Summary

In this module, we introduced you to some of the environmental factors that are important in determining the structure and composition of tropical forest ecosystems. These determine broad trends: the structure and composition of individual stands are determined by other processes that are superimposed on these broad trends.

There are still many unknowns when it comes to tropical forest environments. Considerable efforts have been made in recent years to fill some of the gaps, and as a result of recent knowledge, many ideas about tropical forests have had to be revised. As we learn more about these complex ecosystems, it is likely that other ideas will have to be revised or even discounted.