The rapidly growing world population and rising consumption of biofuels intensify demands for both food and biofuels. This exaggerates food and fuel shortages. The use of food crops such as corn grain to produce ethanol raises major nutritional and ethical concerns. Nearly 60% of humans in the world are currently malnourished, so the need for grains and other basic foods is critical. Growing crops for fuel squanders land, water and energy resources vital for the production of food for human consumption. Using corn for ethanol increases the price of US beef, chicken, pork, eggs, breads, cereals, and milk more than 10% to 30%. In addition, Jacques Diouf, Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, reports that using food grains to produce biofuels is already causing food shortages for the poor of the world. Growing crops for biofuel not only ignores the need to reduce fossil energy and land use, but exacerbates the problem of malnourishment worldwide.

The climbing habit has evolved independently in many plant taxa, offering vines the ability to compete with non-climbing vegetation for resources such as light, nutrients, and water. This review examines the structural and functional characteristics that allow climbing plants to (1) achieve widespread dispersal, (2) transport large amounts of water throughout vessels, (3) maintain high photosynthesis levels through a large leaf area to biomass ratio, (4) achieve rapid vertical and horizontal expansion by fast growth rates and various climbing mechanisms and (5) survive and recover from disturbances. Due to the competitive effects of vines on trees, management of vine growth is used to preserve tropical timber plantations, combat invasive weeds, and promote rainforest recovery. In order to sustainably manage the vines into the future, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms by which they can alter tropical forest succession and the impacts of various management techniques.Resumen El hábito trepador ha evolucionado de forma independiente en muchos taxa de plantas. Ofrece la capacidad de competir con la vegetación no-trepadora por recursos como luz, nutrientes y agua. Esta reseña examina las características estructurales y funcionales que permiten a las plantas trepadoras (1) lograr dispersión generalizada, (2) transportar grandes cantidades de agua a través de vasos conductores, (3) mantener niveles altos de fotosíntesis mediante una gran proporción de biomasa por área foliar, (4) lograr rápida expansión vertical y horizontal por crecimiento rápido y diversos mecanismos para trepar y (5) sobrevivir a y recuperar de disturbios ecológicos y antropogénicos. Debido a los efectos competitivos de los bejucos en los árboles, el manejo controlado del crecimiento de los bejucos se utiliza para preservar plantaciones maderables, combatir hierbas invasoras, y promover la recuperación del bosque tropical. Con el fin del manejo sostenible de los bejucos en el futuro, es necesario estudiar los mecanismos por los cuales pueden alterar la sucesión de bosques tropicales y los impactos de varias técnicas de manejo.

Abstract:The rapidly growing world population and rising consumption of biofuels are increasing demand for both food and biofuels. This exaggerates both food and fuel shortages. Using food crops such as corn grain to produce ethanol raises major nutritional and ethical concerns. Nearly 60% of humans in the world are currently malnourished, so the need for grains and other basic foods is critical. Growing crops for fuel squanders land, water and energy resources vital for the production of food for human consumption. Using corn for ethanol increases the price of U.S. beef, chicken, pork, eggs, breads, cereals, and milk more than 10% to 30%.

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