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forest fires. Their results nevertheless highlight the key role of policy and enforcement in helping to preserve biodiversity in the Amazon. Feng et al. clearly show that forest-policy regulations can be beneficial in conserving the extent and habitat quality of Amazonian rainforests, and can reduce the extent of deforestation, degradation and forest fires there. Most crucially, the Brazilian government’s past forest policy seems to have mitigated the effects of droughts. Climate change will probably make drought increasingly common in the Amazon basin, and it is clear that strict policies will need to be imposed and enforced to reduce forest fires and their effects on the ranges of species and on biodiversity. Thomas W. Gillespie is in the Department of Geography and at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. e-mail: [email protected]