Abstract
The current issue of Tropical Conservation Science includes 17 articles. Of these, thirteen are Research Articles, two are Short Communications, one is a Review Articles, and another is a Conservation Letter.
These papers encompass studies in China, Malaysia, Sumatra, Indonesia, Guam, Solomon Islands, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Colombia. They cover studies on interaction between two nonindigenous species, Casuarina and Acacia, in the tropical coastal zone of south China; how limited seed dispersal may explain differences in forest colonization by the Japanese raisin tree, an invasive alien tree in Southern Brazil; a re-assessment of priority amphibian species of Peru; deforestation thresholds for bat populations in northeast Mexico; ecosystem vulnerability and policy interventions in the Morogoro region landscapes, Tanzania; bird assemblages in a Malagasy forest-agricultural frontier; robots as vectors for marine invasions and best practices for minimizing transmission of invasive species; dynamics of logging in Solomon Islands; discovery of two spotted leopards in Peninsular Malaysia; stressors leading to seedling mortality in the endemic Håyun lågu tree in the island of Guam; non-invasive genotyping of Sumatran elephants; measuring footprint differentiation of small and medium sized felids in the Atlantic forest of Brazil; range extension of the endangered Mexican cycad; genetic diversity of Boeseman's Rainbowfish reared in Indonesian farms and of endangered natural populations; students' perception of urban and rural environmental protection areas in Pernambuco, Brazil; impact of oil palm agriculture on Colombia's biodiversity; native seed dispersers and invasion of the invasive Japanese raisin tree in southern Brazil.. In short, the articles in this issue provide a view of how diverse and challenging tropical conservation research can be. Such diversity of information on biological, ecological, behavioral, technical and social facets of wildlife and ecosystem conservation contributes to furthering our understanding of the assorted foundation of tropical conservation. This suggests an approach to conservation where varied studies and tactics need to be employed to single out the actors and processes in each case, without losing sight of the orchestral nature of the problem.