Human impacts on tropical forests (IMAGE) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Caption To better understand how tropical forests responded to human impacts on time scales from hundreds to thousands of years ago, scientists unearth lessons from the past that are relevant to the conservation of tropical environments going forward. Credit Steven Paton, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Usage Restrictions Credit must be given to the creator. Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted. License CC BY-NC Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.