Conservation of Tropical Plant Biodiversity: What Have We Done, Where Are We Going?

Abstract

Plant biodiversity in the tropics is threatened by intense anthropogenic pressures. Deforestation, habitat degradation, habitat fragmentation, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, global climate change, and the synergies among them have had a major impact on biodiversity. This review paper provides a brief, yet comprehensive and broad, overview of the main threats to tropical plant biodiversity and how they differ from threats in temperate regions. The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, an international program with 16 global targets set for 2020 aimed at understanding, conserving, and using sustainably the world's plant biodiversity, is then used as a framework to explore efforts in assessing and managing tropical plant conservation in a changing world. Progress on 13 of the 16 outcome-oriented targets of the Strategy is explored at the pantropical scale. Within each target, I address current challenges in assessing and managing tropical plant biodiversity, identify key questions that should be addressed, and suggest ways for how these challenges might be overcome.