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Locations and Past Projects
This course is different than other travel courses because it is research oriented and it is collaborative between UW Green Bay, Saint Norbert College, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Rather than visiting several locations in Panama for a short time, we will instead spend several days at 3 or 4 locations in order to collect data for research projects. These projects were chosen because they offer opportunities to explore an important topic related to biodiversity, as well as to provide unique experiences for students to collect meaningful scientific data. Different faculty will be leading the course each year and may introduce new projects to the course, but some projects will be long-term.
Gamboa
Location
Gamboa will be our main housing and research location near Panama City. It is a small town located 30 km north of Panama City on the east bank of the Panama Canal, north of the Chagres River. It was was originally part of the infrastructure of the Panama Canal providing housing for Canal personal and their families. We will be staying in a former school building that STRI has converted to a dormitory facility for field courses using Soberania National Park and nearby sites.
We likely will be developing projects along Pipeline Road, 17+ km corridor that extends into Soberania National Park (Parque Nacional Soberania, or PNS) from Gamboa Township. This road is considered by many to be one of the best birding locations in all of Central America if not the world. The PNS extends for a minimum of 7.5 km in three directions from Gamboa and is entirely covered by tall tropical forests. It has been protected as a National Park since its establishment in 1979. There are 525 species of birds, 105 species of mammals, 55 species of amphibians, and 79 species of reptiles known in the park.
At the Gamboa Field Station, STRI provides laboratories and accommodations for researchers who work at the 22,000-hectare Soberania National Park and nearby STRI facilities. The park is a protected area containing a wide variety of forest and freshwater habitats, administered by Panama’s National Authority for the Environment (Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente, or ANAM).
Pipeline Road is famous throughout the world among birders for the diversity of birds found there. It is partly paved and well maintained making it an ideal way to access the rainforest. The Panama Audubon society once counted a world record 357 birds in one of their Christmas bird counts there. For the first six kilometers or so the forest is mostly second growth, but as the road continues the forest is mostly old-growth. A few of the birds we might see include Slaty-tailed, Black-throated Trogons, Golden-collared Manakin, White-bellied Antbird, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, and Blue Cotinga. Rarer old-growth species also are possibilities, including Yellow-eared Toucanet and Crimson-bellied Woodpecker. We might also see other vertebrates like anteaters, howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins, Geoffroy’s tamarin, green iguanas, agoutis, coatimundis, or two- and three-toed sloths.
Research Projects:
- Birds, Bats, and Arthropods
- Researchers from STRI and other organizations and institutions have a long history of studying birds along Pipeline Road. Bats from the area also are well know, due largely to the extensive research on nearby Barro Colorado Island. Dr. Elisabeth Kalso and others have assembled a library of bat ultrasound vocalizations, which can be used to identify many species. We have proposed to conduct our own audio surveys of birds and bats at various locations along Pipeline Road . We hope to collect geo-referenced data for GIS analysis of habitat associations along the route. Field surveys will use recording equipment to collect archival files that can be analyzed for identification of bat and bird species assemblages. We also hope to collect non-insect terrestrial arthropods, mainly spiders, along Pipeline Road and at other locations around Gamboa. Collection methods will include beating sheets sifting leaf litter. Species identifications will be made later in the lab, mainly at UWGB.
- Fossils at the Canal
- The recently initiated widening of the Panama Canal has exposed a diversity of plant and animal fossils. STRI scientist Carlos Jaramillo is studying these fossils to learn more about how Panamanian biota has changed during the emergence and establishment of the isthmus. These sediments will only be accessible for 2 or 3 years before the excavated land becomes overgrown or developed. During our visit we will have the unique opportunity to help to collect these fossils and learn more about palebiological research at STRI.
