Palms in Forest Ecosystems of Amazonia

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XII

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Francis Kahn, Jean-Jacques de Granville

   Pages 1-4

3. Amazonian Palm Flora — General Considerations

   • Francis Kahn, Jean-Jacques de Granville

   Pages 5-12

4. Life Forms of Amazonian Palms

   • Francis Kahn, Jean-Jacques de Granville

   Pages 13-39

5. Palm Communities in the Forest Ecosystems of Amazonia

   • Francis Kahn, Jean-Jacques de Granville

   Pages 41-89

6. Palm Distribution as a Function of Soil Drainage, Topography, Forest Architecture and Dynamics, and Human Activities

   • Francis Kahn, Jean-Jacques de Granville

   Pages 91-114

7. Some Aspects of the Adaptive Radiation of Palms in Amazonia

   • Francis Kahn, Jean-Jacques de Granville

   Pages 115-128

8. Palms as Functional Components in Forest Ecosystems

   • Francis Kahn, Jean-Jacques de Granville

   Pages 129-154

9. Palms and Forest Management in Amazonia

   • Francis Kahn, Jean-Jacques de Granville

   Pages 155-167

10. Conclusion

    • Francis Kahn, Jean-Jacques de Granville

    Pages 169-172

11. Back Matter

    Pages 173-226

    PDF

Palms are tropical miracles. Heinrich Heine, the German poet, stated "Unter den Palmen wandert man nicht ungestraft", i.e., one does not wander unpunished under the palms. It was Professor H.C.D. de Wit who taught me this in the late 1950s, and it is a pleasure to forward this message to the next generation in such an appropriate book. Both authors, as I know them, will bear the punishment of the palms. They will never be without palm nostalgia if and when living somewhere outside this world's tropical and subtropical palm belt. Palm nostalgia goes further than palms alone. It concerns the landscape, the short but splendid sunsets and last, but not least, the tropical people. Their elegance of living, structured in subtler ways than managers will ever understand, their laughter which may be a more decisive weapon against the troubles besetting the tropics than mere economics, and their unique life force erupting on festive as well as sad occasions under the palms will always remain with those who w3)ldered beneath these trees. I know. I was there.

• Amazonia
• Amazonien
• Ecosystems
• Flora
• Forst-Management
• Palmen
• Palms
• Tropische Oekosysteme
• ecosystem
• forest
• forest management
• growth
• radiation
• soil
• tropical forests

• Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique, Pour le Développement en Coopération (ORSTOM), Lima 18, Peru

  Francis Kahn

• Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique, Pour le Développement en Coopération (ORSTOM), Cayenne cédex, France

  Jean-Jacques Granville

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