Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
forest, which increases in diversity to the south, the northern temperate
component of the lower to upper montane broad-leaved forest decreases
in number of species and extent to the south because of tropicality and
few extensive highlands in southern Central America. The region around
Bluefi elds in Nicaragua marks the southernmost extension of many north-
ern elements including
Juniperus
,
Pinus
,
Carpinus
(hornbeam),
Liquidambar
,
and
Ulmus
. A few extend farther south such as
Alnus
,
Myrica
(gale),
Jug-
lans
,
Ostrya
(hop hornbeam), and
Quercus
. At the highest elevations, such
as in the Sierra de los Cuchumantanes of western Guatemala and northern
Honduras (3100-3800 m), there is a montane coniferous forest association
of
Abies guatemalensis
and
Pinus hartwegii
marking the southern extent of
these mostly northern genera. In Costa Rica, the Cerro Chirripó (3819 m)
is glaciated at the peak, and the Cerro de la Muerte (3100 m) has stunted
oaks and a grassy páramo. The completion of the Panama land bridge, the
availability of the moderate highlands, and the general Neogene cooling al-
lowed a few northern temperate plants to cross into the Andean highlands
of northern South America.
Alnus
fi rst appeared in South America at 1 Ma,
and
Quercus
followed at about 330 kyr. The ecosystems of Central Amer-
ica include nine of the twelve described for the New World: shrubland/
chaparral-woodland-savanna, mangrove, beach/strand/dune, freshwater
herbaceous bog/marsh/swamp, aquatic, lowland neotropical rain forest,
lower to upper montane broad-leaved forest, coniferous forest (north-
ern Central America), and páramo. Lacking are natural desert, grassland,
and tundra.
One of the historic rivers of Latin America is the Río Chagres (Minter
1948; fi g. 2.33). Christopher Columbus in 1502, and later Vasco Núñez de
Balboa and the infamous pirate Henry Morgan, all sailed the river. It served
as the gateway to Peru, beginning the eventual conquest of the Inca by Fran-
cisco Pizarro (1531-33), and it was the principal waterway for transport-
ing gold and other treasures to Spain from the New World. Barro Colorado
Island was formed when the Río Chagres was dammed to form Gatún Lake,
a waiting area for ships passing through the narrow Gaillard Cut of the
Panama Canal. The research fi eld station of the Smithsonian Tropical Re-
search Institute (STRI) is located on Barro Colorado Island. The history of
the island and some early research is recounted by Frank M. Chapman in
My Tropical Air Castle
(1929) and
Life in an Air Castle
(1938).
The administrative offi ces of STRI are on the grounds of the former Tivoli
Hotel in Balboa (II, fi g. 1.32). The hotel was rushed to near completion to
house its fi rst guest, Theodore Roosevelt, who was on an inspection tour of
the Panama Canal in 1906, and it was torn down in 1971 ravaged by time
