Tropical forests constitute the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystems that affect the Earth’s system dynamics by exerting a critical role in the global cycling of water, energy, carbon, trace gases and organic compounds. This session will focus on research in tropical forests using ground-based results (observational measurements and manipulation experiments), remote sensing and modeling. Processes to be highlighted include the responses and feedbacks of tropical forests to:

1. land use change, changing vegetation demographics, increased atmospheric CO₂, altered rainfall and/or warming;
2. extreme events (e.g., drought, heat waves, and extreme rainfall);
3. climate variability (e.g., ENSO, IOBM);
4. role of biodiversity, biogeochemistry (including leaf, nutrient limitation, soil respiration, and carbon sequestration), and ecological processes (including phenology, demography, biogeography) in modulating forest responses and feedbacks.

We encourage submissions from a wide range of perspectives, and especially those that integrate multiple perspectives toward a more holistic view of tropical forest responses to global change.