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Carlos Jaramillo

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The history of the tropics is one of radical change. It transformed from a place without a single flowering plant 120 million years ago to an ecosystem completely dominated by flowering plants today.

Comment (1) on “Formation of the Isthmus of Panama” by O’Dea et al., 2017

Miocene Floodings of Amazonia, 2017

Carlos Jaramillo Lab

Fossil Sharks in Panama

Pollen Morphological Database

Tropical Temperature Database

Based on clues ranging from microscopic pollen samples to massive petrified trees and larger-than-life-sized turtle and crocodile fossils, my lab pieces together millions of years of evidence to reconstruct the deep-time history of tropical ecosystems. I help to build international networks of collaborators to take on huge projects such as the excavations in the Panama Canal expansion earthworks, which shed light on the formation of the Panama land bridge between North and South America. We also work in one of the world’s largest coal mines in Cerrejón, Colombia, that led to the discovery of oldest tropical rainforest that developed about 60 million years ago. The fauna of Cerrejón contains large animals including the biggest terrestrial snake species known to date, Titanoboa cerrejonensis, as well as large crocodiles. Our research provides vital perspective as we strive to understand how modern tropical ecosystems work and to predict how they will respond to future environmental change.

Does deep-time climate change predict the future of tropical forests?

In response to elevated atmospheric carbon and temperature, the world's oldest fossilized tropical forests increased their biomass and species diversity. The fossil record shows that today's plants probably have the genetic capacity to acclimatize to climate change.

Why are there so many species in the tropics? How is the latitudinal diversity gradient explained?

An old question that still does not have a clear answer. The answer, nevertheless, requires the fossil record.

Can we develop new techniques to analyze biostratigraphic data? How can we use fossils to find natural resources such as oil, coal, gas and water?

The exploration of groundwater, oil, gas, coal and many other minerals requires of good stratigraphic correlations and an understanding of depositional environments. Fossils are very useful tools for geologists to solve those problems.

University of Florida 1999 Ph.D. Geology, Botany

University of Missouri-Rolla 1995 M.S. Geology

Universidad Nacional de Colombia 1992 Geology

Jaramillo, C., 2016, Evolution of the Isthmus of Panama: biological, paleoceanographic, and paleoclimatological implications, in Hoorn, C., and Antonelli, A., eds., Mountains, Climate and Biodiversity: Oxford, John Wiley & Sons.

Jaramillo, C., and Cardenas, A. 2013. Global Warming and Neotropical Rainforests: A historical perspective. Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences 41: 741-766.

Jaramillo, C. 2012. Historia Geológica del Bosque Húmedo Neotropical. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales 36: 59-80.

Jaramillo, C., Rueda, M., and Torres, V. 2011. A Palynological Zonation for the Cenozoic of the Llanos and Llanos Foothills of Colombia. Palynology 35: 46-84.

Jaramillo, C., et al. 2010. Effects of Rapid Global Warming at the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary on Neotropical Vegetation: Science 330: 957-961.

Jaramillo, C., Hoorn, C., Silva, S., Leite, F., Herrera, F., Quiroz, L., Dino, R., and Antonioli, L. 2010. The origin of the modern Amazon rainforest: implications from the palynological and paleobotanical record. In: Hoorn, M.C. and Wesselingh, F.P. (Eds.) Amazonia, Landscape and Species Evolution. Blackwell, Oxford: 317-334.

Jaramillo, C., Rueda, M. and Mora, G. 2006. Cenozoic Plant Diversity in the Neotropics. Science, 311: 1893-1896.

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Carlos A. Jaramillo

Name

Carlos

Last name

Jaramillo

Position

Staff Scientist

Discipline (Private):

Exploration

External CV:

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Roberto Ibañez

Language English

Conservation Biology Herpetology

Across the world chytrid fungus threatens amphibians with extinction, including many species that we are not familiar with. Getting as many as possible into captive breeding programs is essential to their survival until science finds a cure for the disease.

Altitudinal distribution and advertisement call of Colostethus latinasus (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae), endemic species from eastern Panama and type species of Colostethus, with a molecular assessment of similar sympatric species, 2017

Toxins and pharmacologically active compounds from species of the family Bufonidae (Amphibia, Anura), 2017

My primary research focus is on Panamanian frogs that are likely extinct in the wild due to a fungal infection but are kept alive in captive breeding programs in Panama and the United States. Our lab has collected founding individuals for these amphibian colonies, devised methods to sustainably feed them, and raised reproductive populations that maintain the species’ genetic health. We are also advancing research that seeks to find a cure for this fungal disease, called Chytridiomycosis, with the hope of reintroducing species to their native habitats. My research has included studies of biodiversity and the biogeography of amphibians and reptiles in Panama.

How can individual countries help save frog species?

Our project is helping to implement the action plan for amphibian conservation that was created by Panama’s environmental authorities in 2011. This is only possible thanks to the government of Panama’s interest in conservation of amphibian biodiversity and the support we have received from businesses in Panama.

B.S., Universidad de Panamá

M.S., University of Connecticut

Ph.D., University of Connecticut

Woodhams, D. C., Alford. R. A., Antwis, R. E., Archer, H. Becker, M. H., Belden, L. K., Bell, S.C., Bletz, M., Daskin, J. H., Davis, L. R., Flechas, S. V., Lauer, A., Gonzalez, A., Harris, R. N., Holden, W. M., Hughey, M.C., Ibáñez, R. D., Knight, R., Kueneman, J., Rabemananjara, F., Reinert, L. K., Rollins-Smith, L. A., Roman-Rodriguez, F., Shaw, S.D., Walke, J.B., McKenzie, V. 2015. Antifungal isolates database of amphibian skin-associated bacteria and function against emerging fungal pathogens. Ecology, 96(2)

Ellison, A. R., Tunstall, T., DiRenzo, G. V., Hughey, M. C., Rebollar, E. A., Belden, L., Harris, R. N., Ibáñez, R., Lips, K., Zamudio, K. R. 2015. More than skin deep: functional genomic basis for resistance to amphibian chytridiomycosis. 2015. Genome Biology and Evolution, 7(1): 286-298.http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evu285

Perez, R., Richards-Zawacki, C., Krohn, A. R., Robak, M., Griffith, E. J., Ross, H., Gratwicke, B., Ibáñez, R., Voyles, J. 2014. Field surveys in Western Panama indicate populations of Atelopus varius frogs are persisting in regions where Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is now enzootic. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, 8(2): 30-35.

Myers, C. W., Ibáñez, R. D., Grant, T., Jaramillo, César A. 2012. Discovery of the frog genus Anomaloglossus in Panama, with descriptions of two new species from the Chagres Highlands (Dendrobatoidea: Aromobatidae). American Museum Novitates, 3763: 1-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1206/3763.2

Heckadon-Moreno, S. Ibáñez, R.D., Condit, R. 1999. La Cuenca del Canal: deforestación, contaminación y urbanización: proyecto de monitoreo de la Cuenca del Canal de Panamá (PMCC).

Ibáñez, R. D., Solis, F. A. 1991. Las serpientes de Panama: Lista de especies, comentarios taxonomicos y bibliografia. Scientia, 6(2): 27-52.

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Roberto Ibanez

Name

Roberto

Last name

Ibañez

Position

Staff Scientist

Discipline (Private):

Long-term monitoring

Department:

Staff scientists

Jefferson Hall

Language English

Forest Ecology Reforestation and Silviculture Conservation Biology

The more we learn about tropical reforestation the more we realize how beneficial it is to a diverse set of ecosystem services that we have come to depend upon and take for granted.

Liana effects on biomass dynamics strengthen during secondary forest succession, 2017

A hyperspectral image can predict tropical tree growth rates in single-species stands, 2016

Agua Salud Project

Smart Reforestation®

Panama Canal Watershed Experiment

My research interests span a broad range of subjects from conservation biology and restoration ecology to collaborations with social scientist and economists on subjects related to human behavior and land management. The common theme is the applied nature of my work and the effort to provide information in a form that is useful to policymakers and practitioners.

The Agua Salud Project that I direct includes a 700-hectare landscape-scale laboratory where we quantify goods and services provided by a seasonal tropical forest and how they change with land use. Through a series of core monitoring networks and controlled manipulations we strive to understand the role of biodiversity in regulating stream flow, sequestering carbon, and other ecosystem processes with the goal of developing the next generation of models that will allow us to make projections in a future dominated by global change.

How can degraded landscapes be restored to productivity?

Not all lands can be protected and conserved as national parks. However, both rural land owners and city dwellers derive benefits from the land. Too often though, lands are not managed for long-term productivity, be it the more classical ecological definition of productivity as it relates to vegetation growth and carbon cycling, or producing water-related or other ecosystem services. For a rural land owner, productivity might mean profitability. We study different passive and active reforestation interventions that will help restore forests on nutrient-poor soils to meet different stakeholders’ definition of productivity, including the trade-offs inherent to managing for one objective over another.

What is Smart Reforestation®?

At the broad scale, we study how forests and other land uses produce ecosystem services. Smart Reforestation takes advantage of this knowledge to promote better land use planning across landscapes and watersheds such that priority areas of ecosystem service production are managed for the efficient delivery of these services to the people who depend upon them. At a more localized scale, Smart Reforestation entails informed species selection for reforestation in a way that optimizes the management objective.

Is the forest a sponge?

The sponge effect relates to the forest’s ability to regulate stream flow, be it enhancing dry season flow or mitigating peak flooding. The Agua Salud Project has found evidence for a sponge effect, with dramatic consequences during extreme weather events.

