Maintenance and conservation of Dipterocarp diversity in tropical forests

Many theories and hypotheses have been developed to explain the maintenance of diversity in plant communities, particularly in hyperdiverse tropical forests. Maintenance of the composition and diversity of tropical forests is vital, especially species of high commercial value. I focus on the high value dipterocarp timber species of Malaysia and Borneo as these have been extensive logged owing to increased demands from global timber trade. In this thesis, I explore the drivers of diversity of this group, as well as the determinants of global abundance, conservation and timber value.