The tropics are home to nearly 80 percent of all species in the world. Those species, in their perennial warm temperatures, face the double punch from both human pressures, such as overfishing or logging, and environmental abuse, from droughts and heatwaves fueled by climate change.

As a result, a collapse of global biodiversity appears imminent, according to a study in the journal Nature, unless urgent, concerted action is taken to halt and reverse species loss specifically in the tropics.