How will global change affect ecosystem services provided by forests?

One prediction of global change for which there is little dispute is that we will experience more frequent, extreme weather events. Be it entirely coincidental or linked to global change, we have experienced the three biggest storms in the last 50 years in the Panama Canal Watershed in just six years. During the El Niño of 2015-2016 we experienced one of the driest years ever recorded. In the Agua Salud Project we are able to take advantage of both extreme weather events and land use change to look into a future of global change. Our research suggests that forests will play a key role in mitigating and adapting to global change.

What is the optimal mosaic of land uses in tropical watersheds?

The optimal mosaic of land uses is one that takes into consideration the diverse needs of stakeholders to optimize the production and delivery of ecosystem services. It should not simply take into consideration short-term economic gain but rather balance resilience to extreme weather events and ensure the conservation of biodiversity.

Yale University, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Ph.D. in Tropical Forest Ecology / Silviculture, 2002. Advisor: P. Mark S. Ashton

Yale University, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
M.F.S. in Tropical Forest Science, 1992. Advisor: Florencia Montagnini

Miami University
B.A. in Zoology with Minor in French, 1983

Hall, J.S., Ashton, M.A. 2016. Guide to Survival and Early Growth in Plantations of 64 Native Tree Species to Panama and the Neotropics. 160 pp. ISBN 978-9962-614-37-1.

Hall, J.S., Kirn, V., Yanguas-Fernandez (Eds.). 2015. Managing Watersheds for Ecosystem Services in the Steepland Neotropics. Inter-American Development Bank Monograph, 340. 186 pp. https://publications.iadb.org/handle/11319/7233.

Plumptre, A.J., Nixon, S., Kujirakwinja, D., Vieilledent, G., Critchlow, R. Nishuli, R., Kirkby, A., Williamson, E.A., Hall, J.S. 2016. Catastrophic decline of world's largest primate: with 80% loss, Grauer's Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) population is critically endangered. PLOS ONE: DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0162697.

Battermann, S.A., Hedin, L.O., van Breugel, M., Ransijn, J., Craven, D., Hall, J.S. 2013. Tropical carbon sink depends upon N2 fixation and biodiversity. Nature 502:224-227.

Ogden, F.L., Crouch, T.D., Stallard, R.F., Hall, J.S. 2013. Effect of land cover and use on dry-season river runoff, runoff efficiency and peak storm runoff in the seasonal tropics of Central Panama. Water Resources Research

Van Breugel, M., Hall J.S., Craven, D., Bailon, M., Hernandez, A., Abbene, M., van Breugel, P. 2013. Succession of ephemeral secondary forests and their limited role for the conservation of floristic diversity in a human-modified tropical landscape. PLOS ONE: e82433.

Breugel, M. van, Hall, J.S., Craven, D.J., Gregoire, T.G., Park, A., Dent, D.H., Wishnie, M.H., Mariscal, E., Deago, J., Ibarra, D., Cedeno, N., and M.S. Ashton. 2011. Early growth and survival of 49 tropical tree species across differing soil fertility and rainfall gradients in Panama. Forest Ecology and Management 261, 1580-1589.

Hall, J.S., Ashton, M.S., Garen, E.J., Jose, S. 2011. The ecology and ecosystem services of native trees: Implications for reforestation and land restoration in Mesoamerica. Forest Ecology and Management 261, 1553-1557.

Hall, J.S., Harris, D.J., Medjibe, V., and Ashton, P.M.S. 2003. Effects of selective logging on forest structure and tree species composition in a Central African forest: implications for management of conservation areas. Forest Ecology and Management 183, 249-264.

Hall, J.S., White, L.J.T., Inogwabini, B.I., Omari, I., Morland, H.S., Williamson, E.A., Walsh, P., Saltonstall, K., Sikubwabo, C., Bonny, D., Kaleme, K.P., Vedder, A., and Freeman, K. 1998. A survey of Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla gorilla graueri) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the extension of Kahuzi-Biega National Park and adjacent forest in eastern Congo. International Journal of Primatology 19, 207-235.

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Jefferson S. Hall

Name

Jefferson

Last name

Hall

Position

Staff Scientist

Discipline (Private):

Department:

Hector M. Guzman

Language English

Marine Biology

Rapid change and lack of pristine marine environments skew basic research. Instead of studying tropical systems unchanged for millennia, scientists must ask questions about ongoing human impacts and conservation to inform policy.

Movements and Habitat Use by Southeast Pacific Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) Satellite Tracked at Two Breeding Sites, 2017

Short-term recovery of humpback whales after percutaneous satellite tagging, 2017

Climate Change at Sea

Satellite whale tracking

Migramar

Misión Manatí

My lab currently focuses much attention on marine highly migratory species including whales, manatees, sharks, sea birds, billfishes and turtles to better understanding their basic movement ecology and to encourage scientifically supported conservation policies. In the Pacific Ocean from Chile to Mexico, I am satellite tagging humpbacks, blue, orcas and other whales to learn about their little-known migration and movement ecology, and to detect how global change in oceans may be changing their behavior. In Panama’s western Caribbean, I am studying threatened manatee populations and leatherback turtles. My research has also focused on coral reefs in both the Pacific and Caribbean, with a special emphasis on the taxonomy ad ecology of little-known octocoral species of the Eastern Tropical Pacific.

Can we halt degradation and restore marine ecosystems?

"Illuminating the path to marine ecosystem restoration requires knowledge of the marine realm's natural processes and how these have changed. We do this with real-time monitoring of sensitive marine habitats and species populations. The combination of scale and spatial data analysis available now may rapidly inform conservation and policy to halt degradation and start restoring marine ecosystems."

Why are some megafauna species changing their behavior in the tropics?

Some highly migratory orcas are changing their movement patterns, home ranges and habitat use. We don’t know if this is due to climate change, or the collapse of fisheries and the rise of new food sources, such as humpback whale calves, which have increased in number as the whale population recovers. One trend we have documented with photography is that humpback whale flukes have shown a steady increase in bite marks associated with orcas over the last few decades, suggesting that orcas may be increasing attacks on calves as a food source. We’re also looking at reports of possible increases of orca attacks on fish caught by commercial fishers. But to get at these questions we need to start with understanding their basic movement ecology: what are they eating, where are they moving, where they come from, and what are they doing? We need to work on the genetics and morphology of orca subspecies (or potentially separate species) and track whales with satellite technology.

How is marine bird behavior changing in response to fishery collapse?

Marine birds are apex predators and they are facing increasing competition from commercial fishers and the impact of climate change on their food sources. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific, an El Niño event can exacerbate these problems and lead to mass mortality and mass migration of groups of birds numbering in thousands. To address these issues, we need to understand the basic ecology and life histories of these birds. On islands in the ETP, we’re using drone technology to measure colony productivity along with satellite tracking tags to learn how far they must travel to find food sources.

Can we track marine ecosystem degradation and natural restoration by monitoring the soundscape or acoustic changes in habitat and animal populations?

Our preliminary research on coral reef habitats show dramatic changes in the marine soundscape as reefs transition from degraded to healthy. Healthier reefs have notably “better” sound that degraded ones, which tend to produce a dull whining sound. We have also deployed sonar technology to track behavior of manatees in threatened Caribbean populations. We are also deploying instruments to study how commercial ship traffic impacts communication and behavior of humpback whales.

What is the most effective approach for implementing research-based policy: scientific lobbying or sharing burdens with NGOs?

I find that engaging policymakers directly is important since direct communication lines with authorities are important to decision-makers and nongovernmental organization focused on conservation might not necessarily have the ability to influence and inform policy on their own. Our role as scientists is to offer technical advice based on our best scientific research and to act as ambassadors for the importance of research in creating successful conservation policy.

1979 B.Sc. Biology (Marine Biology), University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica.

1986 M.Sc. Biology (Marine Biology), University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica.

1994 Ph.D. Biology, Newcastle University, United Kingdom.

Guzman, H.M. Beaver, C.E., & Diaz-Ferguson, E. (2021). Novel insights into the genetic population connectivity of transient whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in Pacific Panama provide crucial data for conservation efforts. Frontiers Marine Science. 8: 744109

Urban J.R., E. Jiménez-López, H.M. Guzman, L. Viloria-Gómora. (2021). Migratory behavior of an eastern North Pacific gray whale from Baja California Sur to Chirikov Basin, Alaska. Frontiers Mar. Sci. 8, 235.

Guzman, H.M., N. Hinojosa & S. Kaiser. (2020). Ship’s compliance with a Traffic Separation Scheme and speed limit in the Gulf of Panama and implications for the risk to humpback whales. Marine Policy. 120: 104113.

Breedy, O. & Guzman, H.M. (2020). A revision of the genus Psammogorgia Verrill, 1868 (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia) in the eastern Pacific. ZooKeys 961:1-30.

Merchan, F., A. Guerra, H.E. Poveda, H.M. Guzman, J.E. Sanchez-Galan. (2020). Bioacoustic Classification of Antillean Manatee Vocalization Spectrograms using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks. Applied Sciences 10(9): 3286.

Guzman, H.M., Capella, J.J., Valladares, C., Gibbons, J., Condit, R. (2020). Humpback whale movements in a narrow and heavily-used shipping passage, Chile. Marine Policy. 118: 103990.

Guzman, H.M., S. Kaiser & E.Weil. (2020). Assessing the long-term effects of a catastrophic oil spill on subtidal coral reef communities off the Caribbean coast of Panama (1985-2017). Marine Records. 50:1-19.

