Biodiversity loss despite a century of protection
August 18, 2021
The Barro Colorado bird community has lost about a quarter of its species over time
News
Archive
Bats fall for the Decoy Effect
August 10, 2021
How does having a third choice (a decoy) change the way fruit-eating bats choose what to eat?
Understanding wildlife vulnerability to road networks
August 06, 2021
During three years, local scientist Dumas Gálvez drove along a road parallel to a rainforest looking out for dead vertebrates.
Is this the oldest cashew on the isthmus?
August 03, 2021
A fossil tree discovery in Panama offers clues regarding the establishment of the genus Anacardium in Central and South America
Punishment enforces cooperation in the fig-wasp mutualism: The exception proves the rule
August 02, 2021
Mutually beneficial relationships are common, but what happens when one partner stops enforcing the other’s good behavior?
Desperate brittlestars, suffocating corals and resilient microbes: First multidisciplinary data from an acute marine hypoxic event and its historical context
July 29, 2021
In September 2017, divers observed a massive “dead zone” rising to envelop Caribbean coral reefs in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Smithsonian post-docs joined together to understand marine hypoxia now and in the past.
Caribbean mangrove forests may serve as coral shelters
July 26, 2021
Most coral species fared better in the shaded environment offered by the mangrove canopy
Exploring the cloudiest forest in Central America
July 20, 2021
The Fortuna Hydrological Reserve hosts one third of Panama’s tree species, a variety of fungi waiting to be discovered and a great potential to offset global warming
How can “shark dandruff” contribute to coral reef conservation?
July 06, 2021
Sharks’ bodies are covered with tiny, tooth-like scales called denticles. Shed denticles settle to the ocean floor, where they remain in sediments for years and can be used to understand which sharks lived on a reef in the past.
Biologists discover that more intense predation in the tropics can limit marine invasions
June 23, 2021
What makes a successful invasion? What keeps invaders out? Are some geographic locations more vulnerable to invasion than others?
