Six staff scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) are compiling and editing volumes to commemorate the “longest conversation in tropical biology”, to document research conducted in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument and its contribution to current understanding of humid tropical forests.

“The First 100 Years of Research on Barro Colorado: Plant and Ecosystem Science” volumes 1 and 2, edited by STRI staff scientists Helene Muller-Landau and S. Joseph Wright, are the first volumes to be published with the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press (SISP) and are now available online. The complete volumes, as well as individual chapters, can be downloaded through the BCI 100 book series page in the Barro Colorado Island Centennial website.

“Barro Colorado Island (BCI) has become the most thoroughly studied tropical forest on earth,” stated Muller-Landau. “This wealth of research is valuable for tropical forest scientists more broadly. At the same time, it’s a challenge to students and researchers new to the site, to sort through all that literature to find the most relevant studies for their interests. Researchers who have been working at BCI for decades, especially resident STRI staff scientists, have long played an invaluable role in this respect, pointing new people to key papers and connecting them with others with similar interests. But the community as well as the literature has grown so large, that this is an increasingly difficult task. It was time for a new synthesis.”

These two volumes brought together 140 plant and ecosystem scientists who contributed 98 chapters, covering everything from plant reproduction and physiology, community ecology, plant-animal and plant-microbe interactions, remote sensing, observational and experimental ecosystem studies, the natural history of BCI taxa, and much more.

“We invited everyone who had completed a sustained research program in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument to contribute,” said Wright. “Their synthetic reviews integrate discoveries made in the BCNM with current understanding of plant and ecosystem biology. Each chapter brings its own perspective and together provide an unprecedented understanding of the inner workings of a humid tropical forest.”

Additionally, authors’ datasets, metadata and supplemental materials were included in an open access data repository that accompanies the book.

“This volume brings together the massive number of studies that have been conducted on BCI, providing a synthetic overview of the insights that have emerged about tropical forest ecology over the past century,” said STRI Research Associate Liza Comita, a frequent BCI visitor and contributor to the volume. “In doing so, it also helps identify remaining knowledge gaps to be filled over the coming century by the next generation of researchers.”

“The power of this volume goes well beyond any single chapter; rather, it is the linkages that can be found among the many chapters that will provide a more profound and complex understanding of tropical ecology,” stated Stefan Schnitzer, a STRI Research Associate who studies lianas in the BCNM and also contributed to the volume.

“The long-term, multi-disciplinary wealth of natural history information collected by generations of scientists is unsurpassed,” said STRI Research Associate Phyllis Coley, who has studied plant defenses on BCI since the 1970s.

"The BCI bryophyte listing was the first compilation of the diversity of these plants in a forest in Panama," said STRI scientist Noris Salazar, who specializes in bryophytes. "It served as the basis for comparative projects carried out in other regions of the country. We hope that it will also serve as a basis for the development of future ecology projects, including the effects of climate change on lowland tropical bryophyte populations over time."

The physical version of the plant and ecosystem volumes will be published early in 2025. Two more BCI volumes are currently in the works, focusing on research on animal ecology, evolution and behavior, and on the climate, hydrology and geology of the island.

The editors expect that these volumes will also provide a foundation for future research in BCI and other tropical forest sites.

The Barro Colorado Nature Monument in Panama, which includes Barro Colorado Island and nearby mainland peninsulas, is the best studied tropical forest in the world. Spanning the main water channel of the Panama Canal, the 5,400-hectare BCNM was created in 1979 when the Republic of Panama granted custodianship of BCI and the surrounding mainland to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for the purpose of scientific research.

Barro Colorado Island became a natural reserve in 1923, and the research station opened in 1924. Around 400 scientists from dozens of countries visit the island each year, to study everything from the effects of lightning strikes on trees, to microbial communities, to plant and animal diversity. With nearly 100 years of climate data, 54 years of environmental monitoring, and the first long-term, large-scale 50-ha tropical forest plot established in 1980, the island is a must for biologists to study how tropical forests and their inhabitants change through time.

“We scientists are typically fully engaged in everyday business, constantly moving forward, not looking back,” shared STRI Research Associate Gerhard Zotz, who contributed several chapters on epiphytic plants. “This book gave me the chance to look back at 100 years of BCI history.”

“While living on BCI, one is surrounded by the wonders of the forest, the comradery of fellow scientists, and the extraordinary body of knowledge that scientists before us had compiled,” Coley added. “Discussions over dinner were richer than a whole semester in a typical academic department. Except for her chiggers, I think most of us fall in love with BCI.”

STRI thanks all the authors who contributed to these volumes, all the peer reviewers, and the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press for making these volumes possible.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a unit of the Smithsonian Institution. The institute furthers the understanding of tropical biodiversity and its importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. Promo video.