Guzman, H.M., S. Kaiser, V.J. van Hinsberg. (2020). Accumulation of trace elements in leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) eggs from the south-western Caribbean indicates potential health effects to consumers. Chemosphere 243: 125424.

Guzman, H.M., G. Rogers, C.G. Gomez. (2019). Behavioral states related to environmental conditions and fisheries during olive ridley turtle migration from Pacific Panama. Frontiers Mar. Sci. 6: 770.

Merchan, F., G. Echevers, H. Poveda, J.E. Sanchez-Galan & H.M. Guzman. (2019). Detection and identification of manatee individual vocalizations in Panamanian wetlands using spectrogram clustering. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 146:1745-1757.

Guzman, H.M., R. Cipriani, A. Vega & J.M Morales-Saldana. (2019). Fisheries and conservation assessments of shark in Pacific Panama. Aquat. Conserv. Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst.

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Héctor M. Guzmán

Name

Hector

Last name

Guzman

Position

Staff Scientist

Discipline (Private):

Ecosystem Services

Fisheries and Marine Conservation

Department:

William Eberhard

Language English

Behavioral Ecology Entomology

Females are often mistakenly thought to play relatively passive roles in copulation and reproduction, but their cooperation is often crucial in determining whether or not a copulation results in reproduction.

Species-specific differences in the behavior of male tsetse fly genitalia hidden in the female during copulation, 2016

Post-copulatory Sexual Selection in Two Tropical Orb-weaving Leucauge Spiders, 2015

I have worked on the behavior and natural history of diverse organisms, and have generally allowed them to guide me to interesting questions rather than attempting to impose my own pre-planned questions on them. Other than a general emphasis on natural selection, behavior and its functions, and evolution, my research “focus” has varied substantially (including the evolution of intra-cellular competition among plasmids and organelles, the evolution and function of spider webs, beetle horns, and genitalia in general). Some of the general questions on which I have worked more recently are listed below in the Rearch Questions section.

Please note: My lab is currently not accepting new applications for STRI internships.

Basic theme: Why do tropical animals behave as they do?

The great diversity of organisms in the tropics means that it is possible to choose particularly appropriate species for answering questions about how behavior evolves. For instance, tiny orb-weaving spiders that are capable of weaving complex webs, teach about body-brain scaling relationships. The diverse array of parasitic wasps that manipulate the behavior of their spider hosts to increase the survival of their pupae make it possible to trace the evolution of the wasps’ abilities to manipulate their hosts, and gain insights into how behavioral capabilities are organized within the spiders.

What is the role of behavioral mistakes in evolution? How do transitions to new behavioral traits occur in evolution?

The electrical activity of nerves and nervous systems is intrinsically imprecise. One possible source of new behavioral traits are such imprecisions. The more crucial the behavior, the more strongly natural selection is likely to act to correct deviations due to such imprecision. Tests of the importance of these ideas for behavioral evolution involve measurements of rates of errors in orb web construction, and rates of evolution of construction behavior in groups in which the selective importance of precise performance varies.

How do males use their genitalia? Do they use them to stimulate females to favor their own paternity?

The hypothesis that genitalia diverge rapidly due to cryptic female choice predicts that many species-specific structures of male genitalia function to stimulate the female during copulation. This prediction can be tested in several ways: checking for otherwise mechanically superfluous movements of such structures during copulation; checking for specialized female receptors in the areas contacted by such structures during copulation; blocking or otherwise inactivating such female receptors; or eliminating or otherwise inactivating the male structures.

How are the modular components of spider web construction behavior organized, and how has this organization influenced the evolution of webs?

Comparisons among related species of spiders suggests that behavior modules have been added, subtracted, and shuffled in various ways during evolution. Selective elicitation (and repression) of particular spider behavior modules by parasitic ichneumonid wasps also favors this view. The unusually detailed knowledge of the probable behavior of some ancestral forms allows testing the prediction that such division into semi-independent units facilitated evolutionary change by allowing shuffling in lineages of spiders descended from orb weavers.

Is there a positive relationship between body size and behavioral capabilities? Are tiny organisms behaviorally handicapped compared with their larger relatives?

The brains of animals that evolved miniature body sizes have lower numbers of neurons and connections between them; corrected for body size, their brains are larger than those of larger relatives. Miniaturized species might be expected to be behaviorally inferior, but several aspects of the behavior of one group, tiny orb-weaving spiders, were not simpler, slower, or less precise than those of larger relatives. Nervous tissue is relatively expensive to maintain, so the relatively over-sized brains of tiny spiders are probably energically costly, with several expected ecological consequences. Careful tests of the behavioral consequences of miniaturization have not yet been performed in other groups.

B.A., Harvard College, 1965.

Ph.D., Harvard University, 1969.

2015. Briceño, R. D. & Eberhard, W. G. Species-specific behavioral differences in tsetse fly genital morphology and probable cryptic female choice. Pp. 403-430 In Peretti, A. V. & Aisenberg, A. (eds.). Cryptic Female Choice in Arthropods. Springer, New York.

2011. Eberhard, W. G. & Wcislo, W. T. Grade changes in brain–body allometry: morphological and behavioural correlates of brain size in miniature spiders, insects and other invertebrates. In Jérôme Casas, editor: Advances in Insect Physiology 60: 155-214.

2010. Eberhard, W.G. Recovery of spiders from the effects of parasitic wasps: implications for fine-tuned mechanisms of manipulation. Animal Behaviour 79(2): 375–383

2009. Eberhard, W. G. Postcopulatory sexual selection: Darwin’s omission and its consequences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 106, suppl. 1: 10025-10032.

1996. Eberhard, W. G. Female Control: Sexual Selection by Cryptic Female Choice (book) Princeton University Press.

1994. Eberhard W. G. Evidence for widespread courtship during copulation in 131 species of insects and spiders, and implications for cryptic female choice. Evolution 48(3): 711–733.

1985. Eberhard, W. G. Sexual Selection and Animal Genitalia (book) Harvard University Press.

1982. Eberhard, W. G. Behavioral characters for the higher classification of orb-weaving spiders. Evolution 36(5): 1067–1095.

william.eberhard [at] gmail.com

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Bill Eberhardt

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William G. Eberhard

Name

William

Last name

Eberhard

Discipline (Private):

Neurobiology

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Staff scientists

Stuart Davies

Language English

Ecology Forest Ecology Plant Taxonomy

Forests vary in tree diversity over two orders of magnitude across the world. What drives the dynamics of these forests on a global scale? What is the difference between ‘natural’ and human-induced causes of forest change?

Maximising Synergy among Tropical Plant Systematists, Ecologists, and Evolutionary Biologists, 2017

Insights into regional patterns of Amazonian forest structure, diversity, and dominance from three large terra-firme forest dynamics plots, 2017

ForestGEO

My research investigates ecological and evolutionary influences on variation in rainforest communities across the tropics. The overarching goal of my research is to understand broad-scale patterns in the diversity and dynamics of tropical rainforests. Understanding how the environment constrains the distribution of tree species and influences growth and mortality rates is fundamental to predicting how global change will affect tropical rainforests. My research focuses on key questions like: How does building a global forest observation system help us to understand controls on the distribution, diversity and dynamics of forests worldwide? Forest vary in tree diversity over two orders of magnitude across the world. What drives the dynamics of these forests on a global scale? What is the difference between ‘natural’ and human-induced causes of forest change?

To meet this challenge, along with a global team of research colleagues, collaborators, and partners, I lead the Smithsonian Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), a global network of 66 large-scale forest research sites in 27 countries. We use long-term intensive observations of forests across the world to understand the origin and maintenance of forest diversity, and how forest biodiversity and function can best be conserved and managed. This brings together key elements needed to address these challenges at a global scale (1) establishment of a permanent site-based global forest observation system, (2) an integrated, interdisciplinary research team of innovative and creative scholars from a diversity of fields related to forest science, (3) partnerships with other institutions and agencies also concerned with the future of the world’s forests, and (4) an international program of forest science capacity building.

As the largest of its kind in the world, ForestGEO complements the efforts of the modeling community and the space-borne observational community, and provides an extraordinary opportunity to revolutionize our understanding of one of Earth’s most biologically complex and important systems.

How do species of hyper-diverse genera such as Macaranga coexist within a forest?

Understanding how the environment constrains the distribution of tree species and influences growth and mortality rates is fundamental to predicting how global change will affect tropical rainforests.

