Panama’s Plentiful Plants
An invitation from Mireya Correa
August 23, 2013
The director of Panama’s herbaria invite visiting researchers to use these valuable resources of Panama’s astounding plant biodiversity.
The director of Panama’s herbaria invite visiting researchers to use these valuable resources of Panama’s astounding plant biodiversity.
STRI is hosting Dr. Anna Mežaka, originally from Latvia and currently employed at the University of Marburg (UMR), Germany, who is doing a project called “Life on a leaf: species interactions and community dynamics in epiphyll communities” funded by a Marie Skłodowska - Curie Global Fellowship from the European Union.
From tiny banana seeds to giant coconuts, it’s tough for seeds to survive in tropical soils where they are under attack by fungi, bacteria, insects and animals. By understanding how seeds defend themselves, tropical biologists contribute to reforestation, crop management and sustainable agriculture in the tropics.
Perhaps old species, like some older people, gradually lose their ability to deal with changes in their environment. Aaron O’Dea and colleagues show that when the Caribbean was cut off from the Pacific by the rise of the Panama land bridge, evolutionarily old species took longer to expand into new habitats than evolutionarily younger species did.
Join us to celebrate a few of the discoveries made in 2018.
For these four women, the Smithsonian Institute’s internship program represented an opportunity to explore their research questions in the field
Why did some bee species become social, while the majority have remained solitary? On Barro Colorado Island, a bee that adopts both strategies interchangeably, may unlock the evolutionary origins of sociality in insects
Fever may be less effective at repelling infections in cold-blooded creatures
In commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of Panama City, a STRI exhibition celebrates the close relationship between Panamanians and corn, from its use by the first settlers of the isthmus to the present
The discerning eye of staff scientist, Annette Aiello, observed the fearless behavior of an iridescent insect resembling a bird dropping containing embedded, blue seeds.