TROPINET
, Vol. 8, No. 3, September 1997
1997 Association for Tropical Biology Annual Meeting
by Deborah Clark, La Selva Biological Station and University of
Missouri, St. Louis; Elizabeth Braker, Occidental College; and Paulo
S. Oliveira, U. Campinas, Brazil.
The June 1997 Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology
was a landmark both for the society and for tropical biology. The
venue was San José, Costa Rica, a world center for the
development of tropical science, for conservation of tropical biomes,
and for the study of tropical biodiversity. This location no doubt
helped stimulate record-breaking participation by biologists from all
over the tropics. Another special draw was that the meetings were
jointly sponsored by the Organization for Tropical Studies, to honor
the contributions of Donald and Beverly Stone over the 20 years
during which they brought OTS to its current pivotal role in
education and research in tropical biology. Given that the heart of
OTS' activities has been in Costa Rica, it was especially fitting for
OTS to join with ATB at this year's meeting.
With nearly 300 papers and posters presented in the four days of
sessions, not to mention the seven symposia (from Multitrophic
Interactions to The Conservation and Ecology of Tropical
Bats), five workshops, and the plenary session, there was too
much going on to be covered by any single meeting participant (read,
we can't possibly give a comprehensive report here). Suffice it to
say that this year's annual meetings of ATB demonstrated beyond doubt
that tropical biology is flourishing.
The international networking that is one of ATB's fortes was another
major outcome of this annual meeting, with field experiences and
research ideas being shared among tropical biologists from all over
the world. Five hundred and eighty-three biologists from 22 countries
attended the San José sessions.
OTS President Dr. Pedro Leon noted in his plenary address that the
coming of age of tropical field research was seen in the geographical
distribution of participants. 56% of attendees were from tropical
countries, with eleven different tropical countries represented. An
even more striking sign of the increasing strength of the national
research communities in the tropics was the distribution of first
authors of the papers and posters that were presented this year.
Nearly half (45%) of the first authors were from tropical countries.
We can only expect that this trend will continue over the coming
years, a strong cause for optimism regarding the world's ability to
address the many pressing issues in tropical biology. A clear bias in
this tropical participation was towards Latin America, with only a
few representatives from other tropical countries (India, 1; Brunei,
1). Food for thought for the future is that, by convening future
annual meetings in tropical Africa and Southeast Asia, ATB may be
able to greatly extend participation in the society by tropical
scientists from these parts of the world.
In the Alwyn Gentry Student Award competition, there were an
impressive 85 papers and posters. Paulo Oliveira assembled a panel of
30 judges from across the diverse fields of tropical ecology, and
each student paper and poster was evaluated by three judges. The
level of the submissions was excellent, and in the end five students
were chosen to receive the 1997 Gentry Award. The two selected oral
presentations were by Erika Deinert (U. Texas) and Peter Sherman (U.
Michigan). The three winning posters were those of Marie de la Fuente
(U. Colorado), Aldicir Scariot (EMBRAPA, Brazil), and Steve Yanoviak
(U. Oklahoma). All the awardees will receive a year's subscription to
Biotropica, a cash award from ATB, and a $100 donation in
books from the University of Chicago Press (thanks to Susan Abrams,
Executive Editor, Natural Sciences).
Regarding this year's meetings, major kudos are due to Dr. Jorge
Jiménez and other OTS staff, and the many collaborators from
Costa Rican universities who made the meeting the success it was.
These people did the massive work that went largely unnoticed by us
participants: from design of the program, to abstract reviewing, to
smoothly running logistics, to filling last-minute requests for
masking tape and white tablecloths. A very special thanks is due to
the nearly 100 student volunteers from the Universidad de Costa Rica,
the Universidad Nacional, and the Instituto Tecnológico de
Costa Rica, who worked around the clock during meeting week. Another
special thanks is due to Costa Rica's Ministry of Science and
Technology, which donated audiovisual equipment and funded the
simultaneous translation of the sessions. Numerous local biologists
organized the highly successful field trips that showcased Costa
Rica's natural diversity and network of protected areas.
