What is it?
Tropical biology focuses on the study of the natural world within tropical regions. This encompasses physical and biological components, including soils, plants, animals, and ecological interactions. It also examines the evolutionary and ecological processes that have shaped the tropics’ extraordinary biodiversity. This understanding is essential for conserving healthy ecosystems and sustaining life on Earth.
Tropical ecosystems contain most of the planet’s biodiversity, covering about 40% of its land area and sustaining nearly half of the world’s population. Less than half of the world’s tropical forests still exist today, due to anthropogenic pressures such as logging, mining, and hunting.
Why it matters.
Early explorers in both the New and Old Worlds recorded their colonial encounters, emphasizing descriptions of the people and landscapes they encountered. While valuable, these accounts left major gaps in our understanding of tropical forest plants and animals during that period.
Later, naturalists such as von Humboldt, Darwin, and Wallace reinforced this view by portraying the tropics as “exotic” and “other.” Their influential writings helped lay the foundation for ecology and evolutionary biology but also perpetuated cultural perspectives that continue to shape how the tropics are studied today.
What you can do!
You can help reshape how the tropics are understood and protected by learning from diverse perspectives, supporting research and conservation that value local knowledge, and challenging outdated views through education and outreach. Here are some ideas:
- Advocate for forest protection.
- Reduce your footprint.
- Support sustainable products.
- To deepen your understanding, join seminars and discussions on tropical biology, conservation practices, and the role of the tropics in global biodiversity.
Get Involved:
- Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation webinars: These episodes, published in English, broaden understanding of tropical biology and conservation. You can also view their updated YouTube channel here.
- Explore tropical biodiversity through UF’s Tropical Conservation and Development (TCD) Program: View past seminars on their YouTube channel here. Or, join the weekly Tropilunch seminar on Tuesdays (via this Zoom link), organized by the Center for Latin American Studies.
- Participate in campus events co-sponsored by UF’s TCD Program and the UF Biodiversity Institute. Watch this space for upcoming events!
Information from UF Center for Latin American Studies, Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, National Library of Medicine, U.S. Geological Survey, and Federal University of Uberlândia.