As forests are cut down, altered and fragmented, the communities of organisms associated with them are also affected. Predictions of global species extinction rates based on forest loss range 1% to 10% each decade. Because arthropods comprise the largest component of animal species richness, it is inevitable that many arthropod species will become extinct. Millions of these species are thought to live in the forest canopy.
During the last twenty years recognition of the importance of canopy arthropods to global biodiversity and the crucial roles arthropods play in forests has led to a revolution in the study and understanding of the arthropod community structure in the forest canopy. Recent advances have been greatly aided by the development of improved sampling techniques and new methods of access to the forest canopy.
Canopy Arthropods brings together for the first time a wide range of the most recent studies of arthropods living in forest canopies and comes from a truly international team of contributors.