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Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Sites 1997

Tropical montane cloud forests represent a rare and fragile ecosystem that is under threat in many parts of the world. Urgent action is needed to conserve these rich mountain forests, not only because they harbour concentrations of endemic and threatened species but to maintain their vital role in the provision of freshwater. All tropical forests are under threat but cloud forests are uniquely threatened both by human pressures and by climate change impacting on temperature, rainfall and the formation of clouds in mountain areas. Cloud forests are a rare habitat of tropical mountains which have not received sufficient attention for their exceptional concentrations of biodiversity and as sources of freshwater. This threat and rarity makes it necessary to map the location of cloud forests to improve understanding and conservation efforts.

Date published: 1997

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Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Sites 1997

  • Author/s* UNEP-WCMC
  • Publication Date 1997
  • Citation Aldrich, M., Billington, C., Edwards, M., Laidlaw, R. (1997). Locations of tropical montane cloud forest sites as recorded in a worldwide inventory in "A Global Directory of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests". Cambridge (UK): UNEP-WCMC.
Citation

Aldrich, M., Billington, C., Edwards, M., Laidlaw, R. (1997). Locations of tropical montane cloud forest sites as recorded in a worldwide inventory in "A Global Directory of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests". Cambridge (UK): UNEP-WCMC.

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This dataset shows the location of tropical montane cloud forest sites as recorded in a worldwide inventory compiled by UNEP-WCMC and published in "A Global Directory of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests", Aldrich et al., 1997. This inventory was compiled from literature searches and correspondence with regional experts, and contains a total of 529 sites. The central location for each site is recorded but does not identify the great variability in their sizes, which range from 50 hectares to hundreds of square kilometres. This dataset is now superseded. Please see more recent study at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01450-y. Data accessible at https://www.earthenv.org/cloudforest

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