Latin American Dendroecology: Combining Tree-Ring Sciences and Ecology in a Megadiverse Territory

Latin America is a megadiverse territory hosting several hotspots of plant diversity and many types of forest biomes, ecosystems and climate types, from tropical rainforest to semi-arid woodlands. This combination of diverse forests and climates generates multiple responses to ecological changes affecting the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. Recently, there have been major efforts to improve our understanding of such impacts on ecosystems processes. However, there is a dearth of studies focused on Latin-American forest ecosystems that could provide novel insights into the patterns and mechanisms of ecological processes in response to environmental stress. The abundance of “New World” tree species with dendrochronological potential constitutes an ideal opportunity to improve the ecological state of knowledge regarding these diverse forest types, which are often threatened by several impacts such as logging or conversion to agricultural lands. Thus, detailed information on the dendroecology of these species will improve our understanding of forests in the face of global change. Accordingly, this book identifies numerous relevant ecological processes and scales, ranging from tree species to populations and communities, and from both dendrochronological and dendroecological perspectives. It offers a valuable reference guide for the exploration of long-term ecological interactions between trees and their environmental conditions, and will foster further research and international projects on the continent and elsewhere.