covering topics from ancient forest management
to the effect of global economy on the fate of local forests. . . .
Chazdon states in the preface that she wants to deliver an urgent
message about forests: they are regenerating and this regeneration
is malleable and it can be for our benefit. The message is
remarkably delivered. This book integrates patterns that occur in
the entire gradient from wet to dry forests. . . . Second Growth
has answered most of my questions and has raised a thousand more,
as good books and research always do. . . . This well-produced book
. . . will be enormously useful for students, professors, and
practitioners of forest restoration and management."--Cristina
Martínez-Garza, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Mexico
"Ecology"
"A tremendous survey. Chazdon draws on paleobotany, ecology,
natural history, and policy and forest management to make the case
for the potential of forest regeneration. Second Growth is
astounding in its breadth and depth."--S. Joseph Wright
"Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute"
"As policy makers come to grips with . . . ecological uncertainty,
they are finding Chazdon's recent book, Second Growth, all the more
valuable. Five years in the writing and published last year, the
tome is a kind of guide to restoration, synthesizing decades of
research and explaining how tropical forests can come back on their
own--and what to do if they don't. 'It's an opus; it covers all you
would want to know and could imagine you want to know about
secondary forests, ' says Thomas Rudel, a rural sociologist at
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, in New Jersey. 'There's nothing
quite like [it].' The book . . . arrived at a timely moment, just
as large-scale forest restoration was gaining momentum."--Elizabeth
Pennisi "Science"
"At last, an authoritative and very readable account of the most
neglected aspect of tropical forest ecology: the vast areas of
second growth that if restored and managed properly will yield
enormous human and conservation benefit. Chazdon's book fills a
yawning gap in tropical ecology and land management. A great and
important work, Second Growth will be an enduring scholarly
masterpiece."--Thomas E. Lovejoy, George Mason University "Senior
Fellow, the United Nations Foundation"
"Impressive and very timely given the growing recognition of the
importance of secondary forests in conserving biodiversity. Second
Growth provides a very thorough review of the human impacts on
tropical forests over several centuries and more recently, and on
the ecology of forest regeneration after a range of disturbances.
It is a well-researched and valuable contribution to the literature
on tropical secondary forests."--Karen D. Holl "University of
California, Santa Cruz"
"Throughout the book, Chazdon returns to the central theme that
tropical forests are highly resilient ecosystems whose recent
histories are inextricably intertwined with people. Contrary to the
dichotomous view of 'primeval' old-growth versus 'degraded'
second-growth forests, Chazdon repeatedly and convincingly makes
the case that today's tropical forests reflect legacies of human
interactions dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. . . .
Second Growth is truly extraordinary in its breadth, depth, and
synthesis of a voluminous literature. The book covers regenerating
forest ecology, dynamics, and socioecological linkages throughout
the tropics and is exhaustively researched; there are over 100
pages of references."--Nicole L. Michel, University of Saskatchewan
"Conservation Biology"
"What a wonderful book! Secondary forests have been ignored for too
long, and Second Growth brings together a wealth of material from
across the Latin American, African, and Asian tropics to provide a
synthesis of what we know about how they can develop and what
influences their succession. Sadly, even optimists must accept that
primary or old-growth forests will continue to shrink. This means
secondary forests are likely to replace them in the future as the
main repositories of biodiversity and sources of many ecosystem
services. This book is destined to become a key text for those
protecting and managing these new forests."--David Lamb "University
of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia"
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