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Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Smithsonian Voices

The forest breathes

Above the Tropical Forest Canopy, Sensors Capture the Fluxes of Gases Between the Trees and the Atmosphere

The air moving above the forest carries valuable information about how trees absorb carbon, and what may happen in the future as global temperatures rise

Vanessa Crooks | June 18, 2025

Coral illustrations

Drawing Out the Secrets of Coral Reef Resilience to High Ocean Temperatures

Researchers compared DNA from corals and their symbiotic organisms from two sites along the Pacific coast of Panama to better understand how the different members of the coral holobiont influence their ability to tolerate temperature extremes

Elisabeth King | June 6, 2025

Capuchin monkeys have been monkey-napping baby howler monkeys

Monkey-Nappers! A Group of Capuchin Monkeys Caught on Camera With Abducted Baby Howler Monkeys

Observations of Coiba's tool-using immature capuchin monkeys show them carrying abducted infant howler monkeys. What is the reason for this behavior?

Vanessa Crooks | May 19, 2025

_ground air space cover copy.jpg

NASA Is Studying Tropical Ecosystems by Linking the Ground, Air and Space

A NASA plane came to Panama to acquire aerial images to inform scientists about the diversity of tropical ecosystems. At the same time, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama collected similar data from the ground. The goal: to create an algorithm to better understand tropical ecosystems using satellite remote sensing in the future

Rosannette Quesada Hidalgo | April 30, 2025
Fungi in Barro Colorado Island

How Even the Smallest Organisms Can Shape Entire Ecosystems and Inspire Lasting Change

From sonic tomographies to global biodiversity negotiations, this journey through research, resilience, and connection reveals how small organisms, death and decay bring about new life

Valerie Lenis | March 25, 2025
Frog defenders

Bezos Earth Fund Gives $2 Million Grant to Launch Groundbreaking Amphibian Conservation Project Across Latin America

A grant from the Bezos Earth Fund to help save 25 frog species through conservation, rewilding and disease prevention efforts

Vanessa Crooks | March 20, 2025
Dendrology course field trip

A New Course by ForestGEO Experts Teaches the Biodiversity of Panamanian Forests

Through a course in dendrology, the study of the taxonomy of woody plants in the absence of flowers or fruits, two experts in forest diversity seek to leave a legacy of knowledge for future generations

Vanessa Crooks | March 19, 2025
Illustration from the cover of "The First 100 Years of Research on Barro Colorado: Plant and Ecosystem Science (Volumes 1 and 2)"

The First Volumes of the BCI 100 Celebration Series Are Now Available Online

To celebrate a century of scientific research in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument, a series of volumes will provide a record of the major contributions to plant and ecosystem science, animal science, and the physical environment for future generations of researchers

Vanessa Crooks | March 10, 2025
Carollia perspicillata

Bat Salad: First Record of Bats Eating Entire Leaves and Not Spitting Them Out

Bats are known to chew and spit out leaves, like humans chew and spit out tobacco or coca, but this is the first continuous recording of a bat eating entire leaves

Elisabeth King | March 7, 2025
Spix's disk-winged bats inside their leaf tube

Listen Up! Hungry Bats Emit Food Calls to Family and Friends

Spix’s disc-winged bats shrieked when they were first shown mealworms, a new food for them. Were they alarmed, or were they communicating their excitement to their fellow bats?

Elisabeth King | February 21, 2025
Annette Aiello

A Lifelong Passion for Tropical Insects Leads to Generous Support

A fund set up by STRI staff scientist Annette Aiello intends to provide long-term funding for the preservation and management of the insect collection at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, highlighting the importance of reference collections for the advancement of science

Vanessa Crooks | February 5, 2025
Imama

Between Pasture and Forest: The Crusade to Protect the Jaguar in Panama

Fundación Yaguará Panamá not only leads the protection of the largest feline in the Americas in cattle ranching areas of the country, but also promotes gender equality by actively involving women in key roles in the project, both at the scientific and community levels.

Leila Nilipour | July 23, 2024
Coatis-Credit Christian Ziegler-Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.jpg

Smarter Foragers Do Not Forage Smarter

Why do primates have big brains? In the Panamanian rainforest, scientists pitted large-brained primates against smaller-brained mammals to find out who was the smartest forager.

Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and STRI | May 29, 2024
2 A7S08978_Rodnyel Arosemena (1).jpg

Indigenous Marine Scientist Studies Fish Feeding Evolution in Panama

Through advanced isotopic analyses, Rodnyel Arosemena seeks to understand how fish in the Caribbean and the Pacific that had a common ancestor take advantage of the resources of their different environments today.

Leila Nilipour | April 19, 2024
2021-04-21 16.32.47 (1).jpg

Red Flags: I'm Not the Bug for You

Recent research conducted in Panama has revealed that the waving behavior exhibited by matador bugs, with their attractive hind-leg flags, are neither mating displays nor distraction tactics against predators, as previously thought.

Leila Nilipour | April 3, 2024
Ant Bird Group_2024_0803_JAleman-41.jpg

Following the Swarm: Making a Documentary Short Film In Panama’s Tropical Forest

At the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, researchers track swarms of carnivorous army ants and the birds that follow them. A new documentary reveals a glimpse of life, and research, in the Neotropics

Olivia Milloway | April 3, 2024
A7S02947_Ana Endara_STRI.JPG

Rare Shark Spotted for the First Time in Panama’s Eastern Pacific

The elusive prickly shark was observed during a submarine expedition to the depths of the Cordillera de Coiba seamounts, a biodiversity hotspot and marine protected area

Leila Nilipour | March 9, 2024
Colorless corals

Why Are There Suddenly So Many Bleached Corals Along the Caribbean Coast of Panama?

A massive coral bleaching event in Panama’s Guna Yala islands along the eastern Caribbean coast signals a major problem with rising ocean temperatures and their long-term effects

Vanessa Crooks | March 7, 2024
BCI_20190518_SRP-354.jpg

A 17-Year Study Reveals How Dead Leaves Are a Tropical Forest Lifeline

A 17-year experiment in Panama revealed that the process of leaves falling and decomposing on the ground provides nutrients to the soil that help promote tree growth in otherwise infertile tropical forests.

Leila Nilipour | February 22, 2024
Categories
  • Connections in Nature (22)
  • Life in Deep Time (11)
  • Origins of Species and Societies (10)
  • Social Sciences (6)
  • Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet (32)
  • Tropical Research (39)
Archive
  • 2018 (3)
  • 2019 (3)
  • 2021 (16)
  • 2022 (12)
  • 2023 (10)
  • 2024 (14)
  • 2025 (17)

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