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Societal Impact Statement The approach that we take to our science is as important as the questions that we address if we would like our research to inform management. Here, we discuss our experience of using networks of permanent forest inventory plots to support sustainable management and conservation of intact tropical forests. A key conclusion is that to maximize the use of data from such large international networks within policymaking, it is crucial that leadership is widely shared among participants. Such an approach helps to address ethical concerns surrounding international collaborations and also achieves greater policy impact. Summary Long‐term data from permanent forest inventory plots have much to offer the management and conservation of intact tropical forest landscapes. Knowledge of the growth and mortality rates of economically important species, forest carbon balance, and the impact of climate change on forest composition are all central to effective management. However, this information is rarely integrated within the policymaking process. The problem reflects broader issues in using evidence to influence environmental management, and in particular, the need to engage with potential users beyond the collection and publication of high‐quality data. To ensure permanent plot data are used, (a) key “policy windows”—opportunities to integrate data within policy making—need to be identified; (b) long‐term relationships need to be developed between scientists and policy makers and policymaking organizations; and (c) leadership of plot networks needs to be shared among all participants, and particularly between institutions in the global north and those in tropical countries. Addressing these issues will allow permanent plot networks to make tangible contributions to ensuring that intact tropical forest persists over coming decades.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:40:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-05-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) CYTED Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo Natural Environment Research Council Newton Fund Understanding of tropical forests has been revolutionized by monitoring in permanent plots. Data from global plot networks have transformed our knowledge of forests’ diversity, function, contribution to global biogeochemical cycles, and sensitivity to climate change. Monitoring has thus far been concentrated in rain forests. Despite increasing appreciation of their threatened status, biodiversity, and importance to the global carbon cycle, monitoring in tropical dry forests is still in its infancy. We provide a protocol for permanent monitoring plots in tropical dry forests. Expanding monitoring into dry biomes is critical for overcoming the linked challenges of climate change, land use change, and the biodiversity crisis. Tropical Biodiversity Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh School of Geography Faculty of Environment University of Leeds Fundación Ecosistemas Secos de Colombia School of Geosciences The University of Edinburgh Geography College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Exeter Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro Centro de Ecologia Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas Ciencias Básicas de la Biodiversidad Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt Herbario Departamento Académico de Biología Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina Center for Conservation and Sustainability Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Department of Life Sciences Imperial College London Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario (IICAR) Facultad Ciencias Agrarias UNR Universidad Nacional de Rosario Escuela de Biología Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador Real Jardín Botánico CSIC Laboratório de Ciências Ambientas Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Departamento de Biologia Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto Universidade de Sao Paulo Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado Universidad Autonoma Gabriel Rene Moreno Unidade Acadêmica de Garanhuns Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco Instituto de Biologia Universidade Federal da Bahia International Master Program of Agriculture National Chung Hsing University Departamento de Biologia Vegetal Universidade Federal do Ceará Centro de Tecnologia e Recursos Naturais (CTRN) Universidade Federal de Campina Grande Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (PPGCB) Centro Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros Ciencias Biologicas Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Fauna y Flora Silvestre Universidad Nacional de Colombia Facultad de Ciencias Instituto de Investigaciones sobre los Recursos Naturales Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso Herbario HOXA Jardín Botánico de Missouri Embrapa Semiárido Embrapa Biologia Vegetal Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto Universidade de Sao Paulo Laboratório de Fenologia Departamento de Botânica Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista Departamento de Biologia Vegetal Universidade Federal de Viçosa Departamento de Ciências Florestais Universidade Federal de Lavras Department of Forest Sciences Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas Instituto de Astronomia Geofífisica e Ciências Atmosféricas Universidade de São Paulo Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Wageningen University and Research Laboratório de Fenologia Departamento de Botânica Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista FAPESP: 2015/50488-5 CYTED Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo: 418RT0554 Natural Environment Research Council: NE/I027797/1 Natural Environment Research Council: NE/I028122/1 Newton Fund: NE/N000587/1 Newton Fund: NE/N01247X/1 Newton Fund: NE/N012550/1

Attempts at historical reconstruction are based on limited data. We are more likely to produce accurate historical reconstructions by utilizing information from diverse sources and pooling data within the relevant research communities which will allow us to build up a moving picture of the geological, climatic, and biological evolution of our planet. We suggest that dated phylogenies of plants can contribute greatly to a better understanding of Earth history. Timing of phylogenetic splits of lowland restricted lineages on either side of the Andes could provide information on the timing of montane uplift and associated climatic changes. The timing of the arrival and diversification of organisms restricted to specific climatic regimes at a particular altitude can provide information on the age at which mountains reached a height adequate for that climate once corrected for global climate changes. As a model for study, we discuss how dated phylogenies in biome rich Colombia may contribute to an understanding of geological and climatic change in north-western South America. Lowland wet forest restricted lineages separated from the mid-Miocene, whereas lineages primarily restricted to mid-altitude cloud forests began to diversify from the mid- to late-Miocene and the majority of high-altitude Páramo lineages began to diversify during the Pliocene. The age of diversification of altitudinally restricted lineages therefore gives an indication of the age at which particular altitudes may have been reached. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.

Seasonally dry tropical forests are distributed across Latin America and the Caribbean and are highly threatened, with less than 10% of their original extent remaining in many countries. Using 835 inventories covering 4660 species of woody plants, we show marked floristic turnover among inventories and regions, which may be higher than in other neotropical biomes, such as savanna. Such high floristic turnover indicates that numerous conservation areas across many countries will be needed to protect the full diversity of tropical dry forests. Our results provide a scientific framework within which national decision-makers can contextualize the floristic significance of their dry forest at a regional and continental scale., This paper is the result of the Latin American and Caribbean Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Floristic Network (DRYFLOR), which has been supported at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh by a Leverhulme Trust International Network Grant (IN-074). This work was also supported by the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/ I028122/1; Colciencias Ph.D. scholarship 529; Synthesys Programme GBTAF-2824; the NSF (NSF 1118340 and 1118369); the Instituto Humboldt (IAvH)–Red colombiana de investigación y monitoreo en bosque seco; the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI; Tropi-Dry, CRN2-021, funded by NSF GEO 0452325); Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR); and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). The data reported in this paper are available at www.dryflor.info. R.T.P. conceived the study. M.P., A.O.-F., K.B.-R., R.T.P., and J.W. designed the DRYFLOR database system. K.B.-R. and K.G.D. carried out most analyses. K.B.-R. R.T.P., and K.G.D. wrote the manuscript with substantial input from A.D.-S., R.L.-P., A.O.-F., D.P., C.Q., and R.R.