Ecological Monitoring and Biodiversity Surveys at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute s Bocas Del Toro Research Station

Abstract

The Bocas del Toro Archipelago, site of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's new Bocas Research Station, is a complex area of islands, mangrove cays, peninsulas, fringing reefs and seagrass beds on the Caribbean coast of Panama. The state-of-the-art research station runs long-term monitoring of physical and biological aspects of the local environments, that includes water and air temperature, precipitation, and tidal height. Biological monitoring includes annual or biannual surveys of seagrass productivity, mangrove forests and coral cover at reef sites. In 2003 and 2004 the station hosted workshops focused on taxonomic surveys of the marine fauna in the vicinity of the station. Collections of most major phyla resulted in the discovery of several new species and produced numerous new records for the country and region. This peer-reviewed special issue of the Caribbean journal of Science presents results of the ongoing monitoring and faunal surveys with the goal of providing a solid foundation and context for future research in the area.