Life on the Edge: Rainforest Margins May Spawn Species

摘要

With millions of life-forms crawling, flying, and slithering about, the world's rainforests have become the icon of biodiversity, as well as a living laboratory for researchers studying how new species appear. But a study on page 1855 of this issue suggests that many of these species may arise not in the rainforests themselves, but rather in their frayed edges. Led by evolutionary biologist Thomas Smith of San Francisco State University, the study of small forest birds in Cameroon suggests that "eco-tones," the transition zones between rainforest and savanna, may be important to generating biodiversity. If so, the authors argue, these -oft-forgotten habitats deserve some attention from conservationists.