Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a global conservation issue that threatens thousands of species, including fish, fungi, medicinal plants, and charismatic mammals. Despite widespread recognition of the problem, debates on the science and policy of IWT generally concentrate on a few high‐profile species (eg rhinoceros, tigers, elephants) and often overlook or conflate complex IWT products, actors, networks, and contexts. A poor understanding of IWT is aggravated by the lack of systematic vocabulary and conceptual tools with which to analyze complex phenomena in a more structured way. We synthesize the available evidence on IWT across taxa and contexts into a typology‐based framework that considers (1) the diversity of wildlife products; (2) the roles of various actors involved with IWT, including harvesters, intermediaries, and consumers; and (3) common IWT network configurations. We propose ways in which these tools can inform structured analyses of IWT, to help ensure more nuanced, appropriate, targeted, and effective responses to illegal wildlife harvest, trade, and use.

SignificanceIdentifying and explaining regional differences in tropical forest dynamics, structure, diversity, and composition are critical for anticipating region-specific responses to global environmental change. Floristic classifications are of fundamental importance for these efforts. Here we provide a global tropical forest classification that is explicitly based on community evolutionary similarity, resulting in identification of five major tropical forest regions and their relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. African and American forests are grouped, reflecting their former western Gondwanan connection, while Indo-Pacific forests range from eastern Africa and Madagascar to Australia and the Pacific. The connection between northern-hemisphere Asian and American forests is confirmed, while Dry forests are identified as a single tropical biome.

Political transitions often trigger substantial environmental changes. In particular, deforestation can result from the complex interplay among the components of a system-actors, institutions, and existing policies-adapting to new opportunities. A dynamic conceptual map of system components is particularly

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