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In recent years, the conservation of tropical forests has received worldwide publicity whereas effective forest management, particularly for timber extraction, has attracted little attention and gained some notoriety. The overall aim of the present paper was to examine how environmental micro-variation in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve of Belize can influence species distribution and thereby inform management strategy. The paper deals first with the background to forest management in Belize, then considers the methodology used in the present study and fin~~ly assesses the preliminary results. The specific objectives are: (1) to assess the effects of changing scale on the variability of selected individual soil properties in forest plots within the same vegetation class; and (2) to examine the variation in soil properties and tree species distribution, and to integrate environmental and ecological data over a range of scales. BACKGROUND Whereas the global and regional distribution of tropical forests is broadly governed by climatic and altitudinal variation, individual forest tracts need to consider a range of other, locally important factors to explain species distribution and change. With very high species diversity, tropical forests present a major challenge in the attempt to unravel controlling factors in distribution and growth (Swaine et aI. 1987). Research that attempts to explain diversity has looked at species distribution according to a range of factors, with a general recognition that soil fertility plays a significant if ill defined role (Swaine 1996).

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Co-Editors: Abbreviated Profiles. Acknowledgements: List of Reviewers. 1. Introduction - Thinking Spatially; A.C. Millington, et al. 2. A Spectral Unmixing Approach to Leaf Area Index (LAI) Estimation at the Alpine Treeline Ecotone; D.G. Brown. 3. The Utilization of Airborne Digital Multispectral Image Dynamics and Kinematic Global Positioning Systems for Assessing and Monitoring Salt Marsh Habitats in Southern California; D. Stow, et al. 4. Spatial Variability in Satellite-Derived Seasonal Vegetation Dynamics; S.D. Jones, et al. 5. Documenting Land-Cover History of a Humid Tropical Environment in Northeastern Costa Rica Using Time-Series Remotely Sensed Data; J.M. Read, et al. 6. Patterns of Change in Land-Use and Land-Cover and Plant Biomass: Separating Intra- and Inter-Annual Signals in Monsoon-Driven Northeast Thailand; S.J. Walsh, et al. 7. Barriers and Species Persistence in a Simulated Grassland; D.M. Cairns. 8. Feedback and Pattern in Computer Simulations of the Alpine Treeline Ecotone; M.F. Bekker, et al. 9. Spatial Pattern and Dynamics of an Annual Woodland Herb; L. Bastin, C.D. Thomas. 10. Spatial Analysis of Micro-Environmental Change and Forest Composition in Belize; P.A. Furley, et al. 11. The Radiate Capitulum Morph of Senecio Vulgaris L. within Sussex: the Use of GIS in Establishing Origins; S. Waite, N. Burnside. 12. A Geographical Information Science (GISci) Approach to Exploring Variation in the Bush Cricket Ephippiger Ephippiger; D.M. Kidd, M.G. Ritchie. 13. The GIS Representation of Wildlife Movements: A Framework; L. Bian. 14.Stratified Sampling for Field Survey of Environmental Gradients in the Mojave Desert Ecoregion; J. Franklin, et al. 15. Development of Vegetation Pattern in Primary Successions on Glacier Forelands in Southern Norway; G.A. Grimm. 16. Multi-Scale Analysis of Land-Cover Composition and Landscape Management of Public and Private Lands in Indiana; T.P. Evans, et al. 17. Shifting Cultivation Without Deforestation: A Case Study in the Mountains of Northwestern Vietnam; J. Fox, et al. 18. Linking Biogeography and Environmental Management in the Wetland Landscape of Coastal North Carolina, The difference between nationwide and individual wetland permits; N.M. Kelly. Index.

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