Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Threats to Biodiversity

Threats to Biodiversity

There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...

Biodiversity and Human Values

Biodiversity and Human Values

Human civilization relies on biodiversity in many ways. Sudden changes in species biodiversity result in environmental changes that can modify weather patterns and therefore human civilizations.

Conservation of Small Populations

Conservation of Small Populations

Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less likely to...

What is Conservation Biology?

What is Conservation Biology?

Conservation biology is a scientific field that focuses on the preservation of biodiversity in order to protect ecosystems while meeting the needs of the human population. Humans require properly functioning ecosystems to maintain our supply of natural resources, including food, medicines, and building materials.

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.

Conservation of Declining Populations

Conservation of Declining Populations

Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Crediting and citing Indigenous Knowledges within research.

Bioscience·2026

Same author

AI and computer vision for wildlife identification in camera trap images: Fine-tuning SpeciesNet outperforms local models for species classification.

The Science of the total environment·2026

Same author

Denial and Misconceptions about Tropical Deforestation.

Bioscience·2026

Same author

High-quality surrounding landscapes mitigate avian extirpations from forest remnants.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

Large-scale metagenomic surveillance study expands the known diversity of RNA viruses in mosquito populations from the Amazon Basin.

PeerJ·2026

Same author

Disproportionate climate burden of rising temperatures on low birth weight in Pakistan.

BMC medicine·2026

Same journal

Incoming US science academy chief vows to 'double down' on research.

Nature·2026

Same journal

Author Correction: Synthesis of enantioenriched atropisomers by biocatalytic deracemization.

Nature·2026

Same journal

Electrodeposited self-assembled molecules for perovskite photovoltaics.

Nature·2026

Same journal

Neutrino's nursery found: the 'Shadow Blaster'.

Nature·2026

Same journal

Dementia risk in middle-aged people linked to a blood protein.

Nature·2026

Same journal

Daily briefing: What's really happening with trust in science.

Nature·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 29, 2026

A Simple Planting Technique for Re-establishing Trees Where Frequent Inundation Occurs

A Simple Planting Technique for Re-establishing Trees Where Frequent Inundation Occurs

Published on: January 26, 2018

Primary forests are irreplaceable for sustaining tropical biodiversity.

Luke Gibson¹, Tien Ming Lee, Lian Pin Koh

¹Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore. lggibson@nus.edu.sg

|September 16, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Human land-use changes severely impact tropical forest biodiversity. Primary forests are essential for conserving species diversity, as degraded forests show significantly lower biodiversity values.

More Related Videos

Isolation, Behavioral Identification, and Pathogenicity Assessment of Entomopathogenic Fungi from a Forest Wood Borer

Isolation, Behavioral Identification, and Pathogenicity Assessment of Entomopathogenic Fungi from a Forest Wood Borer

Published on: September 29, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 29, 2026

A Simple Planting Technique for Re-establishing Trees Where Frequent Inundation Occurs

A Simple Planting Technique for Re-establishing Trees Where Frequent Inundation Occurs

Published on: January 26, 2018

Isolation, Behavioral Identification, and Pathogenicity Assessment of Entomopathogenic Fungi from a Forest Wood Borer

Isolation, Behavioral Identification, and Pathogenicity Assessment of Entomopathogenic Fungi from a Forest Wood Borer

Published on: September 29, 2023

Area of Science:

Ecology
Conservation Biology
Environmental Science

Background:

Human-driven land-use changes, including deforestation and degradation, pose a significant threat to global biodiversity.
Tropical forests, hotspots of species diversity, are particularly vulnerable to agricultural expansion, logging, and fires.
The increasing prevalence of degraded, secondary, and plantation forests raises concerns about their capacity to support biodiversity.

Purpose of the Study:

To conduct a global assessment of the impact of disturbance and land conversion on biodiversity in tropical forests.
To analyze the effects of various forms of forest degradation on species diversity using a meta-analysis approach.
To determine if primary forests are irreplaceable for maintaining tropical biodiversity.

Main Methods:

A meta-analysis of 138 studies was performed, encompassing 2,220 pairwise comparisons.
Biodiversity values in primary forests (minimally disturbed) were compared with those in various types of disturbed forests.
Statistical analyses accounted for potential confounding factors such as habitat composition, isolation, and time since disturbance.

Main Results:

Biodiversity values were substantially lower in degraded tropical forests compared to primary forests.
The magnitude of biodiversity loss varied significantly across geographic regions, taxonomic groups, ecological metrics, and disturbance types.
Even after controlling for confounding factors, most forms of forest degradation demonstrated a detrimental effect on tropical biodiversity.

Conclusions:

Primary forests are critical and irreplaceable for maintaining tropical biodiversity.
Forest degradation, including logging and fires, leads to significant biodiversity loss.
Conservation efforts should prioritize the protection and restoration of primary tropical forests.