Conservation of Rare Trees in Tropical Rain Forests: A Genetic Perspective

Abstract Conservation of tropical biota is one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time. Whereas many species of organisms are endangered with extinction in the temperate zone, species are becoming extinct every day in the tropics. For example, Myers (1988) has identified ten hotspot areas around the world that have unusually large proportions of endemic plant species and where the rates of deforestation are also very high. Myers estimates that forested areas in these hotspot regions, which contain 34,000 endemic species, will be reduced to 10% of the original area during the next 20 years.