Risky Business
Courtship movements put katydids in danger
April 30, 2020
Females may also be prone to predation as they move toward a mating call
Females may also be prone to predation as they move toward a mating call
Just as humans with their babies, adult female bats change their vocalizations when interacting with “babbling” pups, which could be interpreted as positive feedback to their offspring during vocal practice
STRI staff scientist Joe Wright and colleagues present results in Science indicating that diversity among adult tropical trees can be maintained if spatial repulsion among individuals of the same species is greater than spatial repulsion among individuals of different species.
How does a tree escape or resist disease?
Existing conservation policies rarely reward local people who care for old-growth forests. In this study, Indigenous Emberá residents worked with scientists to show how, through their sustainable lifestyle in communities established during the 1960’s-1980’s in one of Central America’s most pristine, old-growth forests, they act as custodians, conserving this, shared space.
The new GEO-TREES initiative addresses the uncertainty of satellite estimates of forest carbon by creating a trustworthy global carbon verification system based on existing collaborations among scientists at forest research sites worldwide. Supported by the Bezos Earth Fund, all data will be available free, online.
Joshua Tewksbury, director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, explains how the development of a global standard measure of forest carbon will jumpstart the carbon economy.
My research seeks to optimize the conservation of birds and biodiversity in tropical working landscapes, especially coffee and cocoa growing regions of Latin America. I lead the Smithsonian Bird Friendly® program, which offers a gold standard certification for coffee and cocoa farms that...
Five Panamanian scientists share a glance at the experience of working in the tropical biologist’s dream, Barro Colorado Island.
Long-term research at Barro Colorado Island Research Station and at many other locations show that there are more woody vines in tropical forests, but very little is known about them. They are difficult to measure and so are often overlooked. This research group measured the biggest vine they have found on the island—but is this the biggest liana in the world? The authors challenge others to come up with a bigger one.