Tupper 4pm seminarTue, Jun 12, seminar speakerwill be Andrés Mora, ICP-ECOPETROLLate Cenozoic climaticforcing of geologicprocesses in the easternCordillera of Colombia

Paleo-TalkWed, Jun 13, Paleo-Talkspeaker will be AlexanderCorrea, at 4pm, Center forTropical Paleoecology &Archaeology (CTPA),Humidity changes inferredfrom a Holocene recordfrom Peru

BDGThe Behavior DiscussionGroup will meet with AdamSmith on Tue, Jun 12, 2pm, atthe LMR, Tupper Center Ecology and neurobiologyof the facultatively socialbee Me g alo p ta: work inprogress

Bambi seminarsWed, Jun 13, Bambi seminarspeaker will be Daniela Reetz,University of PotsdamFractions of organic andinorganic phosphates insoils of BCI Thu, Jun 14, Bambi seminarspeaker will be MichaelKaspari, University ofOklahomaToward a biogeography ofbrown food webs

Arriving next weekMartin Facundo and MartínRamírez, to apply DNAbarcode technique to the rapidestimation of megadiversegroups in biodiversity hotspots: the arthropods of theIsthmus of Panama, inFortuna.

STRI newsSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panamá www.stri.org June 8, 2007

PanamadesignatesLas PerlasArchipelagospecialmanagementzone—Darwin Project

achieves its initial aim

Panama's Gaceta Oficialpublished Law No. 18 of May31, 2007, designating the LasPerlas Archipelago a specialcoastal-marine managementzone. The special zone islocated in the district of Balboaand will be incorporated intothe Programa de Manejo CosteroIntegral [Integral coastalmanagement program] toprotect its marine and coastalresources, increase itsproductivity and maintain thebiodiversity of its ecosystems,and to improve the quality oflife in the communities thatdepend upon these resources.

Several studies were conductedin Las Perlas under theleadership of STRI's HéctorGuzmán and James Mair fromHeriot-Watt University, bothworking on a grant funded forfive year by the DarwinInitiative, to provide support tothe legal process that

culminated with the designationof special management zoningthroughout this importantPanamanian marine ecosystem,an essential part of the MarineBiological Corridor of theTropical Eastern Pacific.

The law was possible thanks tothe unconditional support fromthe Archipelago's community,the Major's Office, theMunicipal Council of theDistrict of Balboa; the BritishGovernment, Panama’sNational Assembly’sCommission for Population,Environment andDevelopment; officials fromAutoridad de Recursos Acuáticos dePanamá [Panama’s Authority forAquatic Resources, or ARAP];the civil society and all theorganizations that helped in thevarious phases of the project.

The polygon that defines thespecial management zone is

located in the Gulf of Panama.It includes 168,771 hectares (ha)divided into 33,153 ha ofinsular area including all islandsand islets of the Archipelago,and 135,618 ha of surroundingwaters, part of the ContinentalShelf. The new law, includingthe coordinates of the specialmanagement zone, candownloaded from:http://129.171.91.238/gacetadia/gaceta.pdf

La Gaceta Oficial de Panamápublicó la Ley No. 18 del 31 demayo de 2007, que declaraZona Especial de ManejoMarino-Costera al Archipiélagode Las Perlas. Esta zonaespecial está localizada en elDistrito de Balboa y seráincorporada al Programa deManejo Costero Integral paraproteger sus recursos marinos ycosteros, aumentar suproductividad, y mantener la

More arrivalsDana Bardolph, to study thegenetics of the BCI howlermonkey, on BCI.

Grece Chen, to study theeffects of biotic interactionsand abiotic stress on plantadaptation in the tropics, inGamboa.

Janeene Marie Touchton, tostudy physiological traitpatterns and their role ingoverning mobile animalcompetitive hierarchies, onBCI.

Peter Muller, to study adaptivespecialization in ornithophilicpollination syndromes, inGamboa.

Karen Warkentin, to studyhow embryos assess danger: the role of vibrational cues, inGamboa.

Michael Caldwell, to studymultimodal signaling in thered-eyed treefrog, in Gamboa.

