Southeast Asian Biodiversity In Crisis

by Navjot S. Sodhi , Barry W. Brook

• ISBN13: 9780521839303
• ISBN10: 0521839300
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-01-16
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The biodiversity of Southeast Asia is gravely imperilled by drivers including massive habitat modifications, forest fires and the overexploitation of wildlife. This book contains the first comprehensive determination of the current state of Southeast Asia's terrestrial biotas and highlights the primary drivers responsible for the grave threat to the region's unique and rich biodiversity. The looming Southeast Asian biodiversity disaster demands tangible actions. However, such will continue to be constrained by socioeconomic variables (e.g. rampant poverty and lack of infrastructure). Any realistic solution should involve a multi-pronged strategy (e.g. political, socioeconomic and scientific), in which all major stakeholders (e.g. people, governments and national and international non-government organizations) must partake.

Author Biography

Navjot S. Sodhi is Associate Professor of Conservation Eccology at the National University of Singapore Barry W. Brook is Senior Research Fellow at the Key Centre for Tropical Wildlife Management, Charles Darwin University

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xii
1 Dwindling habitats	1	(22)
Unprecedented losses	1	(7)
The pathology of habitat loss	8	(1)
Human population pressure	8	(3)
Perverse subsidies	11	(1)
Commercial logging	12	(3)
Poor institutions and political will	15	(1)
Invaluable losses	16	(1)
Environmental filters	16	(2)
Precipitation and temperature regulation	18	(1)
Protected watersheds and soils	18	(1)
Medicinal and other products	18	(1)
Human health and ecosystem services	19	(1)
Loss of knowledge	20	(1)
Summary	21	(2)
2 Biodiversity in a hotspot	23	(29)
Geological history	25	(2)
Climate change	27	(4)
Climate change at the end of the Eocene and Neogene	27	(1)
Climate change in the Quaternary: glaciations, interglacials and refugia	28	(3)
Pleistocene refuge theory and the 'species pump'	31	(2)
Land-bridges, islands, isolations and sea-level changes	33	(8)
The Sahul shelf of the Aru Islands, New Britain and New Guinea with its Australo–Papuan elements	34	(1)
The Sundaic sub-region of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Malayan Peninsula	34	(4)
Mentawai Islands	38	(1)
Wallacea: Malaku, Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas	38	(2)
The Philippines	40	(1)
Faunal endemism in Southeast Asia	41	(2)
Speciation	43	(1)
Southeast Asian forests and masting	44	(2)
The uniqueness of the Southeast Asian biodiversity	46	(1)
Anthropogenic effects	47	(1)
Comparison between the tropical biotas of Asia, Africa and South America	48	(1)
The current state of biodiversity and conservation	49	(1)
Summary	50	(2)
3 Biotic losses and other effects of habitat degradation	52	(45)
Impacts on biotas	52	(36)
Plants	52	(5)
Arthropods	57	(10)
Reptiles and amphibians	67	(2)
Birds	69	(13)
Mammals	82	(6)
A meta-analysis of the impact of deforestation on the Southeast Asian biota	88	(1)
Extinction-proneness related to life history and ecological traits	89	(2)
Loss of ecological interactions	91	(3)
Loss of specialised behaviours	94	(1)
Summary	95	(2)
4 Beyond deforestation: additional threats to Southeast Asian biodiversity	97	(36)
Forest fires	97	(5)
Overexploitation of wildlife	102	(16)
Trade for cage and medicinal use	118	(6)
Invasive species	124	(3)
Climate change	127	(1)
Zoonotic disease threats and likely associated slaughter of wildlife	128	(3)
Summary	131	(2)
5 The projected future of biodiversity in Southeast Asia	133	(11)
What will be lost, and how fast?	136	(7)
Summary	143	(1)
6 Challenges and options for conservation in the region	144	(19)
Create public awareness, empower local people	144	(3)
Foster international collaboration	147	(1)
Eradicate corruption	148	(1)
Enhance protection	148	(8)
Promote biodiversity-friendly logging practices	156	(3)
Balance livelihood and conservation	159	(1)
Let the biology bloom	160	(1)
Summary	161	(2)
References	163	(21)
Index	184