Welcome to the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö)

About us

The Society for Tropical Ecology (formerly Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V., gtö) promotes and communicates new and emerging knowledge among tropical ecologists to advance the understanding of tropical ecosystems and their protection. It is currently Europe’s largest scientific association in this field of research with about 500 members.

About 70 % of the world’s human population lives in the tropics, an area covering only 10% of the Earth’s land surface. With an expanding population and economic growth, pressure on natural resources is increasing at an exponential rate. More than three-quarters of the once pristine habitats in the tropics have been destroyed in the last 50 years through overexploitation and land-use change. If the current trend  continues over the next decades, we face the disappearance of millions of species, with unforeseeable ecological and socio-economic consequences, for this and all subsequent generations. The greatest challenge for tropical ecologists is to devise scientifically based strategies for the conservation of tropical ecosystems, which ensure the economically and ecologically sustainable use of natural resources.
The Society for Tropical Ecology (Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie, gtö), founded in 1987, is Europe’s largest scientific association in the field of tropical ecology.
Our goals are:

– to broaden our understanding of tropical ecology by analyzing the structures and processes from species to ecosystems and the synthesis of results

– to foster applied research in tropical ecology

– to promote conservation of tropical ecosystems, species and other natural resources and the sustainability of their use

– to increase awareness of the importance of tropical ecosystems and their huge biodiversity, among the broader public and among decision-makers in politics, the corporate sector and civil society

– to strengthen cooperation between scientists and the appropriate governmental and non-governmental bodies in both European and tropical countries

– to support young researchers through the creation of networks, information exchange, and training opportunities

Our annual conference provides an inter-national platform for the exchange of current scientific ideas and helps promote the establishment of collaborations between members and attending guests.

The gtö is open to all interested persons.

A reduced membership fee is available to students and unemployed persons on production of the appropriate documentation.

Since 1995 the Society for Tropical Ecology has published its own journal ECOTROPICA , an international, refereed journal containing original papers and review articles in English. The journal ECOTROPICA is the scientific publishing forum of the gtö.

The gtö-conferences are planned as Carbon Neutral Conferences. Carbon neutrality will be achieved by sequestrating the amount of CO2 which is released in the air mainly by energy consumption and mobility of the participants of the gtö-conference. With PRIMAKLIMA e.V. we have found a reliable partner to calculate the CO2-emissions caused by the conference. PRIMAKLIMA e.V. guarantees with a fulfillment factor of five to compensate the emissions from the conference by afforestation and forest conservation projects all over the world (www.prima- klima-weltweit.de/englisch_2010/ ). Participants of the conference can take their personal share and contribute to mitigate global climate change by paying a voluntary CO2-fee of 15.00€. We think this is a good investment.