Ph.D., Harvard University, 1996

B.Sc., University of Sydney, Australia, 1987

Sezen, U., S.J. Worthy, M.N. Umana, S.J. Davies, S.M. McMahon & N.G. Swenson (accepted) Comparative transcriptomics of tropical woody plants supports fast and furious strategy along the leaf economics spectrum in lianas. 2022. Biology Open (Preprint online @BioRxiv). https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.06.451334

Kambach, S., R. Condit, S. Aguilar, H. Bruelheide, S. Bunyavejchewin, C-H. Chang-Yang, Y-Y. Chen, G. Chuyong, S.J. Davies, Sisira Ediriweera, Corneille E. N. Ewango, Edwino S. Fernando, N. Gunatilleke, S. Gunatilleke, S.P. Hubbell, A. Itoh, D. Kenfack, S. Kiratiprayoon, Y-C. Lin, J-R. Makana, M. Mohamad, N. Pongpattananurak, R. Pérez, L.J.V. Rodriguez, I-F. Sun, S. Tan, D. Thomas, J. Thompson, M. Uriarte, R. Valencia, C. Wirth, S.J. Wright, S-H. Wu, T. Yamakura, T.L. Yao, J. Zimmerman, N. Rüger. 2022. Consistency of demographic trade-offs across tropical forests. Journal of Ecology (in press) (Pre-print online @Authorea). 10.22541/au.163253541.10680169/v1

Zuleta, D., G. Arellano, H.C. Muller-Landau, S.M. McMahon, S. Aguilar, S. Bunyavejchewin, D. Cárdenas, C-H. Chang-Yang, A. Duque, D. Mitre, M. Nasardin, R. Pérez, I-F. Sun, T.L. Yao & S.J. Davies. 2022. Individual tree damage dominates mortality risk factors across six tropical forests. New Phytologist, 233 (2), 705-721. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17832

Gonzalez-Akre, E., C. Piponiot, M. Lepore, V. Herrmann, J.A. Lutz, J.L. Baltzer, C. Dick, G.S. Gilbert, F.L. He, M. Heym, A.I. Huerta, P. Jansen, D. Johnson, N. Knapp, K. Kral, D. Lin, Y. Malhi, S. McMahon, J.A. Myers, D. Orwig, D.I. Rodríguez-Hernández, S. Russo, J. Shue, X. Wang, A. Wolf, T. Yang, S.J. Davies & K.J. Anderson-Teixeira. 2022. allodb: An R package for biomass estimation at globally distributed extratropical forest plots. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 13 (2), 330-338. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13756

Piponiot, C., K.J. Anderson-Teixeira,, S.J. Davies,, D. Allen, N.A. Bourg, D.F.R.P. Burslem, D. Cárdenas, C-H. Chang-Yang, G. Chuyong, R. Condit, S. Cordell, H.S. Dattaraja, C.W. Dick, Á. Duque, S. Ediriweera, C. Ewango, Z. Ezedin, J. Filip, C. Giardina, T. Hart, A. Hector, R. Howe, C-F. Hsieh, S. Hubbell, F.M. Inman-Narahari, A. Itoh, D. Jánik, D. Kenfack,, K. Král, J.A. Lutz, J-R. Makana, S. McMahon, W. McShea, X. Mi, M. Mohamad, V. Novotný,, M.J. O'Brien, R. Ostertag, G. Parker, R. Pérez, H. Ren, G. Reynolds, M.D.M. Sabri, L. Sack, A. Shringi, S-H. Su, R. Sukumar, I-F. Sun, H.S. Suresh, D.W. Thomas, J. Thompson, M. Uriarte, J. Vandermeer, Y. Wang, I.M. Ware, G.D. Weiblen, T.J.S. Whitfeld, A. Wolf, T.L. Yao, M. Yu, Z. Yuan, J. Zimmerman, D. Zuleta, & H. Muller-Landau. 2022. Distribution of biomass dynamics in relation to tree size in forests across the world. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17995

Zuleta, D., S.M. Krishna Moorthy, G. Arellano, H. Verbeeck & S.J. Davies (2022) Vertical distribution of trunk and crown volume in tropical trees. Forest Ecology and Management, 508, 120056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120056

Anderson-Teixeira, K.J., V. Herrmann, C. Rollinson, B. Gonzalez, E.B. Gonzalez-Akre, N. Pederson, R. Alexander, C.D. Allen, R. Alfaro-Sánchez, T. Awada, J.L. Baltzer, P.J. Baker, S. Bunyavejchewin, P. Cherubini, J. Cooper, S.J. Davies, C. Dow, R. Helcoski, J. Kašpar, J. Lutz, E.Q. Margolis, J. Maxwell, S. McMahon, C. Piponiot, S. Russo, P. Šamonil, A. Sniderhan, A.J. Tepley, I. Vašíčková, M. Vlam & P. Zuidema (2021) Joint effects of climate, tree size, and year on annual tree growth derived from tree-ring records of ten globally distributed forests. Global Change Biology, 28 (1), 245-266. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15934

Cushman, K. C., S. Bunyavejchewin, D. Cárdenas, R. Condit, S.J. Davies, A. Duque, S.P. Hubbell, S. Kiratiprayoon, S.K.Y. Lum & H.C. Muller-Landau. 2021. Variation in trunk taper of buttressed trees within and among five lowland tropical forests. Biotropica, 53, 1442– 1453. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12994

Arellano, G., D. Zuleta & S.J. Davies. 2021. Tree death and damage: A standardized protocol for frequent surveys in tropical forests. Journal of Vegetation Science, 32(1) https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12981

ForestPlots, Blundo, C.,.. S.J. Davies.. (or 150 authors) (2021) Taking the pulse of Earth's tropical forests using networks of highly distributed plots. Biological Conservation, 260, 108849- , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108849

Saatchi, S., M. Longo, L. Xu, Y. Yang, H. Abe, M. André, J.E. Aukema, N. Carvalhais, H. Cadillo-Quiroz, G.A. Cerbu, J.M. Chernela, K. Covey, L.M. Sánchez-Clavijo, I.V. Cubillos, S.J. Davies, V. De Sy, F. De Vleeschouwer, A. Duque, A.M.S. Durieux, K. De Avila Fernandes, L.E. Fernandez, V. Gammino, D.P. Garrity, D.A. Gibbs, L. Gibbon, G.Y. Gowae, M. Hansen, N.L.Harris, S.P. Healey, R.G. Hilton, C.M. Johnson, R. Sufo Kankeu, N.T. Laporte-Goetz, H. Lee, T. Lovejoy, M. Lowman, R. Lumbuenamo, Y. Malhi, J-M.M.A. Martinez, C. Nobre, A. Pellegrini, J. Radachowsky, F. Román, D. Russell, D. Sheil, T.B. Smith, R.G.M. Spencer, F. Stolle, H. Lestari Tata, D. del Castillo Torres, R.M. Tshimanga, R. Vargas, M. Venter, J. West, A. Widayati, S.N. Wilson, S. Brumby & A.C. Elmore. 2021. Detecting vulnerability of humid tropical forests to multiple stressors. One Earth, 4, 7, 988-1003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.06.002

Pivovaroff, A.L., B.T. Wolfe, N. McDowell, B. Christoffersen, S. Davies, L.T. Dickman, C. Grossiord, R.T. Leff, A. Rogers, S.P. Serbin, S.J. Wright, J. Wu, C. Xu & J.Q. Chambers. 2021. Hydraulic architecture explains species moisture dependency but not mortality rates across a tropical rainfall gradient. Biotropica, 53, 1213-1225. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12964

Wiegand, T., X. Wang, K.J. Anderson-Teixeira,, N. Bourg, M. Cao, X. Ci, S.J. Davies, Z. Hao,, R. Howe, W.J. Kress, J. Lian, J. Li, L. Lin, Y. Lin, K. Ma, W. McShea, X. Mi, S-H. Su, I-F. Sun, A. Wolf, W. Ye & Andreas Huth. 2021. Consequences of spatial patterns for coexistence in species rich plant communities. Nature, Ecology & Evolution 5, 965–973.

Basset, Y., L.R. Jorge, P.T. Butterill, G.P.A. Lamarre, C. Dahl, R. Ctvrtecka, S. Gripenberg, O.T. Lewis, H. Barrios, J.W. Brown, S. Bunyavejchewin, B.A. Butcher, A.I. Cognato, S.J. Davies, O. Kaman, P. Klimes, M. Knížek, S.E. Miller, G.E. Morse, V. Novotny, N. Pongpattananurak, P. Pramual, D.L.J. Quicke, W. Sakchoowong, R. Umari, E.J. Vesterinen, G. Weiblen, S.J. Wright & Segar, S.T. 2021. Host specificity and interaction networks of insects feeding on seeds and fruits in tropical rainforests. Oikos, 130 (9), 1462-1476. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.08152

Wills, C., B. Wang, S. Fang, Y. Wang, Y. Jin, J. Lutz, J. Thompson, K.E. Harms, S. Pulla, B. Pasion, S. Germain, H. Liu, J. Smokey, S-H. Su, N. Butt, C. Chu, G. Chuyong, C-H. Chang-Yang, H.S. Dattaraja, S. Davies, S. Ediriweera, S. Esufali, C.D. Fletcher, N. Gunatilleke, S. Gunatilleke, S., et al. 2021. Interactions between all pairs of neighboring trees in 16 forests worldwide reveal details of unique ecological processes in each forest, and provide windows into their evolutionary histories. Plos Computational Biology, 17(4) e1008853 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008853

Kunert, N., J. Zailaa, V. Herrmann, H. Muller-Landau, S.J. Wright, R. Perez, S. McMahon, R. Condit, S. Hubbell, L. Sack, S. Davies & K. Anderson-Teixeira. 2021. Leaf turgor loss point shapes local and regional scale distribution of broadleaf evergreen but not deciduous tropical rainforest trees in relation to moisture. New Phytologist 230 (2), 485-496. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17187

Arellano, G., D. Zuleta & S.J. Davies. 2021. Tree death and damage: a standardized protocol for frequent surveys in tropical forests. Journal of Vegetation Science. 32 (1), e12981.

