William F. Laurance
Research Associate
e-mail: laurancew@si.edu
Address: Smithsonian Institution/INPA
C.P. 478, Manaus, AM 69022-970
Brazil
Telephone: +507 212-8252 / +507 317-1713
FAX: +507 212-8148
Publications
Publications by William F. Laurance in STRI Bibliography
Research Interests
Assessing the impacts of intensive land-uses, such as habitat fragmentation, logging, and fires, on tropical ecosystems Tropical plant and vegetation ecology Ecosystem science, especially relating to carbon storage in tropical forests.
Assessing the effects of global-change phenomena on tropical communities Land-use and conservation policy
Research Interests
1) Assessing the impacts of habitat fragmentation on Amazonian plant communities, biomass, and forest dynamics
2) Predicting the impacts of planned highways and infrastructure projects on Amazonian forests, using GIS modeling
3) Assessing the responses of Amazonian forests to global-change phenomena, such as climate change and increasing atmospheric CO2.
Current Research
Tropical Forest Ecology
Education and Degrees
B.Sc. Biology, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, USA, 1982
Ph.D. Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA, 1989
Selected Bibliography
Laurance, W. F. 1991. Ecological correlates of extinction proneness in Australian
tropical rainforest mammals. Conservation Biology 5:79-89.
Laurance, W. F., S. G. Laurance, L. V. Ferreira, J. Rankin-de Merona, C. Gascon, and T. E. Lovejoy. 1997. Biomass collapse in Amazonian forest fragments. Science 278:1117-1118.
Laurance, W. F. 1998. A crisis in the making: responses of Amazonian forests to land use and climate change. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 13:411-415.
Laurance, W. F., L. V. Ferreira, J. M. Rankin-de Merona, and S. G. Laurance. 1998. Rain forest fragmentation and the dynamics of Amazonian tree communities. Ecology 79:2032-2040.
Laurance, W. F. 1999. Reflections on the tropical deforestation crisis. Biological Conservation 91:109-117.
Laurance, W. F., P. Delamonica, S. G. Laurance, H. L. Vasconcelos, and T. E. Lovejoy. 2000. Rainforest fragmentation kills big trees. Nature 404:836.
Laurance, W. F., D. Perez-Salicrup, P. Delamonica, P. M. Fearnside, S. D’Angelo, A. Jerozolinski, L. Pohl, and T. E. Lovejoy. 2001. Rain forest fragmentation and the structure of Amazonian liana communities. Ecology 82:105-116.
Laurance, W. F., M. A. Cochrane, S. Bergen, P. M. Fearnside, P. Delamonica, C. Barber, S. D’Angelo, and T. Fernandes. 2001. The future of the Brazilian Amazon. Science 291:438-439.
Laurance, W. F., T. E. Lovejoy, H. L. Vasconcelos, E. M. Bruna, R. K. Didham, P. C. Stouffer, C. Gascon, R. O. Bierregaard, S. G. Laurance, and E. Sampiao. 2002. Ecosystem decay of Amazonian forest fragments: a 22-year investigation. Conservation Biology 16:605-618.
Laurance, W. F., A. A. Oliveira, S. G. Laurance, R. Condit, H. E. M. Nascimento, A. C. Sanchez-Thorin, T. E. Lovejoy, A. Andrade, S. D’Angelo, and C. Dick. 2004. Pervasive alteration of tree communities in undisturbed Amazonian forests. Nature 428:171-175.
Laurance, W. F. 2004. The perils of payoff: Corruption as a threat to global biodiversity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:399-401.
Laurance, W. F. 2005. When bigger is better: the need for Amazonian megareserves. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20:645-648.
Laurance, W. F., A. Alonso, M. Lee, and P. Campbell. 2006. Challenges for forest conservation in Gabon, central Africa. Futures 38:454-470.
Laurance, W. F., B. M. Croes, L. Tchignoumba, S. A. Lahm, A. Alonso, M. Lee, P. Campbell, and C. Ondzeano. 2006. Impacts of roads and hunting on central-African rainforest mammals. Conservation Biology 20:1251-1261.
Laurance, W. F., and C. A. Peres (editors). 2006. Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA, 534 pp.
Laurance, W. F., H. E. M. Nascimento, S. G. Laurance, A. Andrade, J. E. L. S. Ribeiro, J. P. Giraldo, T. E. Lovejoy, R. Condit, J. Chave, and S. D’Angelo. 2006. Rapid decay of tree-community composition in Amazonian forest fragments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 103:19010-19014.
Laurance, W. F. 2007. A new initiative to use carbon trading for tropical forest conservation. Biotropica 39:20-24.
Laurance, W. F. 2007. Have we overstated the tropical biodiversity crisis? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 22:65-70.
Laurance, W. F., and R. C. C. Luizão. In press. Fragmenting a fragmentation project. Nature.
Laurance, W. F., and R. C. C. Luizão. 2007. Driving a wedge into the Amazon.
Nature 448:409-410.
Laurance, W. F. 2007. Forest destruction in tropical Asia. Current Science 93:1544-1550.
Laurance, W. F. 2007. Switch to corn promotes Amazon deforestation. Science
318:1721.
Laurance, W. F. 2008. The need to cut China’s illegal timber imports. Science 319:1184.
Laurance, W. F. 2008. Can carbon trading save vanishing forests? BioScience
58:286-287.
Butler, R. A., and W. F. Laurance. 2008. New strategies for conserving tropical forests. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23:469-472.