DeparturesFernando Pascal toWashington DC to attendmeetings at SI.

José R. Perurena to SIWashington DC, on training.

Laura Geyer to Christchurch,NZL, to attend meetings.

Oris Sanjur to WashingtonDC to participate in theBarcode of Life Initiativemeeting and Toronto to leadactivities.

Eldredge Bermingham to SaoPaulo, Brazil, to participate inthe Barcode of Life initiativemeeting and to Toronto for afield trip of Society forWildlife Research &Environmental Education.

Javier Mateo Vega to SaoPaulo, Brazil, to attend theconference and meet with Gamawater.

biodiversidad de susecosistemas, para mejorar lacalidad de vida de lascomunidades que dependen dedichos recursos.

Varios estudios se llevaron acabo en Las Perlas bajo elliderazgo de Héctor Guzmán,de STRI y James Mair, deHeriot Watt University, amboscon fondos de la IniciativaDarwin para ofrecer apoyo alproceso legal que culminó conla designación de Zona Especialde Manejo. Esta zona especiales un importante ecosistemamarino de Panamá, que forma

parte del Corredor BiológicoMarino de Pacífico OrientalTropical.

La ley fue posible gracias alapoyo incondicional de lacomunidad del Archipiélago, laAlcaldía, el Consejo Municipaldel Distrito Balboa, el Gobier-no Británico, la Comisión dePoblación, Ambiente y Desa-rrollo de la Asamblea Nacional,funcionarios de la Autoridad deRecursos Acuáticos de Panamá(ARAP), la sociedad civil y lasorganizaciones que ayudaron endiversas fases del trabajo.

El polígono que define la zonaespecial de manejo estálocalizada en el Golfo dePanamá. Este incluye 168,771hectáreas (ha) divididas en33,153 ha de área insularabarcando todas las islas e islotes del Archipiélago y135,618 ha de agua circundante,parte de la PlataformaContinental.

La nueva ley, incluyendo lascoordenadas de la zona especialde manejo, se encuentra en:http://129.171.91.238/gacetadia/gaceta.pdf

CTFS’ latestactivitiesAs part of the new initiative toexpand STRI's Center forTropical Forest Science (CTFS)forest dynamics plots intoGlobal Earth Observatories,the Center plans to broaden thescientific research conducted atthe plots.

One research focus is studyingplant-animal interactions bycensussing animal populationsin the plots and studying bioticand abiotic interactionsbetween plants and animals.

A workshop to discuss whattaxa to monitor, possibleresearch strategies, andsampling methodologies, tookplace at STRI on May 25through 27, with a field trip toBCI on May 28.

Como parte de la nuevainiciativa de expandir lasparcelas de dinámica debosques del Centro de CienciasForestales del Trópico (CTFS)de STRI a ObservatoriosGlobales de la Tierra, el Centroplanea ampliar lasinvestigaciones científicos quese llevan a cabo en las parcelas.

Uno de los enfoques deinvestigación será el estudio delas interacciones entre plantas yanimales, mediante censos de la

población animal en las parcelasy el estudio de las interaccionesbióticas y abióticas entre plantasy animales.

Un taller para discutir losgrupos taxonómicos amonitorear, estrategias deinvestigación y metodología demuestreo se llevó a cabo enSTRI del 25 al 27 de mayo,incluyendo un viaje al campo aBarro Colorado, el 28 de mayo.

From OBIO

STRI's Office ofBioInformatics (OBIO) reportsthat the rainfall for May on BCIset a new record of 696mm

beating the previous record of 622mm set in 1971.Furthermore, the total rainfallfor the year, to date, 1039mm,is the second greatest amountever recorded. In the recordyear, 1981, the total fromJanuary to May was 1300mm.For more information, pleasecontact Steve Paton at:patons@si.edu

La Oficina de BioInformáticade STRI informa que laprecipitación pluvial de mayo

en la Isla de Barro Coloradoestableció un nuevo récord de696mm superando el récord de622mm establecido en 1971.

