barro colorado island – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Growing Threats to Biodiversity ‘Arks’

By Guest PostJuly 25, 2012Natureafrica, agalychnis callidryas, arks for biodiversity, asia-pacific, barro colorado island, biodiversity arks, bukit palong, cameroon, carolina usech, cyclopes didactylus, deforestation, forest elephant, green iguana, iguana iguana, kadiri serge bobo, loxodonta cyclotis, national park, oil palm plantation, panama, peninsular malaysia, red eyed treefrog, silky anteater, skull, southern gabon, thomas smith, threats, tropical americas, tropical forests, tropical research, university of dschang, william laurance

Many of the protected areas in tropical nations are struggling to sustain their biodiversity, according to a study by more than 200 scientists from around the world. The study, which will appear Thursday in the journal Nature, found that deforestation is advancing rapidly in these nations and most reserves are losing some or all of their surrounding forest.

Among the scientists participating in the study were lead author Professor William Laurance of James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, who is also a senior research fellow at UCLA’s Center for Tropical Research; and Thomas Smith, a professor at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and director of UCLA’s Center for Tropical Research. (more…)

Why Are Vines Overtaking the American Tropics?

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2011Environment, ScienceAmazon, american tropics, barro colorado island, beauty kingdom, bolivian smazon, brazil, carbon, carbon storage, el nino events, english ivy, forest canopy, forests, french guiana, human communities, impact on animals, japanese honeysuckle, kudzu, liana vines, milwaukee, oliver phillips, oriental bittersweet, panama, planet, Smithsonian, south carolina, stefan schnitzer, subtropical forests, tropical forests, united states, vines

A Million-Dollar Question

Sleeping Beauty’s kingdom was overgrown by vines when she fell into a deep sleep. Researchers at the Smithsonian in Panama and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee received more than a million dollars from the U.S. National Science Foundation to discover why real vines are overtaking the American tropics. Data from eight sites show that vines are overgrowing trees in all cases.

“We are witnessing a fundamental structural change in the physical make-up of forests that will have a profound impact on the animals, human communities and businesses that depend on them for their livelihoods,” said Stefan Schnitzer, research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and associate professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. (more…)

Tag Archives: barro colorado island

Growing Threats to Biodiversity ‘Arks’

Why Are Vines Overtaking the American Tropics?