Tupper 4pm seminarTue, Apr 4, seminar speakerwill be Jed Sparks, CornellUniversitySoil emissions of nitrogentrace gases in the MojaveDesert under elevated CO2:implications for regionaltropospheric chemistry

Bambi seminarThu, Apr 6, Bambi seminarspeaker will be Jed SparksOzone, ants and clouds:Organisms matter to globalair quality and climate

Arrived this weekGerhard Zotz, University ofBasel, to study growthlimitation of vascularepiphytes, at Tupper andFortuna.

Arriving next weekJennifer Petersen, Universityof California at Davis, to studythe geographic origin andrecruitment patterns inChrysophyllum, in Gamboaand the Pipeline Road.

Wesley Chun, University ofCalifornia in Los Angeles, tostudy the phylogeography andspeciation in the DactyloidAnoles (Dactyloa:Polychrotidae) oftrans-Andean Central andSouth America, in Fortuna.

Kelly Elschot, University ofGroningen, to study poachers,seed dispersal and seedpredation in two palm species,on BCI.

Andrew Nottingham,University of Cambridge, toassess the importance oflitterfall for tree growth andnutrient dynamics by a largescale litter removal experimentin tropical deciduous forest inPanama, on the BCNM.

STRI newsSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panamá www.stri.org March 31, 2006

UK grants funds tocontinue withDarwin Initiative inLas Perlas Tourism minister RubenBlades, British consul and firstsecretary in Panama DavidAndrews, members of theDarwin Initiative, STRIofficials, researchers, mediarepresentatives, tourismdevelopers and the civil societymet at the Tupper Center onWednesday, March 29, toattend the inauguration of theworkshop “Marine ResourcesConservation and Managementin Las Perlas, Panama: An areaof Special Management.” Theevent, a joint activity of the UKDarwin Initiave, Heriot-WattUniversity of Scotland andSTRI, began with welcomingremarks by STRI's HectorGuzman and David Andrews.Ana Báez, president of Turismo& Conservación Consultores deCosta Rica was the keynotespeaker of the talk “Sustainabletourism is good business forall.”

Twenty-five participants fromthe US, UK and LatinAmerican countries attendedthe three-day workshop, sharinginformation on achievements insimilar projects by the DarwinInitiative in Colombia, Ecuadorand Panama, to promote the

creation ofprotected areasusing informationresulting fromscientific andsociologicstudies.

At theinauguration,Andrews praisedthe excellentwork done byHéctor Guzmánand colleaguesfollowing the agenda of theDarwin Initiative in Las Perlas,and announced the extension offunding to continue with theproject for two more years.

In the past three years theDarwin Initiative has grantedthree full scholarships toPanamanian students carryingout studies on marine resourcesmanagement and have activelypromoted a law designating LasPerlas Archipelago as specialmanagement zone, incollaboration with Panama'sMarine Authority and STRI.

El ministro de Turismo RubenBlades, David Andrews consuly primer secretario del ReinoUnido en Panamá, miembros de

la Iniciativa Darwin,funcionarios de STRI,investigadores, representantesde los medios, promotores deturismo y la sociedad civil, sedieron cita en el Centro Tupperel miércoles 29 de marzo, paraparticipar en la inauguración deltaller “Manejo y Conservaciónde Recursos Marinos en laZona Especial de Manejo deLas Perlas, Panamá”. El evento,una actividad conjunta entre laIniciativa Darwin del ReinoUnido, la Universidad Heriot-Watt de Escocia y STRI, dióinicio con las palabras debienvenida de Héctor Guzmán,de STRI y David Andrews. AnaBáez, presidenta de Turismo &

More arrivalsNiels Rattenborg, Max PlanckInstitute for Ornithology, tostudy the sleep in flyingfrigatebirds, on Isla Iguana.

Raymond Leslie Gabriel,University of Oxford, to studyTheraphosinae of theRepublic of Panama, on Bocasdel Toro.

Martin Burd, MonashUniversity, to study theindividual behavior andcollective order: the trafficdynamics of ants, on BCI.

Samuel Diaz, University ofCalifornia at Berkeley, toassess indirect and directfitness benefits of alloparentalcare in male rufous-napedtamarins (Saguinus geoffroyi), onBCI, Gamboa and Tupper.

Lachlan Wilmott, SyracuseUniversity, to study signalevolution and speciation inbearded manakin (Manacusspp.), in Gamboa and Bocasdel Toro.

CondolencesTo Mireya Correa and herfamily, for the loss of hermother, Olga Arroyo deCorrea, on Tuesday, March 28in Panama City.

New publicationsHu, Xin-Sheng, He, Fangliang,and Hubbell, Stephen P. 2006.“Neutral theory inmacroecology and populationgenetics.” Oikos Online.