Más aún, la precipitación pluvialen lo que va del año, de1039mm, le sigue a la mayor acantidad registrada en el añorécord, 1981. El total de enero amayo en el 81 fue de 1300mm.Para mayor información escribira Steve Paton a:patons@si.edu

New publicationsBaillie, I., Elsenbeer, H.,Barthold, F., Grimm, R., andStallard, Robert. 2007."Semi-detailed soil survey ofBarro Colorado Island,Panama" The survey report isavailable as an interactive website, and downloadable in itsoriginal format, at:http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/bioinformatics/bci_soil_map

Dechmann, Dina K.N., Kalko,Elisabeth K.V., and Kerth,Gerald. 2007. "All-offspringdispersal in a tropical mammalwith resource defensepolygyny." Behavioral Ecologyand Sociobiology 61: 1219-1228.

Feeley, Kenneth J., Wright, S.Joseph, Nur Supardi, M.N.,Kassim, Abd Rahman, andDavies, Stuart James. 2007."Decelerating growth intropical forest trees." EcologyLetters 10(1): 1-9.

Greiner, Birgit, Cronin,Thomas M., Ribi, Willi A.,Wcislo, William T., andWarrant, Eric J. 2007."Anatomical and physiologicalevidence for polarisationvision in the nocturnal beeMegalopta genalis." Journal ofComparative Physiology 193:591-600.

Murawski, Steven, Methot,Richard, Tromble, Galen,Hilborn, Ray W., Briggs, JohnC., Worm, Boris, Barbier,Edward B., Beaumont, Nicola,Duffy, J. Emmett, Folke, Carl,Halpern, Benjamin S.,Jackson, Jeremy B.C., Lotze,Heike K., Micheli, Fiorenza,Palumbi, Stephen R., Sala,Enric, Selkoe, Kimberley A.,Stachowicz, John J., andWatson, Reg. 2007."Biodiversity loss in the ocean:How bad is it?" Science316(5829): 1281b-1284.

Correction // CorrecciónThe piece “CTFS facilities to bebuilt in Gamboa”, publishedlast week on Friday, June 1 ,st

should read:

STRI and SI's OFEO officialsmet this week for the pre-design phase of a building inGamboa that will house officesof the Center for TropicalForest Science, as well as otherresearch projects related totropical forest science carriedout in Gamboa.

La noticia “CTFS facilties to bebuilt in Gamboa” [Se

construirán las instalaciones delCTFS en Gamboa] publicada lasemana pasada, el viernes 1rode junio debió ser:

Los funcionarios de OFEO deSI y STRI se reunieron estasemana para la fase de pre-diseño de un edificio enGamboa que albergará oficinasdel Centro de CienciasForestales del Trópico, asícomo otros proyectosrelacionados con ciencias debosques tropicales que se llevana cabo en Gamboa.

More publications

Piperno, Dolores R. Moreno, J.Enrique, Iriarte, José, Holst,Irene, Lachniet, M., J. G. Jones,J.G., Ranere, Ranere, AnthonyJ. and Castanzo, R. 2007. "LatePleistocene and Holoceneenvironmental history of theIguala Valley, Central BalsasWatershed of Mexico."Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences Online.

Ricklefs, Robert E., andBermingham, Eldredge. 2007."The West Indies as alaboratory of biogeography andevolution." PhilosophicalTransactions of the Royal Society ofLondon Online.

Taerum, Stephen J., Cafaro,Matias J., Little, Ainslie E. F.,Schultz, Ted R., and Currie,Cameron R. 2007. "Lowhost–pathogen specificity inthe leaf-cutting ant–microbesymbiosis." Proceedings of theRoyal Society (London) BOnline.

Worm, Boris, Barbier, EdwardB., Beaumont, Nicola, Duffy, J.Emmett, Folke, Carl, Halpern,Benjamin S., Jackson, JeremyB.C., Lotze, Heike K., Micheli,Fiorenza, Palumbi, Stephen R.,Sala, Enric, Selkoe, KimberleyA., Stachowicz, John J., andWatson, Reg. 2007. "Responseto Comments on "Impacts ofBiodiversity loss on oceanecosystem services"." Science316(5829): 1285.

