Microplastics are new homes
for microbes in the Caribbean
Only about 1% of marine plastic debris is recovered at the ocean’s surface, meaning the other 99% likely either sinks or is consumed by marine organisms
Panama
Fisheries and Marine Conservation Ecosystem Ecology Marine Biology Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Bocas del Toro
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Rachel CollinSwimming
on microplastics
Jaguars could prevent a
not-so-great American
Biotic Exchange
Urban and agricultural development and deforestation along the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor might be generating a new passageway for invasive species adapted to human disturbance.
Eastern Panama, Darien
Invasion Biology Ecosystem Ecology Animal Behavior Reforestation and Silviculture Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet
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Journalists congress, Long Ago receives scientific award, Jeff Hall talk at water security event and more
Farewell Bob Dressler, Long Ago receives scientific award, Jeff Hall talk at water security event, Archaeology talk in Veracruz
blueSpecial
events
Learning to live
without oxygen
In Bocas del Toro’s Caribbean waters in Panama, a STRI postdoctoral fellow asks how marine life responds to low oxygen levels and higher temperatures in the ocean
Bocas del Toro
Text by Leila Nilipour, STRI
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Rachel CollinHot and
breathless
Mysterious Larvae Discovered
in Panama’s Two Oceans
These ghostly larvae float freely in seawater, while their parents live on the sea floor and usually go undetected. Genetic studies of larvae provide clues that there are more species to be discovered
Panama
Marine Biology Developmental Biology Taxonomy Biodiversity Natural History Molecular Genetics and Genomics Zoology Origins of Species and Societies Naos
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Rachel CollinParents
Unknown
Fossil crab reveals a new
branch in the tree of life
By taking on characteristics from another, younger stage in its life-cycle, this fossil crab was probably able to adapt to new conditions.
Colombia and the U.S.
Paleontology and Paleobiology Evolutionary Biology Developmental Biology Biodiversity Zoology Taxonomy Origins of Species and Societies CTPA
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Carlos JaramilloPlatypus
crab
The glue that holds the coral reef together
threatened by global change
Rapid increases in ocean acidity puts crustose coralline algae in a growth predicament, research by a Smithsonian marine scientist shows.
Bocas Del Toro, Panama
Global Change Marine Biology Fisheries and Marine Conservation Biodiversity Ecosystem Services Ecology Connections in nature: Plants, Animals, Microbes and Environments Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Bocas del Toro Bocas Del Toro
blueOcean
acidification
and reefs
Marine expedition launched
from new Coibita station
To mark the beginning of an era in marine research in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, Smithsonian scientists launched numerous long-term marine ecosystem studies in Panama’s Coiba National Park.
Coiba, Panama
Story and photos by Sean Mattson
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Owen McMillanEastern
Tropical
Pacific
Whale Shark Logs
Longest-Recorded Migration
A whale shark named Anne swam all the way across the Pacific from Coiba National Park in Panama to the Marianas Trench.
Coiba, Panama
Marine Biology Fisheries and Marine Conservation Animal Behavior Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Coibita Island
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Hector M. GuzmanMystery
Migration
What were Caribbean coral
reefs like before humans?
Fossil reefs from around the Caribbean show how biologically rich these ecosystems once were — and provide goalposts for conservationists hoping to restore them.
Panama and the Dominican Republic
Paleontology and Paleobiology Biodiversity Marine Biology Life in Deep Time Bocas del Toro
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Aaron O'DeaDeclining
reefs
