Tropical biodiversity is threatened by a wide array of pressures from habitat loss to climate change. A growing number of studies have highlighted pantropical declines or elevational shifts in animal populations, along with the potential impacts of defaunation on ecosystem structure and function. For example, the loss or movement of animal populations can lead to the widespread disruption of species interaction networks underpinning vital ecosystem services. These factors are particularly relevant to the tropics, where, for example, a much higher proportion of woody plants require animal-mediated interactions for pollination, seed dispersal and pest control. Understanding how global change is restructuring tropical biodiversity is therefore a priority for ecologists and conservationists alike. However, other than a few well-studied systems, our knowledge of the extent and effect of changes in tropical animal communities remains highly limited.

                  One of the main challenges of studying animals in tropical ecosystems is that they are often hard to survey and track, particularly highly mobile or nocturnal organisms, making them difficult subjects for observational and experimental studies. Moreover, high species richness makes trophic interaction networks vastly more complex in the tropics than in temperate systems. An ambitious global research programme is needed to develop and refine effective techniques for mapping, monitoring and managing species populations and for quantifying interactions among species in tropical ecosystems.

                  This symposium brings together researchers applying current technical and methodological innovations to animal systems. Focusing largely on birds, these researchers are developing or applying a range of approaches, including automated recording units, landscape connectivity models and biologgers, coupled with AI detection and classification tools, to survey and monitor changes in abundance, distribution and physiology of tropical animals. Likewise, new applications of trait-based metrics and metabarcoding are offering novel insights into dietary interactions, interspecific competition, and other community-level processes, while empirical studies are making use of large-scale experiments based on canopy cranes, large-predator manipulations and rainforest irrigation. Details of these ventures will be summarised in a series of 12 talks by international speakers, followed by a discussion of challenges and opportunities for the next wave of research harnessing technological innovations to understand and conserve tropical biodiversity in the context of altered climates and anthropogenic landscapes.