Zippel, Kevin C., Ibanez D.,Roberto, Lindquist, Erik D.,Richards, Corinne L., JaramilloA., Cesar A., and Griffith,Edgardo J. 2007 (dated 2006)."Implicaciones en laconservación de las ranasdoradas de Panamá, asociadascon su revisión taxonómica."Herpetologicos 3(1): 29-39.

PNAS: “Earlymaize fromMexico's dryforests” “Studies of the origins ofagriculture are revealing howhuman culture and civilizationsdeveloped in the past 10,000years.

Dolores Piperno et al. r eportthat maize and its sister plant,squash, were probablycultivated at the edges oftropical lakes in southwesternMexico, their postulatedhomeland, by at least 8,000years ago.”

The results [published online inthe Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences ] corroborateprevious work showing that, intropical America, drier kinds oftropical forest, not rainforest,supported early agriculture, andgive further insight into howagriculture originated andspread throughout Mexico.

The authors analyzed threelakes and a swamp in the IgualaValley, located between MexicoCity and Acapulco, for pollen,phytoliths, and charcoal insediments up to 17,000 yearsold. They found that, when theice age ended, rainfall increased,the climate warmed, and the

Dolores Piperno, 2006

lakes filled and became loci forplant cultivation.

Signs of significant clearing foragriculture in the forestssurrounding the lakes areapparent by 7,200 years ago.

The authors also found moreevidence of extensive drying1,800 to 900 years ago, whichcoincides with the decline ofthe Classic Mayan civilizationand shows that this majordrying event and its possibleconsequences for prehistoricsocieties were not limited to theMaya region. — P.D.”

Taken from “This Week InPNAS Early Edition” Selected articles appearing the week ofJune 4.

S M I T H S O N I A N T R O P I C A L R E S E A R C H I N S T I T U TE J U N E 8, 2 0 0 7

Story: Marc Seid

Edited by M Alvarado,

ML Calderon

& Beth King

Photo: MA Guerra

Ants are one of the

most dominant groups

on this planet and are

especially diverse in

the tropics.

Ant dominance and

diversity are attributed

to their social lifestyle,

marked by a system of

division of labor in

which an individual

specializes in the

performance of

specific tasks.

The social organization

in ants has allowed

them to exploit almost

all terrestrial

environments and to

have a cosmopolitan

distribution.

Although science is

beginning to

understand how ant

division of labor is

organized, little is

known about the

physiology of

individual ants and

how physiological

changes and/or

specialization of

individuals control

their behavior.

Marc Seid, STRI

researcher working in

the Neurobiology

Laboratory led by

William T. Wcislo,

focuses his research

on how the behavioral

repertoire of individual

ants changes

according to age and

colony needs. Seid

correlates differences

in repertoire size and

composition to the

neurochemistry and

neuroanatomy of

individual ants.

Las hormigas son uno

de los grupos de

organismos más

dominantes sobre este

planeta. En los

trópicos, son

especialmente diversas.

La dominancia y

diversidad de las

hormigas se atribuye a

su estilo de vida social,

caracterizado por la

división de labores en

donde un individuo se

especializa en llevar a

cabo tareas específicas.

La organización de las

hormigas les ha

permitido explotar casi

todos los ambientes

terrestres y tener una

distribución

cosmopolita.

Aunque la ciencia está

empezando a

comprender cómo es la

organización de la

división del trabajo de

las hormigas, poco se

sabe sobre la fisiología

de las hormigas

individualmente y cómo

los cambios

fisiológicos y/o la

especialización de los

individuos controlan su

comportamiento.

Marc Seid, investigador

de STRI que trabaja en

el Laboratorio de

Neurobiología liderado

por William T. Wcislo,

enfoca sus estudios en

conocer cómo el

repertorio del compor-

tamiento individual de

las hormigas cambia de

acuerdo a la edad y las

necesidades de la

colonia. Seid

correlaciona las

diferencias en la

extensión y

composición del

repertorio con la

química y anatomía

neurológica de las

hormigas,

individualmente.

The chemistry of change