Next year's ATB annual meeting will be held jointly with that of the
Ecological Society of America, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Given
this year's experience, we can expect a high level of excitement and
interchange next August.
Research Opportunities for Undergraduates in Tropical Lake Studies. The Nyanza Project is a new summer research training program for undergraduates, sponsored by the International Decade of East African Lakes and funded by the National Science Foundation and the Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project. This six-week program is open to sophomore to senior level undergraduates of any nationality attending a U.S. college or university, or to students from the countries surrounding Lake Tanganyika (Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia and Zaire), who are interested in continuing research careers in any aspect of aquatic sciences (limnology, ecology and evolutionary biology, conservation biology, geolimnology and paleolimnology). Students who are members of under-represented minority groups are particularly encouraged to apply. The program will take place at Kigoma, Tanzania to take advantage of world class research opportunities at Lake Tanganyika. Students who are accepted into the program will have their airfare, room and board and research expenses paid by the project and will be given a stipend. Applications for the 1998 program (1 June-10 July) will be accepted until 1 January 1998. U.S. student inquiries: The Nyanza Project, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721. Tel: (520) 626-7312. Fax: (520) 621-2672. Email: nyanza@geo.arizona.edu. Web: www.geo.arizona.edu/nyanza. African student inquiries: Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project, P.O. Box 90, Kigoma, Tanzania. Tel: (255) 695-2992. Fax: (255) 695-2993.Email: ltbp@twiga.com. Web: www.nri.org/Lake_Tanganyika.
Simla. The Asa Wright Nature Centre Management Committee
will produce an historical record of the William Beebe Tropical
Research Station at Simla for future publication. The publication
will include an account of the establishment and development of the
Research Station, a photorecord of the facilities, and a full
bibliography of the research done by persons who have lodged at
Simla. While compiling the bibliography, we it hope to amass a full
set of reprints or copies of papers on research done at Simla. We
would appreciate it if any past researchers or visitors to Simla who
have information or materials relevant to this endeavor would send
such materials to the address below. In addition, any anecdotes or
photographs on the realities of tropical research or the finer
moments at Simla would be appreciated and considered for inclusion.
All contributors will be appropriately acknowledged. --Dr Mary
Alkins-Koo, Zoology Unit, Department of Life Sciences, The University
of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad, West Indies. Tel: (868)
662-2002; Fax: (868) 663-9686; Email mak@centre.uwi.tt (Please limit
messages to 1-2 pages).
Book Donations Sought. The Graduate Program in Ecology
and Conservation at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul,
Brazil, seeks donations of books in Biology, especially ecology,
biostatistics, animal behavior, botany, zoology, wetlands and
conservation, to improve the library of this young program. Donations
can be sent to Profa. Marial Eugenia Carvalho Amaral, Departamento de
Biologia, Mestrado em Ecologia e Conservacao, Universidade Federal de
Mato Grosso do Sul, CP 649, CEP 79.070-900, Campo Grande, MS,
Brazil.
I Confêrencia Nacional de Educaçao Ambiental. The
First Brazilian Conference on Environmental Education will take place
in Brasília, 7-10 October 1997. Participants will have the
opportunity to contribute to new policies and directions for
environmental education in Brazil. Discussion will be organized
around five major themes: Environmental Education and Sustainable
Development; Formal Environmental Education: Methods and
Training; Environmental Education and the Environmental
Administration Process; Environmental Education and Public
Policy; and Communication and Information in Environmental
Education. Information can be found on the conference web site:
www.mma.gov.br/port/SDI/ea/novid.html.
Forest Canopies 1998: Global Perspectives: Fostering Research,
Education, and Conservation of Forest Canopies Throughout the
World. The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, in Sarasota, Florida,
USA, will host this meeting 4-8 November 1997. The conference will
feature ten sessions with invited and contributed papers and posters,
discussion groups, a methods workshop, and an educators
pre-conference workshop. Invited speakers include Al Gore, Bruce
Babbit, Tom Lovejoy, and Mark Moffett. Information: Meg Lowman,
Director of Research and Conservation, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens,
811 South Palm Ave., Sarasota, FL. 34236-7726, USA. Fax: (941)
951-1474. Email lowman@virtu.sar.usf.edu.
