Natural and unnatural controls on biodiversity distribution and ecosystem function in the Andes-Amazon

The eastern slope of the Andes and adjacent Amazon are earth's highest biodiversity habitats and its longest ecological gradient, providing a testbed for understanding controls on biodiversity distribution and ecosystem function. It is also a dynamic region with natural disturbances on all time scales, from mountain building to climate change and landslides, as well as unnatural disturbances due to rapidly small-scale gold mining, deforestation, defaunation, and ongoing climate change. This talk gives an overview of controls on biological diversity and forest ecosystem function at multiple different spatial scales, focusing on a 3800m elevation gradient extending from the high Andes to Amazonian lowlands in SE Peru, and on ecosystem disturbance and recovery due to an expanding gold rush on the Amazonian plain.