Luskin M.S., D.J. Johnson, K. Ickes, T.L. Yao & S.J. Davies. 2021. Wildlife disturbances as a source of conspecific negative density-dependent mortality in tropical trees. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B, 288: 20210001. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0001

Russo, S. S.M. McMahon, M. Detto, S.J. Wright, R.S. Condit, S.J. Davies, S. Bunyavejchewin, C.H. Chang-Yang, C.E.N. Ewango, C. Fletcher, R.B. Foster, C.V.S. Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N. Gunatilleke, T. Hart, C-F. Hsieh, S.P. Hubbell, A. Itoh, A.R. Kassim, Y.C. Lin, J.-R. Makana, P. Ong, A. Sugiyama, I-F. Sun, S. Tan, J. Thompson, T. Yamakura, S.L. Yap, J.K. Zimmerman. 2021. The interspecific growth-mortality trade-off is not a general framework for understanding tropical forest community structure. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5 (2), 174–183. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01340-9

Kohyama, T., M. Potts, T. Kohyama, K. Niiyama, T.L. Yao, S.J. Davies & D. Sheil. 2020. Trade-off between standing biomass and productivity in species-rich tropical forest: evidence, explanations and implications. Journal of Ecology, 108 (6), 2571-2583. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13485

Sullivan, M.J.P., S.L. Lewis, .. S. Davies, .. & O.L. Phillips. 2020. Long-term thermal sensitivity of Earth’s tropical forests. Science, 368, 869-874.

Weemstra, M., K.G. Peay, S.J. Davies, M. Mohamad, A. Itoh, S. Tan & S.E. Russo. 2020. Lithological constraints on resource economies shape the mycorrhizal composition of a Bornean rain forest. New Phytologist, 228, 253-268.

Koven, C.D., R.G. Knox, R.A. Fisher, J. Chambers, B.O. Christoffersen, S.J. Davies, M. Detto, M.C. Dietze, B. Faybishenko, J. Holm, M. Huang, M. Kovenock, L.M. Kueppers, G. Lemieux, E. Massoud, N.G. McDowell, H.C. Muller-Landau, J.F. Needham, R.J. Norby, T. Powell, A. Rogers, S.P. Serbin, J.K. Shuman, A.L.S. Swann, C. Varadharajan, A.P. Walker, S.J. Wright & C. Xu. 2020. Benchmarking and parameter sensitivity of physiological and vegetation dynamics using the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES) at Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Biogeosciences, 17(11): 3017-3044. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3017-2020

Segnitz, R.M., S.E. Russo, S.J. Davies & K.G. Peay. 2020. Ectomycorrhizal fungi drive positive phylogenetic plant–soil feedbacks in a regionally dominant tropical plant family. Ecology, 101 (8), e03083. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3083

Zuleta, D., S.E. Russo, M. Detto, A. Barona, D. Cardenas, N. Castaño, S.J. Davies, S. Sua, B.L. Turner & A. Duque. 2020. Importance of topography for tree species habitat distributions in a terra firme forest in the Colombian Amazon. Plant and Soil, 450 (1), 133-149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3878-0

Rutishauser, E., S. Wright, R. Condit, S. Hubbell, S.J. Davies, & H. Muller-Landau. 2020. Testing for changes in biomass dynamics in large-scale forest datasets. Global Change Biology 26(3): 1485-1498. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14833.

Xu, H, M. Detto, S. Fang, R. Chazdon, Y. Li1, B.C.H. Hau, G.A. Fischer, G.D. Weiblen, J.A, Hogan, J.K. Zimmerman, M. Uriate, J. Thompson, J. Lian, K. Cao, D. Kenfack, A. Alonso, P. Bissiengou, H.R. Memiaghe, R. Valencia, S.L. Yap, S.J. Davies, X. Mi & T.L. Yao. 2020. Soil nitrogen concentration mediates the relationship between leguminous trees and neighbor diversity in tropical forests. Communications Biology 3 (1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-1041-y

Fung, T., Chisholm, R.A., Anderson‐Teixeira, K., Bourg, N., Brockelman, W.Y., Bunyavejchewin, S., Chang‐Yang, C.-H., Chitra‐Tarak, R., Chuyong, G., Condit, R., Dattaraja, H.S., Davies, S.J., Ewango, C.E.N., Fewless, G., Fletcher, C., Gunatilleke, C.V.S., Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N., Hao, Z., Hogan, J.A., Howe, R., Hsieh, C.-Fu., Kenfack, D., Lin, Y.C., Ma, K., Makana, J.-R., et al. 2019. Temporal population variability in local forest communities has mixed effects on tree species richness across a latitudinal gradient. Ecology Letters, 23 (1), 160-171 https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13412

Bunyavejchewin, S., A. Sinbumroong, B.L. Turner & S.J. Davies. 2019. Natural disturbance and soils drive diversity and dynamics of seasonal dipterocarp forest in Southern Thailand. Journal of Tropical Ecology 35(3): 95-107.

McShea, W., R. Sukmasuang, D. Erickson, V. Herrmann, D. Ngoprasert, N. Bhumpakphan & S.J. Davies. 2019. Metabarcoding reveals diet diversity in an ungulate community in Thailand. Biotropica 51 (6), 923-937.

Menge, D.N.L., R.A. Chisholm, S.J. Davies, et al. 2019. Rarity of nitrogen-fixing trees in Asia suggests lower potential for carbon sequestration. Journal of Ecology 107 (6), 2598-2610 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13199.

Luskin, M.S., K. Ickes, T.L. Yao & S.J. Davies. 2019. Wildlife differentially affect tree and liana regeneration in a tropical forest: An 18-year study of experimental terrestrial defaunation versus artificially abundant herbivores. Journal of Applied Ecology, 56(6): 1379-1388. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13378

Chave, J., S.J. Davies, O.L. Phillips, S.L. Lewis, P. Sist, D. Schepaschenko, J. Armston, T.R. Baker, D. Coomes, M. Disney, L. Duncanson, B. Hérault, N. Labrière, V. Meyer, M. Réjou-Méchain, K. Scipal & S. Saatchi. 2019. Ground data are essential for biomass remote sensing missions. Surveys in Geophysics, 40 (4): 863-880. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-019-09528-w

McMahon, S.M., G. Arellano & S.J. Davies. 2019. The importance and challenges of detecting changes in forest mortality rates. Ecosphere 10 (2), e02615.

Arellano, G., N. García-Medina, S. Tan, M. Mohamad & S.J. Davies. 2019. Crown damage and the mortality of tropical trees New Phytologist 221(1): 169-179. doi:10.1111/nph.15381.

Zemunik, G. S.J. Davies & B.L. Turner. 2018. Soil drivers of local-scale tree growth in a lowland tropical forest. Ecology 99 (12), 2844-2852

Labrière, N. S. Tao, J. Chave, K. Scipal, T. Le Toan, N. Barbier, T. Casal, S.J. Davies, A. Ferraz, B. Hérault, G. Jaouen, D. Kenfack, S.L. Lewis, Y. Malhi, M. Réjou-Méchain, L. Villard, G. Vincent, S. Saatchi. 2018. In situ data from the TropiSAR and AfriSAR campaigns as a support to upcoming spaceborne biomass missions. IEEE JSTARS Special Issue on Forest Structure Estimation in Remote Sensing, 11(10): 3617 - 3627.

Johnson, D.J., J. Needham, C. Xu, E.C. Massoud, S.J. Davies, K.J. Anderson-Teixeira, S. Bunyavejchewin, J.Q. Chambers, C.H. Chang-Yang, J.M. Chiang, G.B. Chuyong, R. Condit, S. Cordell, C. Fletcher, C. P. Giardina, T.W. Giambelluca, N. Gunatilleke, S. Gunatilleke, C.F. Hsieh, S. Hubbell, F. Inman-Narahari, A.R. Kassim, M. Katabuchi, D. Kenfack, C. M. Litton, S. Lum, M. Mohamad, M. Nasardin, P.S. Ong, R. Ostertag, L. Sack, N. G. Swenson, I. F. Sun, S. Tan, D. W. Thomas, J. Thompson, M.N. Umana, M. Uriarte, R. Valencia, S. Yap, J. Zimmerman, N.G. McDowell & S.M. McMahon. 2018. Climate sensitive size-dependent survival in tropical trees. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2, 1436-1442.

Kurten, E., S. Bunyavejchewin & S.J. Davies. 2018. A dipterocarp-dominated forest in a seasonally dry climate exhibits annual reproduction. Journal of Ecology. 106 (1), 126-136.

Hogan, J., J. Zimmerman, J. Thompson, M. Uriarte, N. Swenson, R. Condit, S. Hubbell, D. Johnson, I. Sun, C.-H. Chang-Yang, S.-H. Su, P. Ong, L. Rodriguez, C. Monoy, S. Yap, and S.J. Davies. 2018. The frequency of cyclonic wind storms shapes tropical forest dynamism and functional trait dispersion. Forests 9:404.

Kurten EL, Bunyavejchewin S, Davies SJ. Phenology of a dipterocarp forest with seasonal drought: Insights into the origin of general flowering. J Ecol. 2018; 106:126–136. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12858

Zuleta, D., Duque, A. , Cardenas, D. , Muller‐Landau, H. C. and Davies, S. J. (2017), Drought‐induced mortality patterns and rapid biomass recovery in a terra firme forest in the Colombian Amazon. Ecology, 98: 2538-2546. doi:10.1002/ecy.1950

Kang Min Ngo, Stuart Davies, Nik Faizu Nik Hassan & Shawn Lum (2017) Resilience of a forest fragment exposed to long-term isolation in Singapore, Plant Ecology & Diversity, 9:4, 397-407, DOI: 10.1080/17550874.2016.1262924

daviess [at] si.edu

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Stuart James Davies

Name

Stuart

Last name

Davies

Position

Staff Scientist

Discipline (Private):

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Annette Aiello

Language English

Behavior Entomology

A butterfly pupa masquerades as a snake head, a bagworm never leaves its case of silk and sand until it reaches adulthood, beetle larvae stow away in biodegradable packing peanuts. Sound a bit like science fiction? These natural history stories are real.