Forum on Nature and Human Society: The Quest for a Sustainable
World. The National Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian Institution,
Library of Congress, and the American Association for the Advancement
of Science will convene a symposium in Washington DC, 27-30 October
1997. The main goal of this forum is to improve the mutual
understanding among leaders in science, industry, public policy, and
the media about how biodiversity supports us and its potential to
further enhance our lives and livelihood. Information: Tel: (202)
334-2215, Email biodiver@nas.edu.
Correction. Tropinet for June 1997 listed an
incorrect URL for the site prepared by R. Podolsky for UNDP. The site
lists biodiversity data management tools. The correct URL is
www3.undp.org/biod/bio.html.
Biota: The Biodiversity Database Manager by Robert
K. Colwell, University of Connecticut. Sinauer Associates, 1996-1997.
Specimen-based, biological data and collections management software
for individuals, institutions, and projects. Available for Windows
and Macintosh.
Biota originated with the Arthropods of La Selva Project
(ALAS), a large-scale inventory of arthropod diversity in a lowland
tropical rainforest. Biota helps manage specimen-based
biodiversity and collections data by providing a graphical interface
to a fully relational database structure. A comprehensive manual
backs up intuitive menus and screens. An array of user-tested tools
facilitate rapid data input, update, maintenance, analysis, and
reporting. Biota's Import Editor converts existing data sets
to Biota's relational structure, and a wide array of text and
image file export tools provides easy access to your data for
analysis and publication using other applications.
For ecologists, conservation biologists, reserve managers, and
biogeographers, Biota offers efficient and flexible tools for
recording and analyzing locality- or sample-based survey data,
including full geographic and taxonomic information and images. For
taxonomists, systematists, and collections managers, Biota
offers tools for recording data and images for specimen
determinations as well as for revisions and evolutionary studies.
Biota is available in both individual user ($125) and
client-server format, for Windows 95 and Macintosh platforms. Data
files are cross-platform compatible. Individual Latin American and
Caribbean purchasers may request a 20% discount on all Biota
software, with shipping charges waived. Information: Sinauer
Associates, Inc., Plumtree Road, Sunderland, MA 01375-0407 USA. Tel:
(413) 549-4300. Fax:
(413) 549-1118. Email: Orders: orders@sinauer.com. General inquiries:
publish@sinauer.com. WWW: www.sinauer.com.
For more details on Biota, visit the Biota Website at
http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/biota.
Global Elevation Data. The United States Geological Survey
(USGS), in collaboration with other federal government agencies and
international earth science organizations, recently completed and
made available a global elevation data set for use in many diverse
earth science disciplines. GTOPO30 data are now available at:
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/landdaac/gtopo30/gtopo30.html.
Also available on CD-ROM from: EDC DAAC User Services, USGS EROS Data
Center, Sioux Falls, SD., 57198. Tel: (605) 594-6116. Fax: (605)
594-6963. Email edc@eos.nasa.gov.
New Global Forests Website. The Canadian International
Development Agency Forestry Advisers Network (CFAN) has published a
new document on their Website. "Sustaining Global Forests" is
available in English (with links to French-language site) at
www.cfan-rcfa.org/cida.info.tree.html.
Las Cuevas Research Station is a joint initiative between the
Government of Belize and the Natural History Museum, London
established under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 1992. The
Research Station is located in the Maya Mountains and situated in the
Chiquibul Forest Reserve, which lies within a much larger area of
protected forest totaling about half a million hectares. The station
is on the site of a former logging camp named Las Cuevas after the
spectacular cave system nearby. At an altitude of 500 m ASL, the site
receives 1500 mm of rainfall per year. The vegetation is lowland,
broad-leafed tropical forest punctuated by stands of pine. Hurricanes
and fires have left their mark on the Chiquibul Forest. The result of
these intense large scale disturbances is a relatively even-aged
stand with about 75 tree species/ha. The tree species characteristic
of such forest: Swietenia macrophylla King (mahogany),
Cedrela odorata L. (cedar), Sebastiana longicuspis Standl.
