At the Smithsonian’s Bocas del Toro Research Station, in Panama, marine biologist Rachel Collin runs an educational program that recruits international experts to teach and create videos about how to collect, preserve and observe marine invertebrates, passing down their very specific knowledge to aspiring taxonomists.
How does whale watching affect whale behavior? Who watches whales in Panama’s Las Perlas Archipelago? Researchers from STRI and ASU hope to recommend innovative data-based conservation strategies.
Large marine animals generally have unique functions for the ecosystem. They are also more susceptible to extinction when their habitats are altered. Around 3 million years ago, at least one third of the marine megafauna became extinct, possibly due to sea level fluctuations and the contraction of coastal habitats. This also led to a loss of some of their ecological functions. In the current era, many large marine animals are deemed at risk of extinction. What will be the consequences of this potential loss?
Sweat bees navigate through dark tropical forests guided by canopy patterns.
Most coral species fared better in the shaded environment offered by the mangrove canopy
During three years, local scientist Dumas Gálvez drove along a road parallel to a rainforest looking out for dead vertebrates.
Picture this: What to do at a party when you try to carry on a conversation, but the music is too loud? A Panamanian doctoral student is trying to figure out how dolphins communicate underwater during heavy boat traffic in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago.
How does having a third choice (a decoy) change the way fruit-eating bats choose what to eat?
Long-term monitoring of the bat species Saccopteryx bilineata in their natural setting revealed that pups display babbling behavior strikingly similar to that of human infants
For the last several decades, amphibians have experienced population declines and extinctions due to their own pandemic caused by a chytrid fungus. Creating amphibian arks is critical for the survival of the most-affected species. Jorge Guerrel, project manager of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation project, will give us a closer look at Panama’s pioneering efforts to conserve native frogs.