Tropical caterpillar addiction, 2016

Brachyplatys vahlii (Fabricius, 1787), an introduced bug from Asia: first report in the Western Hemisphere, 2016

I have studied insect life histories for the last 40 years. My main focus has been the transformations of moths and butterflies, especially caterpillar development, behavior and defenses, and the clues that they and their host plants can contribute to our understanding of species relationships. My publications include other subjects too — beetles, leafhoppers, insect outbreaks, mimicry, and even sloth hair, as well as plants, reflecting my early interest in botany, which I pursued on my own until entering college in my late 20s, and later was the subject of my Ph.D. thesis.

How do tropical insects protect themselves?

Like insects everywhere, tropical insects are just trying to stay alive long enough to reproduce. They use a variety of strategies to avoid predators and to find food and mates. In the tropics, where there are more species of plants and animals than in colder regions, the tricks they use, and their interspecies interactions, can be much more complex.

What are tropical insects doing and why?

They're doing all the regular things that everybody does. Eating and sleeping and reproducing and avoiding predators. There is no end to the intricacies of their forms, behaviors, and defenses. For example, there are caterpillars that make escape holes in their leaves and construct stalactites of fecula and silk to guide them to those holes; others live in rolled leaves and keep their fecula there as barriers to predatory wasps and ants; others live communally in silk sacks, in which they pupate together; still others live together in the open and follow each other on silk trails that they lay from one feeding site to another and to their molting places on their tree trunk.

What can immature stages of insects tell us about their evolutionary relationships?

The immature stages — caterpillars and pupae — are totally different from the adults, and they're evolving independently. That's been shown with frogs. If you do a cladogram for the tadpoles and the frogs, you will get a different set of species relationships. There are limits to that separate evolution, or they wouldn't be able to transform from one to the other.

What can knowledge of host plants tell us about insect evolutionary and relationships?

George Vogt learned that with certain of his weevils. He found that in North America they are on oaks (Fagaceae), where they suffer from predatory weevils that are related to them, and which attack their eggs, but when they get into Mexico and South America, they switch to plants of the Anacardiaceae and they drop their predators. So, the consequences for changing plants can be good ones.

B.A., Biology, magna cum laude, Brooklyn College, 1972

M.A., Biology, Harvard University, 1975

Ph.D., Biology, Harvard University, 1978; Thesis: "A Reexamination of Portlandia (Rubiaceae) and Associated Taxa" (Dr. Richard A. Howard, advisor).

Aiello, Annette, A. 2021. “Jaws: a powerful trunk-girdling longhorn, Trachysomus thomsoni Aurivillius, 1923 (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Onciderini) in Panama.” The Coleopterists Bulletin 75(3):531-536.

Aiello, A. & Stucky. B. 2020. "First host plant record for Pacarina (Hemiptera: Cicadidae)." Neotropical Biology and Conservation, 15(1): 77–88. https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.15.e49013

Aiello, A. 2019. “Amorphosoma penicillatum (Klug, 1827) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Agrilinae): A fearless jewel beetle in Panama.” Coleopterists Bulletin 73(4): 1102–1104.

Brashears, J., Aiello, A. & Seymoure, B. 2016. "Cool bands: Wing bands decrease rate of heating, but not equilibrium temperature in Anartia fatima." Journal of Thermal Biology 56:100—108.

Aiello, A., Saltonstall, K., & Young, V. "Brachyplatys vahlii, an introduced bug from Asia: first report in the Western Hemisphere (Hemiptera: Plataspididae: Bracyplatidinae)." BioInvasions Record, 5(1):7—12.

Aiello, A. 2015. Tropical caterpillar addiction. In: Dyer, Lee A. and Forister, Matthew L., The lives of lepidopterists. Springer International Publishing, pp.91‑102.

Seymoure, B. & Aiello, A. 2015. "Keeping the band together: evidence for false boundary disruptive coloration in a butterfly." Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 28(2015):1618—1624. doi: 10.1111/jeb. 12681

Aiello, A. 2015. "Oncideres Serville Key to Too Few: 34 Species Lost." The Coleopterists Bulletin 69(1):60.

Domínguez Núñez, Edwin & Aiello, A. 2013. "Leaf‑hoppers (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) that probe human skin: a review of the world literature and nineteen new records, from Panama." Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews 6(2013):201-225.

Donald, D., Quintero A., D., Cambra T., R., & Aiello, A. 2008. "Biology of a new Panamanian bagworm moth (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) with predatory larvae, and eggs individually wrapped in setal cases. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 101(4): 689-702.

Van Bael, S.A., Aiello, A., Valderrama, A., Medianero, E., Samaniego, M., & Wright, S.J. 2004. General herbivore outbreak following an El Niño‑related drought in a lowland Panamanian forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 20(6):625‑633.

aielloa [at] si.edu

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Annette Aiello

Name

Annette

Last name

Aiello

Position

Staff Scientist

Discipline (Private):

Developmental Biology

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Department:

Staff scientists

Kristina Anderson-Teixeira

Language English

Ecosystem Ecology Forest Ecology Global Ecology

Forests are invaluable for their roles in biodiversity protection and climate regulation. Global change is impacting forests worldwide, and understanding such changes will be critical to forest conservation and climate protection efforts.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)

Role of tree size in moist tropical forest carbon cycling and water deficit responses, 2017

Vulnerability to forest loss through altered post-fire recovery dynamics in a warming climate in the Klamath Mountain, 2017

Lab Website

ForestGEO Ecosystems & Climate Research Program

I specialize in forest ecosystem ecology, global change ecology, and climate protection through forest conservation. My approach combines data synthesis and analysis, quantitative ecology, and field research and focuses on understanding how climate — and climate change — shape ecosystems, and how ecosystems in turn regulate climate. I lead the ForestGEO Ecosystems & Climate Research Program for the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), leveraging this unique global forest monitoring network to understand forest responses and feedbacks to climate. Research themes include carbon cycling in forests worldwide, forest disturbance and recovery dynamics under a changing climate, and valuing forests for their climate regulation services.

Prospective interns and fellows please note: I am based at the Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute and unable to mentor in Panama.

How does climate influence carbon cycling across forests worldwide?

Forests influence climate in part through their key role in the global carbon cycle. Kristina’s interests include how carbon cycling in forests is influenced by factors such as forest age and climate. To get at this, she leverages data from the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) and the Global Forest Carbon database (ForC). ForC-db, which Kristina’s lab has created and maintains, is the largest and most comprehensive global database of forest carbon stocks and annual fluxes in existence.

How does tree size mediate forest ecosystem functioning and climate responses?

Trees of different size respond differently to variation in environmental conditions; for example, research in Kristina’s lab has shown that larger trees tend to suffer more during drought in forests worldwide. Understanding and predicting forest ecosystem responses to climatic variation and change therefore requires understanding how trees of different size contribute to ecosystem functioning and how they respond to environmental variation. Kristina’s research team uses data from the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) to address these questions.

How is climate change impacting forest disturbances and subsequent recovery?

Climate change and other anthropogenic pressures are altering both the frequency and intensity of a variety of types of forest disturbances (for example, droughts, fire, insect pest/pathogen outbreaks) and the dynamics of forest recovery following disturbance. In some cases, this can dramatically impact forest ecosystems and landscapes, with important consequences for biodiversity and climate feedbacks. Kristina’s research on this theme has included forest responses to drought, climatic effects on forest succession, climate change responses of fire-prone forested landscapes, and fine-scale patterns of tree mortality.

How valuable are forests for climate regulation?

The Earth's climate is strongly regulated by forests; clearing just 100 square feet of forest has roughly the same effect on climate as driving across the continental US. There is growing recognition of forest protection as an effective strategy for climate change mitigation, and designing effective climate mitigation policies requires accurate quantification of the climate services of terrestrial ecosystems. Kristina has developed framework for quantifying the climate-regulating value of ecosystems and is currently building an online tool to provide location-specific estimates of ecosystem climate regulation services.

Ph.D. Biology (with distinction). 2007. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.

B.S. Biology (H) cum laude. 2002. Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.

