The rainforest explained

Adrian Forsyth knows rainforests. With friends and photographers Michael and Patricia Fogden, the Harvard-trained ecologist and Smithsonian Institution researcher has made a career out of exploring tropical ecosystems from Central and South America to Asia. In his latest book, Nature of the Rain Forest: Costa Rica and Beyond, Forsyth describes the amazing plant and animal diversity lurking in the lush, imperiled forests of Central and South America. Brilliant photos taken by the Fogdens spring off the page and illustrate Forsyth's insights in vibrant color. Forsyth took some time to talk with The Scientist and describe his experiences in the rainforest and his crusade to protect them as the vice president of programs at the Blue Moon Fund, a conservation organization.


Images from Nature of the Rainforest all © Michael and Patricia Fogden

From the introduction by E. O. Wilson:

Palentologists have recorded five episodes of mass extinction during the past 600 million years, the length of time spanning the history of modern life-forms in the sea and on the land. The present spasm, which includes the destruction of rain-forests and other rich natural habitats, is the sixth episode and potentially the most dangerous for life as a whole: Not only does the cut promise to be deeper, but for the first time, even plant species are being eliminated in large numbers. A further warning: The average life span of a species and its descendants in the past has been from 1 to 10 million years, depending on group. The time required for the loss in diversity to be restored by natural species formation following previous episodes has been 5 to 10 million years.

Nature of the Rain Forest: Costa Rica and Beyond, by Adrian Forsyth, photographs by Michael and Patricia Fogden, foreword by E. O. Wilson, Cornell University Press, 2008. 200 pp. ISBN: 978-0-8014-7475-0. $29.95.