The loss of biodiversity is a major environmental problem in nearly every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. This loss is accelerating driven by climate change, as well as by other causes including agricultural exploitation, fragmentation and degradation triggered by land use changes. The crucial issue under debate is the impact on the welfare of current and future population, and the role of humans in the exploitation of natural resources. This is of particular importance in Central America, which it is amongst the richest and most threatened biodiversity regions on the Earth, and where the loss of ecosystems strongly affects its socio-economic vulnerability.

This book addresses the impacts of climate and land-use change on tropical forest ecosystems in this important region, and assesses the expected economic costs if no policy action is taken, under different future scenarios and for different geographical scales.

This innovative collection utilises both theoretical approaches and empirical results to provide a conceptual framework for an integrated analysis of climate and land-use change impacts on forest ecosystems and related economic effects, offering insight into the complex relationship between ecosystems and benefits to humans. This important contribution to forest ecosystems and climate change provides invaluable reading for students and scholars in the fields of environmental and ecological economics, environmental science and forestry, natural resource management, agriculture and climate change.

About the Author
Aline Chiabai is a senior researcher at the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), where she coordinates the research area on health and climate change.

Reviews

"This is the definitive volume of readings on the climate change and ecosystems services in the forests of Central America. The readings provide viable insight and analysis, and should serve as inspiration for researchers not only interested in this problem but also in conducting studies of climate change impacts on ecosystems in other critical regions of the world."-Edward B. Barbier, University of Wyoming, USA

"Tropical forests are among the most valuable ecosystems on earth in terms of their biodiversity and their contribution to sustainable human well-being. This book is a timely and valuable addition to the growing literature on tropical forest ecosystem services."-Robert Costanza, The Australian National University, Australia

"This is a worth reading volume for researchers and policy makers which presents one of the few ecological and economic comprehensive studies of how Climate Change is affecting ecosystem services. The methodological approach and analysis, combining spatially explicit different types of data within using various models and scenarios, should serve as a model for other critical regions."-Maria Jose Sanz Sanchez, Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Italy

Book Information
ISBN 9781138506862
Author Aline Chiabai
Format Paperback
Page Count 236
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g