Piponiot, C., K. J. Anderson-Teixeira, S. J. Davies, D. Allen, N. A. Bourg, D. F. R. P. Burslem, D. Cárdenas, C.-H. Chang-Yang, G. Chuyong, S. Cordell, H. S. Dattaraja, Á. Duque, S. Ediriweera, C. Ewango, Z. Ezedin, J. Filip, C. P. Giardina, R. Howe, C.-F. Hsieh, S. P. Hubbell, F. M. Inman-Narahari, A. Itoh, D. Janík, D. Kenfack, K. Král, J. A. Lutz, J.-R. Makana, S. M. McMahon, W. McShea, X. Mi, M. Bt. Mohamad, V. Novotný, M. J. O’Brien, R. Ostertag, G. Parker, R. Pérez, H. Ren, G. Reynolds, M. D. Md Sabri, L. Sack, A. Shringi, S.-H. Su, R. Sukumar, I.-F. Sun, H. S. Suresh, D. W. Thomas, J. Thompson, M. Uriarte, J. Vandermeer, Y. Wang, I. M. Ware, G. D. Weiblen, T. J. S. Whitfeld, A. Wolf, T. L. Yao, M. Yu, Z. Yuan, J. K. Zimmerman, D. Zuleta, and H. C. Muller-Landau. 2022. Distribution of biomass dynamics in relation to tree size in forests across the world. New Phytologist n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17995

Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J., Herrmann, Valentine, Rollinson, Christine R., Gonzalez, Bianca, Gonzalez-Akre, Erika B., Pederson, Neil, Alexander, M. Ross, Allen, Craig D., Alfaro-Sanchez, Raquel, Awada, Tala, Baltzer, Jennifer L., Baker, Patrick J., Birch, Joseph D., Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh, Cherubini, Paolo, Davies, Stuart J., Dow, Cameron, Helcoski, Ryan, Kaspar, Jakub, Lutz, James A., Margolis, Ellis Q., Maxwell, Justin T., McMahon, Sean M., Piponiot, Camille, Russo, Sabrina E., et al. 2022. Joint effects of climate, tree size, and year on annual tree growth derived from tree-ring records of ten globally distributed forests. Global Change Biology, 28(1): 245-266. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15934

Gonzalez-Akre, E., C. Piponiot, M. Lepore, V. Herrmann, J. A. Lutz, J. L. Baltzer, C. Dick, G. S. Gilbert, F. He, M. Heym, A. I. Huerta, P. Jansen, D. J. Johnson, N. Knapp, K. Kral, D. Lin, Y. Malhi, S. McMahon, J. A. Myers, D. Orwig, D. I. Rodríguez-Hernández, S. Russo, J. Shue, X. Wang, A. Wolf, T. Yang, S. J. Davies, and K. J. Anderson-Teixeira. (n.d.). allodb: An R package for biomass estimation at globally distributed extratropical forest plots. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 13(2):330-338. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13756

Anderson‐Teixeira, K., Herrmann, V., Banbury Morgan, R., Bond‐Lamberty, B. P., Cook‐Patton, S. C., Ferson, A. E., Muller‐Landau, H. C., & Wang, M. M. H.(2021). Carbon cycling in mature and regrowth forests globally. Environmental Research Letters, 16 053009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abed01.

Anderson-Teixeira, K. J., V. Herrmann, W. B. Cass, A. B. Williams, S. J. Paull, E. B. Gonzalez-Akre, R. Helcoski, A. J. Tepley, N. A. Bourg, C. T. Cosma, A. E. Ferson, C. Kittle, V. Meakem, I. R. McGregor, M. N. Prestipino, M. K. Scott, A. R. Terrell, A. Alonso, F. Dallmeier, and W. J. McShea. 2021. Long-Term Impacts of Invasive Insects and Pathogens on Composition, Biomass, and Diversity of Forests in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Ecosystems 24 (89-105). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00503-w

Banbury Morgan R, Herrmann V, Kunert N, Bond-Lamberty B, Muller-Landau H C and Anderson-Teixeira K J. (2021) Global patterns of forest autotrophic carbon fluxes. Global Change Biology, 27 (12) 2840-2855. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15574 .

Davies, S. J., I. Abiem, K. Abu Salim, S. Aguilar, D. Allen, A. Alonso, K. Anderson-Teixeira, A. Andrade, G. Arellano, P. S. Ashton, P. J. Baker, M. E. Baker, J. L. Baltzer, Y. Basset, P. Bissiengou, S. Bohlman, N. A. Bourg, W. Y. Brockelman, S. Bunyavejchewin, D. F. R. P. Burslem, M. Cao, D. Cárdenas, L.-W. Chang, C.-H. Chang-Yang, K.-J. Chao, W.-C. Chao, H. Chapman, Y.-Y. Chen, R. A. Chisholm, C. Chu, G. Chuyong, K. Clay, L. S. Comita, R. Condit, S. Cordell, H. S. Dattaraja, A. A. de Oliveira, J. den Ouden, M. Detto, C. Dick, X. Du, Á. Duque, S. Ediriweera, E. C. Ellis, N. L. E. Obiang, S. Esufali, C. E. N. Ewango, E. S. Fernando, J. Filip, G. A. Fischer, R. Foster, T. Giambelluca, C. Giardina, G. S. Gilbert, E. Gonzalez-Akre, I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke, C. V. S. Gunatilleke, Z. Hao, B. C. H. Hau, F. He, H. Ni, R. W. Howe, S. P. Hubbell, A. Huth, F. Inman-Narahari, A. Itoh, D. Janík, P. A. Jansen, M. Jiang, D. J. Johnson, F. A. Jones, M. Kanzaki, D. Kenfack, S. Kiratiprayoon, K. Král, L. Krizel, S. Lao, A. J. Larson, Y. Li, X. Li, C. M. Litton, Y. Liu, S. Liu, S. K. Y. Lum, M. S. Luskin, J. A. Lutz, H. T. Luu, K. Ma, J.-R. Makana, Y. Malhi, A. Martin, C. McCarthy, S. M. McMahon, W. J. McShea, H. Memiaghe, X. Mi, D. Mitre, M. Mohamad, L. Monks, H. C. Muller-Landau, P. M. Musili, J. A. Myers, A. Nathalang, K. M. Ngo, N. Norden, V. Novotny, M. J. O’Brien, D. Orwig, R. Ostertag, K. Papathanassiou, G. G. Parker, R. Pérez, I. Perfecto, R. P. Phillips, N. Pongpattananurak, H. Pretzsch, H. Ren, G. Reynolds, L. J. Rodriguez, S. E. Russo, L. Sack, W. Sang, J. Shue, A. Singh, G.-Z. M. Song, R. Sukumar, I.-F. Sun, H. S. Suresh, N. G. Swenson, S. Tan, S. C. Thomas, D. Thomas, J. Thompson, B. L. Turner, A. Uowolo, M. Uriarte, R. Valencia, J. Vandermeer, A. Vicentini, M. Visser, T. Vrska, X. Wang, X. Wang, G. D. Weiblen, T. J. S. Whitfeld, A. Wolf, S. J. Wright, H. Xu, T. L. Yao, S. L. Yap, W. Ye, M. Yu, M. Zhang, D. Zhu, L. Zhu, J. K. Zimmerman, and D. Zuleta. 2021. ForestGEO: Understanding forest diversity and dynamics through a global observatory network. Biological Conservation 253:108907.

Kunert, N., J. Zailaa, V. Herrmann, H. C. Muller‐Landau, S. J. Wright, R. Pérez, S. M. McMahon, R. C. Condit, S. P. Hubbell, L. Sack, S. J. Davies, and K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira. 2021. Leaf turgor loss point shapes local and regional distributions of evergreen but not deciduous tropical trees. New Phytologist, 230: 485-496. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17187

McGregor, I. R., R. Helcoski, N. Kunert, A. J. Tepley, E. B. Gonzalez‐Akre, V. Herrmann, J. Zailaa, A. E. L. Stovall, N. A. Bourg, W. J. McShea, N. Pederson, L. Sack, and K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira. 2021. Tree height and leaf drought tolerance traits shape growth responses across droughts in a temperate broadleaf forest. New Phytologist 231(2):601-616. DOI: 10.1111/nph.16996

Muller‐Landau, H. C., K. C. Cushman, E. E. Arroyo, I. Martinez Cano, K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira, and B. Backiel. 2020. Patterns and mechanisms of spatial variation in tropical forest productivity, woody residence time, and biomass. New Phytologist.

Cook-Patton S C, Leavitt S M, Gibbs D, Harris N L, Lister K, Anderson-Teixeira K J, Briggs R D, Chazdon R L, Crowther T W, Ellis P W, Griscom H P, Herrmann V, Holl K D, Houghton R A, Larrosa C, Lomax G, Lucas R, Madsen P, Malhi Y, Paquette A, Parker J D, Paul K, Routh D, Roxburgh S, Saatchi S, Hoogen J van den, Walker W S, Wheeler C E, Wood S A, Xu L and Griscom B W 2020 Mapping carbon accumulation potential from global natural forest regrowth Nature 585 545–50

Walker, A. P., M. G. D. Kauwe, A. Bastos, S. Belmecheri, K. Georgiou, R. Keeling, S. M. McMahon, B. E. Medlyn, D. J. P. Moore, R. J. Norby, S. Zaehle, K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira, G. Battipaglia, R. J. W. Brienen, K. G. Cabugao, M. Cailleret, E. Campbell, J. Canadell, P. Ciais, M. E. Craig, D. Ellsworth, G. Farquhar, S. Fatichi, J. B. Fisher, D. Frank, H. Graven, L. Gu, V. Haverd, K. Heilman, M. Heimann, B. A. Hungate, C. M. Iversen, F. Joos, M. Jiang, T. F. Keenan, J. Knauer, C. Körner, V. O. Leshyk, S. Leuzinger, Y. Liu, N. MacBean, Y. Malhi, T. McVicar, J. Penuelas, J. Pongratz, A. S. Powell, T. Riutta, M. E. B. Sabot, J. Schleucher, S. Sitch, W. K. Smith, B. Sulman, B. Taylor, C. Terrer, M. S. Torn, K. Treseder, A. T. Trugman, S. E. Trumbore, P. J. van Mantgem, S. L. Voelker, M. E. Whelan, and P. A. Zuidema. 2020. Integrating the evidence for a terrestrial carbon sink caused by increasing atmospheric CO2. The New Phytologist, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16866

McDowell, N. G., C. D. Allen, K. Anderson-Teixeira, B. H. Aukema, B. Bond-Lamberty, L. Chini, J. S. Clark, M. Dietze, C. Grossiord, A. Hanbury-Brown, G. C. Hurtt, R. B. Jackson, D. J. Johnson, L. Kueppers, J. W. Lichstein, K. Ogle, B. Poulter, T. A. M. Pugh, R. Seidl, M. G. Turner, M. Uriarte, A. P. Walker, and C. Xu. 2020. Pervasive shifts in forest dynamics in a changing world. Science, 368(6494). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz9463

Goldstein, A., Turner, W. R., Spawn, S. A., Anderson-Teixeira, K. J., Cook-Patton, S., Fargione, J., Gibbs, H. K., Griscom, B., Hewson, J. H., Howard, J. F., Ledezma, J. C., Page, S., Koh, L. P., Rockström, J., Sanderman, J., & Hole, D. G. (2020). Protecting irrecoverable carbon in Earth’s ecosystems. Nature Climate Change, 1–9.