Martin II, Lynn B.,Hasselquist, Dennis, andWikelski, Martin C. 2006."Investment in immunedefense is linked to pace oflife in house sparrows."Oecologia 147(4): 147: 565–575.

Conservación Consultores deCosta Rica ofreció laconferencia magistral “Elturismo sostenible es un buennegocio para todos.”

Veinticinco participantes desiete países incluyendo EU y elReino Unido asistieron al tallerde tres días cuyo objetivo fuecompartir información y logrosde proyectos similares bajo laIniciativa Darwin en Colombia,Ecuador y Panamá, para

promover la creación de áreasprotegidas utilizando resultadosde estudios científicos ysociológicos.

Durante la inauguración,Andrews destacó el excelentetrabajo realizado por HéctorGuzmán y sus colegassiguiendo la agenda de laIniciativa Darwin en Las Perlas,y anunció la extensión de losfondos para continuar con elproyecto por dos años más.

Durante los tres últimos años,la Iniciativa Darwin en Panamáha otorgado tres becascompletas para panameñosllevando a cabo estudios sobremanejo de recursos marinos yha promovido activamente unaley que designaría alArchipiélago de Las Perlascomo zona de manejo especial,en colaboración con laAutoridad Marítima de Panamáy STRI.

Jackson: “open your eyes”Jeremy B.C. Jackson, STRI staffscientist and leading voice andface in efforts to save theoceans from plague and decay,presented “Océano en Peligro”to government officials, STRIofficials, researchers and thecommunity at the TupperCenter, on Wed, March 29.

“The first thing we should do isopen our eyes... accept thechanges that have alreadyoccurred” states Jackson. Thedevelopment of usefulstrategies by politicians, grand-scale experiments to beconducted by scientists, and“probably a miracle” may helpstop what seems to be anirreversible future for marineecosystems.

Attending the talk wasvicepresident RubenArosemena (second from the

right), administrator ofPanama's Marine Authority andGeorge Novey, from MarineResources. Arosemenaacknowledged Jackson'scommitment to the oceans andPanama, and highlighted theimportance of the oceans toPanama, not only for itswaterway, but as an importantresource for present and futuregenerations.

Jeremy B.C. Jackson, científicode STRI y voz y rostro líder enesfuerzos para salvar a losocéanos de plagas y exterminio,presentó “Océano en Peligro” afuncionarios gubernamentales yde STRI, investigadores y lacomunidad en el CentroTupper, el miércoles 29 demarzo. “Lo primero quedebemos hacer es abrir losojos... y aceptar los cambios queya han ocurrido” aseguró

Jackson. El desarrollo deestrategias útiles por lospolíticos, experimentos a granescala llevados a cabo por loscientíficos, y “probablementeun milagro” podrían evitar loque parece ser un futuroirreversible para los ecosistemasmarinos.

El vicepresidente RubénArosemena (segundo desde laderecha), administrador de laAutoridad Marítima Nacional yGeorge Novey de RecursosMarinos asistieron al evento.Arosemena reconoció elcompromiso de Jackson con losocéanos y Panamá, y destacó laimportancia de los océanos paraPanamá, no sólo por su Canal,sino como un recursoimportante para generacionespresentes y futuras.

More publicationsWright, S. Joseph. 2006."Response to Lewis et al.: Theuncertain response of tropicalforests to global change."Trends In Ecology &Evolution Online.

STRI in the newsDoes tropical biodiversityincrease during globalwarming? 2006.mongabay.com

April birthdaysSabina Walker de Guy 1Diomedes Abrego 1Ricardo E Jaén 1Nelson Hernández 1Axel Calderón 2Mercedes Denis 3Stuart Davies 3Luis Moreno 7Dolores Piperno 7Rafael Gordon 9Nelly Flores 9Myriam Venegas 9Apolonio Valdéz 10Marcela Paz 10Ricardo Chong 11Indira Martínez 11Efrain Domínguez 12Joana Madera 13Adriana Sautu 14America Staff 14Laura Geyer 23Rubén Gall 26Marcos Guerra 27Jeannette Egger 28

MiscellaneousFor sale: Land RoverDiscovery 4x4, 1996. $5,600.Interested please call Stephanie Belliveau at212-8224 or or 314-9316.

For rent: Furnished house inAlbrook, 2 bed/s $650. Pleasecall Isabel at 315-0158.

Does tropical biodiversityincrease duringglobal warming?“Plant diversity seems toincrease when tropical forestscover large areas. Shrinkingecosystems may experiencebiodiversity loss lasting formillions of years.” STRI'sCarlos Jaramillo and colleaguesMilton J. Rueda from theColombian Petroleum Instituteand Germán Mora, from IowaState University, seekexplanations for the longestCentral and South Americapollen record, published intoday's issue of Science.

