Tropical Dry Forests Under Pressure: Spatial Dynamics, Conservation Challenges and Future Strategies

Tropical dry forests (TDFs) are among the most threatened yet least studied ecosystems worldwide. Characterized by seasonal droughts, deciduous vegetation, and high levels of endemism, they provide essential ecosystem services to millions of people. However, they face alarming rates of land-use change, fragmentation, and degradation, coupled with insufficient recognition in global conservation agendas.

Tropical dry forests occur in discontinuous belts across regions with strong wet–dry seasonality, typically in rainshadows and on leeward coasts. Major tracts are found in Latin America — along Mexico’s Pacific slope, through Central America and the Caribbean, on the coastal plains of Peru and Ecuador, and across Brazil’s Caatinga and Cerrado margins, as well as in the inter-Andean valleys of Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru. In Africa, they extend across the Sudanian–Zambezian zones — including the extensive miombo and mopane woodlands — and into the Somali–Masai drylands of the Horn of Africa and western Madagascar. In South and Southeast Asia, they occur in India and Sri Lanka, across Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and in parts of Indonesia (notably the Nusa Tenggara islands and Timor). Smaller and more fragmented tracts persist in northern Australia, southern New Guinea, and several Pacific islands.

In recent decades, TDFs have experienced intense transformations driven by agricultural expansion, urbanization, and infrastructure development, resulting in profound alterations of their structure, composition, and connectivity. These pressures challenge the persistence of biodiversity, ecosystem functionality, and human livelihoods that depend on these forests. Despite their ecological and social importance, TDFs remain underrepresented in both research and conservation planning compared to other tropical forest types.

This Research Topic aims to gather cutting-edge studies addressing the spatial dynamics and conservation challenges of tropical dry forests, with the goal of advancing scientific understanding and fostering strategies for their sustainable management and restoration. We welcome contributions that bridge ecological research, spatial analysis, socio-ecological approaches, and applied conservation.

Suggested themes and topics include (but are not limited to):

- Land-use and land-cover change: trends, drivers, and consequences for TDFs.
- Spatial dynamics and patterns: deforestation, fragmentation, connectivity, and forest recovery.
- Wildlife conservation and management: species persistence, habitat requirements, and conservation challenges in fragmented TDF landscapes.
- Ecosystem functioning and carbon dynamics: nutrient cycling, productivity, and carbon storage under changing conditions.
- Connectivity and ecological corridors: assessing, designing, and restoring networks at multiple scales to sustain biodiversity.
- Protected areas, governance, and policy: effectiveness, gaps, and implications for conservation planning.
- Novel tools and methodologies: spatial models, remote sensing, open datasets, and innovative indices for TDF monitoring.
- Socio-ecological perspectives: community-based conservation, ecosystem services, and human–forest interactions.
- Climate change and sustainability: vulnerability, adaptation, and long-term conservation strategies under global change.
- Restoration and adaptive management: ecological restoration, reforestation, and resilience-based approaches for the future of TDFs.

By bringing together diverse perspectives and case studies from across the globe, this special issue will highlight both the advances made and the challenges that remain in the conservation of tropical dry forests. Ultimately, it seeks to inspire innovative strategies and collaborations for securing the future of these critical ecosystems.