Seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) are characterized by high inter- and intra-annual climatic variability. Globally, SDTF are known to vary dramatically in forest structure, substrate, and degree of seasonality. Although losses of SDTF owing to past land use change have made this the most endangered tropical ecosystem, the inherent variability of SDTF makes it difficult to generalize how SDTF ecosystems and organisms respond to ongoing climate and land use change. Dramatically altered SDTF, regenerating after intensive land use is abandoned and dominated by non-native species, is the very community for which the term “novel ecosystem” was originally coined. These profound changes have prompted ecologists, ecosystem biologists, and forest managers to explore how SDTF change over time with less emphasis on how SDTF vary over space. This organized session will provide a venue for discussing spatial and temporal dynamics of SDTF ecosystems and organisms in response to climate and land use change. By juxtaposing studies from insular and mainland SDTF we hope to identify emerging trends including how SDTF organisms respond to more frequent and intense droughts, how SDTF ecosystems sequester carbon on seasonal and annual basis, and how changing land use practices influence SDTF organisms and ecosystems. The session invites speakers using a wide range of approaches in both micro- and macro-organism study systems at population to ecosystem levels. By highlighting current trends and research in SDTF this organized session aims to identify unifying patterns of how SDTF ecosystems respond to ongoing global change.