(ridge white poison wood) are all common in the forest surrounding
the research station. The Chiquibul Forest, like much of Belize,
contains numerous archaeological remains from the ancient Maya
civilization. In the immediate vicinity there are extensive ruins
both aboveground and in the cave while the major site of Caracol lies
only 15 km west of the research station.
Construction of the research station began in 1993 and there are now
five buildings capable of supporting about 30 people. Laboratory
facilities are basic and being upgraded. On-site reference
collections for plants and insects are being established. Access is
good, with an all-season road to the Douglas Da Silva Forest
Department Station (32 km away) and on to San Ignacio (a further 48
km). Las Cuevas Research Station exists to support multidisciplinary
research into the biodiversity and environment of the Chiquibul
Forest. It provides a venue for conservation, scientific and other
workshops and will be used for educational and training programs
designed to develop skills in the assessment, identification,
monitoring and management of biodiversity. The central thrust of the
research will be to study and model biodiversity, the physical
environment, and their interactions at a range of spatial and
temporal scales. Recent projects have included baseline surveys of
plants and insects, remote sensing and vegetation classification, and
studies of insect herbivory on tree seedlings.
A growing range of collaborating institutions make use of the
facilities at Las Cuevas, if you would like to know more about the
Research Station please contact Alex Monro, Department of Botany, The
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London. Email alm@nhm.ac.uk.
Las Cuevas will soon be featured on the Museum's web site at:
www.nhm.ac.uk. -- Steve
Blackmore, The Natural History Museum, London,sb@nhm.ac.uk.
Items marked (*) are new this issue
1997
*Ecological Society of Australia. Albury, Australia, 1-3 October.
Information: Nicolas Klomp, Charles Stuart University, PO Box 789
Albury, Australia. Email nklomp@csu.edu.au.
*Fourth International Conference on the Ecology of Invasive Alien
Plants. Berlin, Germany, 1-4 October. Information: Dr. Uwe
Starfinger, Institut fur Oekologie der TU, Schmidt-Ott-Str. 1,
D-12165 Berlin, Germany. Email starfinger@gp.tu.berlin.de.
1998
North American Ornithological Conference. St. Louis, Missouri,
6-12 April. Annual meeting of the AOU, AFO, COS, CWS, and WOS with
RRF special symposium. Information: Bette Loiselle, Local Co-Chair,
Dept. of Biology, University of Missouri St.Louis, St. Louis, MO
63121-4499. Tel: (314) 516-6224. Email bird_stl@umsl.edu, WWW:
www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET.
INTECOL: V11 International Congress of Ecology. Florence,
Italy. 19-25 July. Information: Almo Farina, INTECOL Vice President,
Secretariat V11 International Congress of Ecology, Lunigiana Museum
of Natural History, Fortezza della Brunella, 54011 Aulla, Italy, Tel:
+39-187-400252. Fax: +39-187-420727. Email afa-rina@tamnet.it, WWW:
www.tamnet.it/intecol.98
.
Courses
Tropical Science Center (TSC) offers courses. Tropical
Dendrology, 2-13 March 1998 (Spanish); 22 June-4 July 1998
(English). US $1800. These courses will use the methods developed by
Dr. L.R. Holdridge and expanded on by Dr. A. Gentry. Field
characteristics such as leaves, twigs, bark, buttresses, odor, and
exudates are used for tree identification. Instructors include: W.
Haber. Missouri Botanical Garden, H. Jiménez-Saa and Luis
Poveda, TSC, and P. Sánchez, formerly of Costa Rican National
Herbarium. Introduction to Field Ornithology. 27 October-8
November 1997, and 27 April-9 May 1998. US $1900. Three instructors
will accompany each course. Information: Dr. H. Jiménez-Saa,
TSC, Apartado 8-3870-1000, San José, Costa Rica. Tel: (506)
253-3267, Fax: 5-6-253-4963. Email hjimenez@sol.racsa.co.cr. WWW:
www.geocities.com/RainForest/9148.
