The ATBC2012 meeting’s theme was “Ecology, Evolution and Sustainable use of Tropical Biodiversity”. The meeting focused on the interface between ecology and evolution, stimulating discussion on ecological questions from an evolutionary standpoint, as well as potential applications of individual studies for the Sustainable use of Tropical biodiversity. Symposia covered a large range of topics, including pollination biology, animal-plant interactions, dispersal ecology, community ecology, biogeography, macroevolution, macroecology, forest fragmentation, and conservation.