Jaramillo et al. used cores drilledthrough 5km of rock in easternColombia and westernVenezuela to get at the fossilpollen record in a sequence ofsamples representing 10 to 82 million years before present(mybp). Then they correlatedpollen diversity with globaltemperature estimates for the

middle part of that sequence(20-65 mybp).

"We found that pollen diversitytracks global temperaturethrough time over millions ofyears. Diversity increases as theplanet warms and decreases as itcools. The mystery is that evenwhen global temperatures varyenormously, averagetemperatures in the tropicsdon't change much, so why do we see global temperaturepatterns reflected in tropical plant diversity?" Jaramillo

proposes that changes in areadrive speciation and extinctionin the tropics.

During global warming, tropicalareas expand and diversity goesup, the opposite happensduring global cooling. If this isthe case, fragmentation ofmodern tropical forest could beequated to a global coolingperiod, because forested areasare shrinking dramatically,resulting in plummetingdiversity in the forests thatremain.” Taken from Eurekalert

New STRI book by PipernoPhytoliths: A comprehensive guide forarchaeologists and paleoecologists, byDolores R. Piperno, was justpublished by Altamira Press.“The study of phytoliths—inorganic silica remnants plantsleave behind when they die anddecay—has developeddramatically over the last twentyyears. New publications havedocumented a diverse array ofphytoliths from many regionsaround the globe, while newunderstandings have emerged asto how and why plants producephytoliths. Together, thesedevelopments make phytoliths apowerful tool in reconstructingpast environments and humanuses of plants.” “Dolores Piperno and phytolith analysisare nearly synonymous...” writesVaughn Bryant from TexasA&M University. “Her newbook includes a vast array ofnew information, techniques,

keys, and a bibliography thatwill guide students andprofessionals alike for decadesto come.”

Altamira Press acaba de publicarPhytoliths: A comprehensive guide forarchaeologists and paleoecologists[Fitolitos: una guía exhaustivapara arqueólogos ypaleoecólogos] por Dolores R.Piperno. “El estudio de fitolitos—residuos de sílice inorgánicoque quedan de las plantas unavez mueren y se descomponen—se ha desarrolladodramáticamente durante losúltimos veinte años. Nuevaspublicaciones han documentadouna diversa gama de fitolitos demuchas regiones alrededor delglobo, mientras emergen nuevosconocimientos sobre cómo ypor qué las plantas producenfitolitos. Juntos, estos avanceshacen de los fitolitos una

herramienta poderosa parareconstruir ambientes pasados yel uso que el hombre le ha dadoa las plantas.” “DoloresPiperno y el análisis de losfitolitos son casi sinónimos...”escribe Vaughn Bryant de laUniversidad de Texas A&M.“Su nuevo libro incluye unavasta gama de informaciónnueva, técnicas, llaves y unabibliografía que guiará aestudiantes y profesionales porigual, durante décadas.

science in progress:

Story:

Felipe De La Parra

& Carlos Jaramillo

Edited: ML Calderon

Photos: MA Guerra

Sixty five million years

ago a meteorite

impacted the Yucatan

Peninsula. This

episode, know as the

Cretaceous-Tertiary

boundary (KT

boundary) is

associated with the

extinction of nearly

60% of the species,

including dinosaurs.

The paleobotanical

record from mid

latitudes shows 30%

extinction among

temperate plant

species. But the

effects on tropical

vegetation are

unknown. Was it more

resilient than

temperate forests? Did

it recover faster?

Intern Felipe De La

Parra and Carlos

Jaramillo, from the

Smithsonian Tropical

Research Institute in

Panama, study the

palynological record of

a 2200-feet rock core

drilled in the

Cesar-Rancheria basin

in northern Colombia,

that shows how

tropical vegetation was

65 millions years ago.

Initial results suggests

that the floral change

was dramatic with a

major turnover of the

of the palynoflora.

Hace 65 millones de

años, un meteorito

impactó la Península

de Yucatán. Este

episodio, conocido

como Límite Cretácido

Terciario (o KT) se

asocia con la

extincción de cerca de

60% de las especies,

incluyendo los

dinosaurios.

Los registros

paleobotánicos de

latitudes medias

muestran una

extincción de 30% de

las plantas de zonas

templadas. Pero los

efectos en la

vegetación tropical son

desconocidos.

¿Fueron más

resistentes? Se

recuperaron a mayor

velocidad?

El interno Felipe De La

Parra y Carlos

Jaramillo, del

Smithsonian Tropical

Research Institute en

Panamá, estudian el

registro palinológico

en un núcleo de 2200

pies de roca obtenida

en la cuenca de César

Ranchería al norte de

Colombia, que muestra

cómo estaba la

vegetación hace 65

millones de años.

Los resultados

iniciales muestran que

los cambios florales

fueron dramáticos con

una gran rotación de la

palinoflora.

E.T. impacts andtropical vegetation