Biocon: Bioconservation Internationals school held in South
American tropics. Six sessions of college-level classes will be
held from June to October. On-site at the Reserved Zone of Tumbes and
mangroves of Tumbes National Sanctuary, Peru. Information: 3306 N.
Canyon Rd. Provo, UT 84604-4548. Tel/Fax: (801) 377-1716. Email
biocon@utah-inter.net. WWW: http://home.utah-inter.net/biocon.
Positions
1998 UBD Research Fellowship. Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) offers a number of one-year post-doctoral research fellowships within the Faculty of Science for research in Brunei Darussalam. Ecologically-orientated research topics are especially encouraged and preference may be given to projects which complement work already in progress. Current research interests within the Biology Department of UBD include the marine and coastal ecosystems, mangroves, peatswamps, heath and mixed dipterocarp rainforests. Further information on current research, facilities and terms & conditions can be obtained by contacting Colin Maycock via Email at cmaycock@ubd.edu.bn or Fax: ++ 673-2-249502.
Funding Opportunities
Peace Frogs Fellowship in Amphibian Research. The
Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) and Peace Frogs, the
Washington DC-based clothing company, are providing annual fellowship
awards for graduate students interested in conducting amphibian
research in Costa Rica. Award limit is $2000. Information: OTS North
American Office, Email nao@acpub.duke.edu.
Turner Awards for Graduate Research at La Selva. Awards will
be between $250 and $1000 and should be considered for preliminary
investigations undertaken by students in order to begin focus on
their thesis research. Information: OTS North American Office (Email
address above).
The Center for Field Research: Field Grants. Invites proposals
for 1998-99 field grants funded by Earthwatch. Earthwatch is an
international, non-profit organization dedicated to sponsoring field
research and promoting public education in the sciences and
humanities. Past projects have been successfully fielded in, but are
not limited to, the following disciplines: animal behavior,
biodiversity, ecology, ornithology, endangered specie, entomology,
marine mammalogy, ichthyology, herpetology, marine ecology, and
resource and wildlife management. Interdisciplinary projects are
especially encouraged as is multinational collaboration. Information:
The Center for Field Research, 680 Mt. Auburn St. Watertown, MA
02272. Tel: (617) 926-8200. Fax: (617) 926-8532. Email
cfr@earthwatch.org. WWW: www.earthwatch.org/cfr/crf.html.
Huyck Preserve Research Grants. The Biological Research
Station of the Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve offers grants (max.=$2500)
to support research utilizing the resources of the Preserve. Among
the research areas are basic and applied ecology, animal behavior,
systematics, evolution, and conservation. The 2000 acre preserve is
located on the Helderberg Plateau, 30 miles SW of Albany. Habitats
include northeast hardwood-hemlock forests, conifer plantations, old
fields, permanent and intermittent streams, 10 and 100 acre lakes,
and several waterfalls. Facilities include a newly expanded
laboratory building, library, collections, and houses/cabins for
researchers. Deadlne is 1 February 1998. Applications from: Dr.
Richard Wyman, Executive Director, E.N. Huyck Preserve and Biological
Research Station, PO Box 189, Rensselaerville, NY 12147.
Publications
The Origin of Biodiversity in Insects: Phylogenetic Tests
of Evolutionary Scenarios. P. Grandcolas (ed.). 1997.
Memoires du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 173: 354 pp. This
volume contains 18 contributions from 20 authors, dealing with both
methodological problems and case studies on 11 different groups of
insects, mostly in the tropics. These contributions provide the
reader with leading and original accounts of the diversity of insects
viewed from an evolutionary perspective, concerning social and
reproductive behavior, acoustic communication, mutualistic
interactions, food choice and defense strategies; they will certainly
be useful to every biologist interested in evolution, phylogenetics,
or entomology. Hardback, with many illustrations and two colored
plates. ca. 90 US $ + postage. Orders: Backhuys Publishers, Dr. W.