Requena Suarez, D., D. M. A. Rozendaal, V. D. Sy, O. L. Phillips, E. Alvarez‐Dávila, K. Anderson‐Teixeira, A. Araujo‐Murakami, L. Arroyo, T. R. Baker, F. Bongers, R. J. W. Brienen, S. Carter, S. C. Cook‐Patton, T. R. Feldpausch, B. W. Griscom, N. Harris, B. Hérault, E. N. H. Coronado, S. M. Leavitt, S. L. Lewis, B. S. Marimon, A. M. Mendoza, J. K. N’dja, A. E. N’Guessan, L. Poorter, L. Qie, E. Rutishauser, P. Sist, B. Sonké, M. J. P. Sullivan, E. Vilanova, M. M. H. Wang, C. Martius, and M. Herold. (n.d.). Estimating aboveground net biomass change for tropical and subtropical forests: refinement of IPCC default rates using forest plot data. Global Change Biology, 25(11), 3609-3624. DOI: 10.1111/nph.15906

Helcoski, R., Tepley, A. J., Pederson, N., McGarvey, J. C., Meakem, V., Herrmann, V., Thompson, J. R., & Anderson-Teixeira, K. J. (2019). Growing season moisture drives inter-annual variation in woody productivity of a temperate deciduous forest. New Phytologist, 223(3):1204-1216 . DOI: 10.1111/nph.15906

Miller, A. D., J. R. Thompson, A. J. Tepley, and K. J. Anderson‐Teixeira. (2019). Alternative stable equilibria and critical thresholds created by fire regimes and plant responses in a fire-prone community. Ecography 42(1):55-66. DOI: 10.1111/ecog.03491

Anderson-Teixeira, K. J., M. M. H. Wang, J. C. McGarvey, V. Herrmann, A. J. Tepley, B. P. Bond-Lamberty, and D. S. LeBauer (2018). ForC: a global database of forest carbon stocks and fluxes. Ecology 99(6), 1507-1507. DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2229.

McDowell, N., C. Allen, K. Anderson-Teixeira, P. Brando, R. Brienen, J. Chambers, B. Christoffersen, S. Davies, C. Doughty, A. Duque, F. D. B. Espirito-Santo, R. Fisher, C. G. Fontes, D. Galbraith, D. Goodsman, C. Grossiord, D. Johnson, H. Hartmann, J. Holm, A. R. Kassim, M. Keller, C. Koven, L. Kueppers, T. Kumagai, H. C. Muller-Landau, Y. Malhi, S. McMahon, M. Mencuccini, P. Meir, P. Moorcroft, O. L. Phillips, T. Powell, C. A. Sierra, J. Sperry, J. M. Warren, C. Xu, and X. Xu. (2018) Drivers and mechanisms of tree mortality in moist tropical forests. New Phytologist . DOI: 10.1111/nph.15027.

teixeirak [at] si.edu

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Kristina

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Anderson–Teixeira

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Geography and Biogeography

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John Christy

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Marine Behavioral Ecology

Most phenotypic traits have multiple functions. How do traits come to be used for different purposes and how does selection arising from these uses shape the designs of these traits?

Hood-building dynamics and mating mode in the temperate fiddler crab Uca uruguayensis Nobili, 1901., 2016

Specialized morphology corresponds to a generalist diet: linking form and function in smashing mantis shrimp crustaceans, 2016

I study adaptation with a focus on reproduction. Sexual selection: How and why do animals compete for and choose mates? I study the social and ecological interactions that select for the most diverse and striking features of animals, from exaggerated weapons to flamboyant courtship signals and displays. Reproductive ecology: Why do most intertidal animals have reproductive cycles that track the tides? I describe these cycles and conduct experiments and comparative studies to understand the adaptive significance of the timing of reproduction by marine invertebrates.

Please note: I no longer accept interns or short-term fellows. I will consider co-advising advanced pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellows who are able to work independently.

How do you design a beautiful weapon?

"A male fiddler crab's single large claw should be both long and lightweight for attracting a mate but short and stout for fighting. These seemingly incompatible designs can co-exist when evolution favors novel compensatory features that ameliorate negative tradeoffs, thereby supporting the simultaneous dual function of the claw."

What is the philosophical and biological basis of our understanding of evolution?

Biology and philosophy – Our thinking about and expectation for adaptations depend critically on our understanding of the nature of teleology in evolution. Humans use rational thought to plan ahead. When our goal is to make an object that performs a certain task we follow plans that specify the processes and steps necessary to construct the object that so that it performs in the desired manner. When we think about evolution we often are tempted to say that a trait of an organism evolves to perform a certain function. But this is wrong: adaptive function is a consequence not a goal of evolution. Such faulty reasoning has become very common in studies of mate choice that claim male traits evolve to reveal male “quality” or some other feature to potential mates. I am exploring the philosophical and biological basis of this error, its ramifications in both empirical and theoretical studies in the field, and how to correct it.

Questions related to adaptation and design:

How are morphological and behavioral traits shaped by multiple modes of natural and sexual selection? How does the phenotype respond to countervailing selection from two or more processes? What social and ecological factors facilitate trait exaggeration? How are costs kept in check as traits become exaggerated under sexual selection? Under what circumstances do the traits males use to court females during mating become exaggerated? Do morphological specializations for feeding reduce or expand the kinds of foods animals consume? How does the timing of reproduction respond to short-term changes in temperature and tidal patterns and how will these responses determine long-term success as the global climate changes?

B.A., Lewis and Clark College, 1970.

Ph.D., Cornell University, 1980.

Dennenmoser, S. and J. H. Christy. 2012. The design of a beautiful weapon: compensation for opposing sexual selection on a trait with two functions. Evolution 67:1181-1188

Christy, J. H., P. R. Y. Backwell, S. Goshima and T. Kreuter. 2002. Sexual selection for structure building by courting male fiddler crabs: an experimental study of behavioral mechanisms. Behav. Ecol. 13:366-374

Christy, J. H. 1995. Mimicry, mate choice and the sensory trap hypothesis. Am. Nat. 146:171-181.

Christy, J. H. and M. Salmon. 1984. Ecology and evolution of mating systems of fiddler crabs (genus Uca). Biol. Rev. 59:483-509.

christyj [at] si.edu

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John H. Christy

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John

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Christy

Discipline (Private):

Marine Biology

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How do bats handle unnatural noise?

Language English

Frog-hunting bats overcome noisy environments by switching sensory channels

A discovery by a Smithsonian intern in Panama is published by the journal Science.

Story location

Gamboa, Panama

Animal Behavior Zoology Connections in nature: Plants, Animals, Microbes and Environments Gamboa Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)

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How do bats
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unnatural
noise?

Does deep-time climate change predict the future of tropical forests?

Why are there so many species in the tropics? How is the latitudinal diversity gradient explained?

Can we develop new techniques to analyze biostratigraphic data? How can we use fossils to find natural resources such as oil, coal, gas and water?

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How can individual countries help save frog species?

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How can degraded landscapes be restored to productivity?

What is Smart Reforestation®?

Is the forest a sponge?

How will global change affect ecosystem services provided by forests?

What is the optimal mosaic of land uses in tropical watersheds?

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Can we halt degradation and restore marine ecosystems?

Why are some megafauna species changing their behavior in the tropics?

How is marine bird behavior changing in response to fishery collapse?

Can we track marine ecosystem degradation and natural restoration by monitoring the soundscape or acoustic changes in habitat and animal populations?

What is the most effective approach for implementing research-based policy: scientific lobbying or sharing burdens with NGOs?

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Basic theme: Why do tropical animals behave as they do?

What is the role of behavioral mistakes in evolution? How do transitions to new behavioral traits occur in evolution?

How do males use their genitalia? Do they use them to stimulate females to favor their own paternity?

How are the modular components of spider web construction behavior organized, and how has this organization influenced the evolution of webs?

Is there a positive relationship between body size and behavioral capabilities? Are tiny organisms behaviorally handicapped compared with their larger relatives?

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How do species of hyper-diverse genera such as Macaranga coexist within a forest?

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How do tropical insects protect themselves?

What are tropical insects doing and why?

What can immature stages of insects tell us about their evolutionary relationships?

What can knowledge of host plants tell us about insect evolutionary and relationships?

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How does climate influence carbon cycling across forests worldwide?

How does tree size mediate forest ecosystem functioning and climate responses?

How is climate change impacting forest disturbances and subsequent recovery?

How valuable are forests for climate regulation?

Name

Last name

How do you design a beautiful weapon?

What is the philosophical and biological basis of our understanding of evolution?

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