LESS than 20% of the species and plants and animals living in the world's tropical forests may remain unchanged until the end of this century during global warming.

The finding is based on a recent study headed by the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology published in Conservation Letters, a journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. According to the data obtained, by 2100. only 18% of the 45% of plants and animals that make up the ecosystem in tropical forests will remain as they are today. In Latin America and Africa, about two-thirds of the biodiversity in the region's tropical forests has changed due to climate and deforestation affecting the land in the area. In Asia and the Pacific islands, logging and deforestation are also major drivers of ecosystem change. (""/Xinhua/OL-5)