Conversation: By the end of the century, the world's remaining tropical forests will be left in a fragmented, simplified, and degraded state. No patch will remain untouched - most remnants will be overrun by species that disperse well, which often means "weedy" plants like fast-growing pioneer trees and small rodents that thrive in disturbed areas. Most of the rest will be "the living dead" - tiny remnant populations of plants and animals hanging on with no future. There is no cast-iron law that dictates this...