Backhuys, P.O. Box 321, 2300 AH Leiden, The Netherlands. Fax: (31) 71
517 18 56.
Ecology of an African Rainforest: Logging in Kibale and the
Conflict Between Conservation and Exploitation. T.T.
Struhsaker. 1997. University Press. Summarizes 20 years of research
in the Kibale forest in Uganda, one of the most important centers for
the study of tropical rain forests in Africa. By providing long-term
data on a variety of plants and animals, it offers the first truly
in-depth synthesis of the consequences of selective logging in the
tropics.456 pp. ISBN 0-8130-1490-5, Cloth, $39.95. To order:
University Press of Florida, 15 NW 15th Street, Gainesville, Florida
32611-2079. Tel: (352) 392-1351.
Publications from Columbia University Press. Rainforest
Cities: Urbanization, Development, and Globalization of the Brazilian
Amazon. J.O. Browder and B. Godfrey. 1997. 424 pp. ISBN
0-231-10655-6, paper. $19.50.
Tropical Deforestation: The Human Dimension. L.E.
Sponsel, T.N. Headland, and R.C. Bailey, eds. 1996. 352 pp. ISBN
0-231-10319-0, paper. $19.50.
Medicinal Resources of the Tropical Forest: Biodiversity and
its Importance to Human Health. M.J. Balick, E. Elisabetsky,
S. Laird, eds.1996. 464 pp. ISBN 0-231-10171-6, paper. $35.00.
Orders: Columbia University Press, 562 West 113th St., New York, NY
10025. Fax: (212) 316-9422.
Biodiversity and Human Health. F. Grifo and J.
Rosenthal. 1997. Island Press. Based on a two-day conference
sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science
Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution, the book opens a
dialogue on the human health consequences of the loss of biological
diversity. 350 pp. cloth: ISBN 1-55963-500-2, $50.00. paper: ISBN
1-55963-501-0, $29.95. Send orders to: Island Press, Box 7, Dept.
2PR., Covelo, CA 95428. Tel: (800) 828-1302.
Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological
Resources. M.L. Reaka-Kudla, D.E. Wilson, and E.O. Wilson,
eds. 1997. Joseph Henry Press. This volume updates readers on the
search for insight into the Earth's species and documents how much of
life remains to be scientifically identified. It explores
identification strategies and methods along with implications for
protecting biodiversity. 560 pp. paper: $29.95. Hardcover: $34.95.
Send Orders to: Joseph Henry Press, Attn: Marketing Dept., 2101
Constitution Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20418. Fax: (202) 334-2793.
The Last Frontier Forests: Ecosystems and Economies on the
Edge. D. Bryant, D. Nielsen, and L. Tangley. 1997. World
Resources Institute. Shows the dramatic decline of original pristine
forest and the status of the lar ge remaining tracks. In vivid full
page, full color maps, it ranks country by country the perilous state
of the world's forests today. 42 pp. ISBN 1-56973-198-5. $14.95. Send
orders to: WRI Publications, PO Box 4852, Hampden Station, Baltimore,
MD 21211, USA.
Neotropical Rainforest Mammals: A Field Guide, Second
Edition. L.H. Emmons. 1997. The University of Chicago Press.
396 pp. Cloth: ISBN 0-226-20719-6, $80.00. Paper: ISBN 0-226-20721-8,
$25.95. Information: Dave Aftandilian. Tel: (773) 702-0279. Fax:
(773) 702-9756. Email da@press.uchicago.edu.
Guide to the Vascular Plants of Central French Guiana, Part 1:
Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, and Monocotyledons. S.A. Mori, G.
Cremers, C. Gracie, J.J. de Granville, M. Hoff, J.D. Mitchell. 1997.
The New York Botanical Garden. This is part one of a two-part guide
to the vascular plants of central French Guiana. 422 pp. ISBN
0-89327-398-8. $50.00. Send orders to: Scientific Publications Dept.,
The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5126, USA.