New Book from the CTFS-SIGEO Network

We are pleased to announce the publication of Trees of Panama and Costa Rica by Richard Condit, Rolando Pérez and Nefertaris Daguerre. Richard Condit is a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. Rolando Pérez is chief botanist and Nefertaris Daguerre is a forest specialist with the Center for Tropical Forest Science at the STRI.

L-to-R: Richard Condit, Rolando Pérez , and Nefertaris Daguerre.

This is the first field guide dedicated to the diverse tree species of Panama and Costa Rica. Covering almost 500 tropical tree species, Trees of Panama and Costa Rica includes 438 high-resolution color photos, 480 color distribution maps, and concise descriptions of key characteristics for every species. Family and species accounts are treated alphabetically and describe family size, number of genera and species, floral characteristics, and relative abundance. Color distribution maps supplement the species descriptions, and facing-page photographic plates detail bark, leaf, flower, or fruit of the species featured. Helpful appendices contain a full glossary, a comprehensive guide to leaf forms, and a list of families not covered.

Trees of Panama and Costa Rica is published by Princeton University Press and can be purchased here: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9289.html or at Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Trees-Panama-Costa-Princeton-Guides/dp/0691147108

Plot Census Finished in the Atlantic Coastal Forest of Brazil

A new CTFS-SIGEO plot located in high conservation value forest in Ilha do Cardoso State Conservation Park, in the Atlantic Coastal Forests of São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil, has now been finished. Located on a pristine island, this 10.48 ha plot was established in 2004 as part of a four-plot network funded by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation. The plot is in coastal ‘restinga’ forest, a form of coastal heath forest, which is particularly rich in endemic species.

 

Before 2006, only trees larger than 5 cm DBH had been censused. In 2009, Dr. Alexandre Oliveira from the University of São Paulo conducted a recensus to incorporate trees down to 1 cm. Now, two years and almost 50,000 trees later, the data are entered in the CTFS-SIGEO database, and researchers have started analyses. Ilha do Cardoso Plot researchers welcome collaborative work using the plot. Please contact Dr. Oliveira for further information or see: http://ecologia.ib.usp.br/labtrop/doku.php?id=labtrop:labtrop:eng

CTFS-SIGEO Temperate Forest Ecologist and Plot Coordinator Appointed: Dr. Sean McMahon

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Sean McMahon has joined the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-SIGEO) to coordinate research and training activities for the Temperate Forest plots of the CTFS-SIGEO network.

Publications, Oct - Dec 2010

Eastwood, R., P. Kongnoo, and M. Reinkaw. Collecting and eating Liphyra brassolis (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in southern Thailand. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera (2010) 43: 51-61.
Full text

Kraft, N. J. B., M. R. Metz, R. S. Condit, and J. Chave. 2010. The relationship between wood density and mortality in a global tropical forest data set. New Phytologist, 188: 1124–1136.
Abstract

HSBC Volunteers Working with CTFS in Singapore on Climate Change

Non-scientists actively contributing to science—that is what Climate Champions from HSBC are doing in Singapore. This 10-week program is a collaboration between CTFS and HSBC-Singapore. More than 100 HSBC staff are tagging trees, putting dendrometer bands on trees to measure growth, and collecting leaf samples for species identification. The work is being done in forests surrounding MacRitchie Reservoir in Singapore. The program started with just 9 volunteers in the first session and has grown to 23 at the latest session on 11 November 2010.

This study complements the ongoing research done in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR), where CTFS researchers have installed 1500 dendrometers as a part of their study to understand the response of forests to climate change. BTNR has mostly hilly terrain, while the MacRitchie site is flat, and each site has a different suite of species. The main objectives of this program are to compare carbon stock differences between the two reserves, and also to create greater awareness within HSBC about climate change issues.

Loss of Two Philippine Friends

CTFS and the scientific community lost two friends and colleagues on 15 and 16 November 2010. Leonardo Co was shot and killed by the Philippine army while doing field work on Leyte Island, Philippines, and Dr. Daniel Lagunzad died of liver cancer, which he had been nursing quietly for some time. Leonardo was a long-time employee of Conservation International Philippines and Daniel was on the Biology faculty at the University of the Philippines, Diliman campus. The two men were prominent leaders of plant biology and biodiversity science in the Philippines.

Leonardo Co and Daniel Lagunzad.

For the past 17 years, CTFS has been working with Leonardo and Daniel and other colleagues in the Philippines to manage a 16-ha forest dynamics plot in the Palanan area of northeastern Luzon. As the lead field botanist on the project, Leonardo identified all trees in the 16-ha plot, and Daniel led the local plot administration. Together they trained many of the students and interns involved in the Palanan field work. They were the plot’s two Principal Investigators.

Their deaths are great losses not only to the Philippines and to CTFS, but also to the worldwide botanical community. All at CTFS pass on their deepest condolences to Leonardo’s and Daniel’s families and friends.

25 Years of Research at Pasoh

Researchers from around the world assembled at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in early November for a symposium to celebrate 25 years of research on the Pasoh Forest Reserve in Peninsular Malaysia. The 50-ha Pasoh plot was the second in the CTFS network. It was established in 1985 under the leadership of Dr. Wan Razali Wan Mohd (FRIM), Dr. Peter Ashton (Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University), and Dr. Stephen Hubbell (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute). Since then, Pasoh has become the best-studied rainforest in Southeast Asia.

The CTFS-Arnold Arboretum Asia Program plays a key role in working with FRIM to develop Pasoh’s scientific programs and conduct leading forest research. The plot contains 814 species and represents 25% of the tree species of Peninsular Malaysia. The 6th census is underway.