Links
Bocas del Toro
Location
Bocas del Toro is a complex of 68 islands, mangrove keys, mainland bays, rivers and forested mountain slopes on the Caribbean side of the Panamanian isthmus, about 40 miles from the mainland. The very high diversity of marine and terrestrial ecosystems makes Bocas an ideal area to study natural environments. However, Bocas is also a socio-politically complex setting—a site with fisheries, growing tourism, agriculture and a significant population of endangered sea turtles and manatees. In short, Bocas comprises a model region for working on the important issue of sustainable multiple use.
We will stay at the The STRI Bocas del Toro Research Station, located just outside the town of Bocas del Toro on Isla Colon, in Bocas del Toro Province, Panama. The 61 sq km Isla Colon is situated in the Archipelago de Bocas del Toro along the Caribbean coast just 35 km from Panama ’s border with Costa Rica. The STRI lab is relatively unique because it is in an area of relatively high productivity and high terrestrial input, which has resulted in a wide diversity of marine and terrestrial habitats within 5 or 15 minutes' boat ride from the station. Nearby habitats include seagrass meadows, corals, coastal forest including some patches of old-growth forest, mangroves and sandy beaches. There are several species of frogs endemic to the islands and a new species of small sloth specializing on mangrove leaves has recently been described. Nearby Bastimentos National Park (Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos) encompasses a large area of Bastimentos Island of the Zapatilla Cayes in Bocas Del Toro Province. This marine park covers approximately 13,000 hectares of both land and ocean and is home to over 200 species of marine fish.
We will fly to Bocas from Panama City. Students will be staying in dormitories that house 4 people to a room. Snorkeling equipment will be available at the lab.
Research Projects:
- Bats and Arthropods
- We will use the same techniques as described above to survey bat species and to collect non-insect terrestrial arthropods. We will locate our bat recording equipment at several locations on the island and possibly at other nearby islands. We will collect arthropods within the mangroves and along transects with in the forest.
- Mangroves
- Significant changes in the marine communities surrounding Isla Colon have been occurring since the 1970s due to increased development in the area, as well as other less understood changes like diseases of marine invertebrates and climate change. An important determinant of marine community diversity is the amount of sediment that is suspended in the water column or settles over sessile species like sponges, tunicates, or corals. Mangroves tend to trap sediment as they age. We will be collecting data to analyze changes in sedimentation rates on mangrove roots using underwater photography at several locations. The photos will then be processed at UWGB to measure differences in key sessile invertebrates and areas of sedimentation
Links
Fortuna
Location
Fortuna is a montane forest research station in the mostly unspoiled highlands of the Chiriqui Province, in western Panama. Near the station, 19,500 hectares of forested lands have been given the status of a Hydrological Reserve by the National Authority for the Environment (ANAM). The reserve is administered jointly by ANAM and EGE Fortuna, S.A (http://www.fortuna.com.pa/).
STRI administers one building, "Centro de Investigaciones Jorge L. Arauz", and coordinates closely with EGE Fortuna for additional living and research space in two buildings recently refurbished by the company explicitly for investigators. These facilities are located approximately 2km to the north of the “Centro de Investigaciones Jorge L. Arauz”.
Research Project
- Birds, Bats, and Arthropods
- We hope to conduct censuses for birds and bats, and collect arthropods much have proposed at the other sites.
- Research Project: Golden Winged Warblers
- The Golden-winged Warbler is currently listed as a Resource Conservation Priority species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is considered a neo-tropical migratory species of high continental conservation concern by Partners in Flight. Populations of this species have been declining since 1966. This shrubland nesting bird faces a number of threats including habitat loss, cowbird parasitism, predators, and hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers. We know that 82% of the existing world population of Golden Winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) breed in the northern forests of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario, but significantly less is known about the species' overwintering sites in high forests of Central America. Golden-winged Warblers have been reported in Fortuna and we will be doing some preliminary research to locate these birds for possible future research.
Links
Biodiversity Topics: Introduction . Plants . Animals . Mammals . Birds . Reptiles & Amphibians . Arthropods . Spiders . Insects
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for Biodiversity and the University of Wisconsin Green Bay,
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Last
updated on
April 19, 2010