Back from the dead
Tropical tree fern repurposes its dead leaves
February 26, 2024
A species of tree fern found only in Panama uses ‘zombie leaves’ or reanimated dead leaf fronds, and turns them into root structures that feed the mother plant.
A species of tree fern found only in Panama uses ‘zombie leaves’ or reanimated dead leaf fronds, and turns them into root structures that feed the mother plant.
The Winter lab studies how tropical plants, particularly trees, function and interact with their environment. We explore plant function in the field and under controlled conditions, at the whole organism level and at the level of individual organs, combining physiological, biochemical and...
Irene Kopelman’s most recent exhibit, which includes a new collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, can be seen at Panama’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
A global center
for tropical science
A tropical research community
on the edge of the Panama Canal
Studying the forest
from the top down
Over the last two years, staff at the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center have worked to save bats from the dangers of the Russian full-scale invasion. Now, they join researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to study bat behavior in Panama.
Virola trees in Panama are defying a well-known hypothesis from the 1970s regarding tropical biodiversity, revealing how genetics and the environment shape pathogen communities and seedling survival in tropical forests
STRI from Myth to Reality: Working on Barro Colorado Island as Part of a Community.
Visiting scientist Camille Delavaux and intern, Omayra Meléndez, celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the ForestGEO 50-hectare plot, a unique forest ecology research tool, and the people who make it possible.