Tropical forests are far more than trees. Forest animals, from beetles to monkeys, are integral to the ecology and biodiversity of tropical forests and the resources that they provide. Many Earthwatch-supported researchers work with animal populations or ecology in tropical forests, with important applications in forest conservation.
For example, Dr. Pat Wright's (State University of New York, Stony Brook) discovery of the golden bamboo lemur in Madagascar's Ranomafana forest in 1986 contributed to the creation of Ranomafana National Park. Since 1996, she has worked with Earthwatch teams on Madagascar Lemurs to conserve this forest and sustain the livelihoods of the local community.
Earthwatch teams have documented the many fascinating and crucial roles that forest animals play in forest ecology. Teams working with Dr. Douglas Levey (University of Florida) in the Costa Rican rainforest discovered that seedlings from seeds dispersed by ants had a lower mortality rate from fungal infection, presumably because of a natural fungicide released by ants. In Borneo, Dr. Mark Leighton (Harvard University) revealed the feeding patterns of fruit and seed-eating primates, squirrels, hornbills, and other vertebrates and their role in seed dispersal. In the Amazon, teams working with Dr. Kevina Vulinec (Delaware State University) shed light on the two-step process of seed dispersal by monkeys and dung-beetles.
Forest mammal studies supported by Earthwatch often work with populations that are threatened by habitat degradation, many of them requiring large home ranges, or forest fragmentation (see What's Left). Dr. Carlos Lopez Gonzalez (Instituto de Ecologia, Mexico) and colleagues expanded the known range for bobcats and defined home range for several other predators in Mexico's endangered dry tropical forest. Earthwatch teams working with Dr. Carey Yeager (University of Florida) in Borneo's Tanjung Putting National Park conducted baseline surveys of important species like orangutans and proboscis monkeys, monitored the growth and mortality rates of tropical trees, replanted degraded habitat, and assessed the ecological impacts of devastating fires. Luke Dollar (Duke University) and Earthwatch teams on Carnivores of Madagascar are establishing the habitat needs of rare and elusive carnivores of in the dry tropical forest of Madagascar, and launched a community-supported effort to protect them.
The most visible denizens of tropical forests are perhaps birds, and many Earthwatch projects make use of their high profile and mobility to explore forest ecology or monitor the health of forest habitat. Dr. Dusty Becker (Kansas State University) found that the cloud forests of Ecuador's coastal hills are an extremely important refuge for endangered and endemic birds from as far away as the Andes, especially in the dry season.
"Coastal forests are more dynamic and important for regional biodiversity conservation than I had ever imagined," said Becker. Her work here with Earthwatch teams has led to the protection of 2,500 acres of cloud forest as a community-owned and managed reserve benefiting 3,000 community members (see Use It or Lose It).
Teams working with Pilai Poonswad (Mahidol University, Thailand) determined the home ranges for four species of hornbills, critical to seed dispersal in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand, to assess their chances of survival in the face of destructive logging practices. Meanwhile, Dr. James Karr (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) working with Earthwatch teams documented factors that make Panamanian forest birds more vulnerable to extinction. They found that birds foraging in the undergrowth tend to be more vulnerable than canopy species as are small, specialized insectivores with variable populations and characteristic of wetter forest. Karr's published results are among the most cited of Earthwatch-supported publications.
Not to be outdone by charismatic megafauna, many tropical forest reptile and amphibian populations have benefited from Earthwatch-supported field research, as have forest insects (see The Forest Frontier). Dr. Chris Raxworthy's (University of Michigan) teams discovered five new species of skink in Madagascar's rainforest, and documented dramatic changes in reptile species composition over elevation that will contribute to their conservation. Raxworthy's data on chameleons, gathered with the help of Earthwatch teams, also contributed to his theory that chameleons originated in Madagascar, turning theories of vicariance biogeography on their head.
Populations of endangered frogs in tropical forests have been monitored in Ecuador, by Dr. Luis Coloma and Santiago Ron (both of Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador), and in Australia, by Dr. Michael Mahoney (University of Newcastle) and volunteers on Australia's Vanishing Frogs. Earthwatch teams working with Claudio Ciofi (University of Kent), author of Komodo Dragons, assessed the conservation status of Indonesia's threatened komodo dragons, the world's largest lizards. In Brazil, 14 Earthwatch teams worked with Drs. Timothy Moulton, Maria do Rosário de almeida Braga (both of CEPARNIC), and William Magnusson (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia) at Ilha do Cardoso, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They studied population structure, habitat use, diet, and ecophysiology of broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris), as well as amphibians, freshwater aquatic fauna, and small mammals.
"Earthwatch was the single most important external factor in the life and survival of our program at Ilha do Cardoso," said Moulton. This island preserves an important remnant of Brazil's diminishing Atlantic Forest (see What's Left), and Earthwatch research here was instrumental to the forest's conservation.