Tropical Ecology (EEB 338)
"The diversity of tropical rainforests: beta diversity and vertical stratification"
April 14-30, 2008
An intensive field course based at three main sites in Panama which examines the origins, maintenance and major interactions among terrestrial biota in tropical rainforests. The course will involve extensive travel and completion of different field projects.
Altos de Campana - understorey
Description
“Tropical Ecology” is an intensive field course based at three main sites in Panama which examines the origins, maintenance and major interactions among terrestrial plants and animals. The course provides the opportunity to appreciate (1) the floral and faunal turnover among four rainforest sites (beta-diversity); and (2) the floral and faunal turnover along vertical gradients, from ground to upper canopy, at two rainforest sites (vertical stratification). Participants carry out group and individual projects at the following sites, of different elevations and rainfall:
- Lowland semi-deciduous forest (1,850 mm rainfall): Parque Natural Metropolitano (PNM)
http://striweb.si.edu/esp/physical_monitoring/descrip_pnm.htm - Lowland wet evergreen forest (2,131 mm rainfall): Pipeline Road, Gamboa (PRD)
http://www.icbgpanama.org/website/soberania.htm; - Lowland wet evergreen forest (3,152 mm rainfall): Ft Sherman in San Lorenzo (FTS)
http://striweb.si.edu/esp/physical_monitoring/descrip_fts.htm;
Fieldwork is supported by six orientation walks, which introduce participants to common orders and families of plants and arthropods.
The course proper consists of 14 lectures and informal group discussions, the latter centered on the book “An Introduction to Tropical Rain Forests” by T.C. Whitmore (1998, Oxford University Press) and additional scientific articles. The course examines the characteristics of tropical rainforests as compared to temperate forests, with examples drawn specifically from the Neotropics and Panama. The roles of contemporary and historical factors in shaping various tropical landscapes are discussed, with particular emphasis given to the formation of the Isthmian Land Bridge and subsequent floral and faunal interchange. The maintenance of local biodiversity (plant and animals, particularly arthropods) is discussed with regard to the important factors of seasonality, altitudinal gradients and vertical stratification within tropical forests. The influence of the latter is explored in the field with the help of the canopy crane system managed by STRI, which offer safe access to the upper canopy. The role of biotic interactions is examined with specific reference to the important forest processes of herbivory, pollination, seed dispersal and decomposition. The future and conservation of tropical rainforests represent the closing theme of this series of lectures and informal discussions.
Students are asked to carry out group and individual projects in the field. Orientation lectures and informal walks in the field help them to choose such projects, and report on them with scientific standards. Group and individuals projects aiming at testing particular hypotheses with basic statistics are suggested by the course professor, but students are encouraged to propose their own projects. Students report on group and individual projects in Word following standard publication guidelines and deliver informal PowerPoint presentations before the class.
Logistics
The course is based at the school house in Gamboa where phone and email communication is possible, especially during evening hours. From Gamboa, the participants travel daily to the sites of Pipeline Road and Parque Natural Metropolitano and Altos de Campana National Park. One trip of three days is planned to the Ft Sherman Canopy Crane in the San Lorenzo forest, with accommodation at the nearby Centro “El Tucan” in Achiote, run by the Panamanian NGO CEASPA (Centro de Estudios y Acción Social Panameño, www.sanlorenzo.org.pa). There is radio contact with the station of Ft Sherman at all times.
Grading
Grading is based on performance in the field (25%), quality of individual project reports (50%), and quality of group project reports (25%).
Parque Natural Metropolitano - detail of upper canopy, view from crane
Course Professor
Dr. Yves Basset
STRI
+507 212 8233 (w)
+507 264 9529 (h)
bassety@si.edu
Web pages:
IBISCA
The New Guinea Binatang Research Center
Personal Page
Teaching assistant - Panama
Angie Estrada
estradaac@hotmail.com
Confirmed guest lecturers (14 lectures in total)
- Carlos Jaramillo
(STRI, geological history of Panama) - Héctor Barrios
(University of Panama, biodiversity) - Andy Jones
(STRI, Forest tree genetics) - Catherine Potvin
(McGill University, carbon sequestration and conservation) - David Roubik
(STRI, pollination systems) - Lider Sucre
(ANCON, nature conservation)
Confirmed guests for orientation walks: Héctor Barrios
Pipeline Road - dead standing tree in the understorey
Required reading
Lectures
- Aims of the course and introduction of the participants (Basset)
- What is special about tropical rainforests (Basset)
- Presentation of study sites and projects (Basset)
- How to carry out a research project (Basset)
- The minimum to know about stats (Basset)
- Carbon sequestration and the conservation of tropical rainforests (Potvin)
- A brief geological history of Neotropical rainforests (Jaramillo)
- Biodiversity in tropical rainforests (Barrios)
- Seasonal aspects: why tropical forests are no more stable than temperate forests (Basset)
- Altitudinal gradients in tropical rainforests (Basset)
- Rainforest conservation in Panama (Sucre)
- Vertical stratification in tropical rainforests (Basset)
- Pollination in tropical rainforests (Roubik)
- Forest tree genetics (Jones)
- Plant, animals and their interactions with regard to forest processes (Basset)
Group and Individual projects
Our field course will be intense. We will have only two days of general introduction before we initiate research projects. Hence it is HIGHLY ADVISABLE that students choose their group and individual projects before arriving in Panama . Both individual and group projects will consist of 1.5 days spent at 3 different sites (in total 4.5 days for group projects and 6 days for individual projects). Group projects may include teams of 2-3 or more students (ideally six teams of 3 students). Individual projects can be related to group projects or represent an extension of group projects; they should however remain individual.
Students are entirely free to choose their own group/individual projects. However, you can download some information below which may guide you to choose these projects. They are suggested with particular reference to their feasibility, time constraints within the three-week course and low cost.
Group projects [ Download PDF file ]
Simplified PDF file about study sites and projects [ Download PDF file ]
San Lorenzo - upper canopy, view from crane
Preliminary schedule
Please download schedule [PDF Document - 34Kb].