The American tropics, or Neotropics, include some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. Most of these unique and complex communities of plants and animals are threatened by human activities and population growth, yet most students at Cornell know little about the biology of these communities and the threats that they face. This seminar introduces major biological/ecological concepts that characterize the Neotropics and, through discussion, explores the conservation and societal impacts of land-use choices.

In the late 1980s it became increasingly clear that deforestation in the Neotropics was accelerating and compromising unique natural ecosystems. It was also clear that most members of the Cornell community were not aware that tropical forest communities are characterized by extremely complex biological interactions and dependencies. An understanding of the ramifications of human development on tropical forest communities requires an understanding of this complexity, and no course at Cornell offered any coverage of the biology of the Neotropics (or any tropical region, for that matter). Human populations in the tropics as well as those in the U.S. will suffer the loss of biological diversity through deforestation. Insights gained through understanding complex systems will also inform conservation and management decisions in any region of the world.

The seminar was designed to explore basic concepts in the biology of the Neotropics, with particular emphasis on new advances in our understanding of these systems as well as advances in their conservation and new threats to their survival. Class size was limited to facilitate frequent interactive discussion of various issues that were of interest to the participants, and guest speakers were engaged to offer new perspectives and advances in tropical studies. Undergraduates were targeted specifically because they stand to gain the most by broadening their knowledge of the earth's ecosystems and because they then disperse and communicate this knowledge to others.

This seminar has been popular and has usually attracted the full complement of 18 students in each of the 17 years it has been offered.

increase knowledge of ecology and conservation

most recently, discressionary funds from Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

• Eloy Rodrigues (Plant Sciences)
• Margaret Nichols (Kroch Library)
• Carol Bader (Plant Sciences)
• J. B. Heiser (CAU)