Panama Canal Amplification: Making the best of a clearcut situation

In Neotropical moist forests the transformation of wood biomass into animal biomass is initially mediated by wood-boring beetles. When trees are first cut, beetles are among the earliest visitors. Adults typically meet and mate on a selected host plant; the females then lay eggs that hatch into larvae. The larvae create feeding galleries in the wood, and deposit microbe-laden frass. Because the beetles create openings in the bark and jump-start the decomposition of wood, they facilitate colonization by other insects (including predators and parasites) and fungi. The host plant associations of wood-boring beetles, which reveal information about both insect microhabitat and diet, are poorly known. Data are especially difficult to acquire for wood-boring insects associated with tropical trees. The amplification of the Panama Canal will lead to partial inundation of several forested islands within, and banks along, the manmade Lago Gatún. Prior to inundation the forests are being clear-cut, and this provides an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the wood-boring beetles associated with a diverse group of trees, along with their predators and parasites.

En los bosques húmedos Neotropicales la transformación de la biomasa de madera en biomasa animal es mediada principalmente por escarabajos xilófagos. En areas de árboles que han sido taladas recientemente, los escarabajos adultos son los primeros en llegar. Despues de seleccionar una planta para hospedarse, los escarabajos se aparean y las hembras depositan huevos que generan larvas. Debido a que estos escarabajos crear aperturas a través de la corteza e inician el desglose de la madera, ellos facilitan la colonización por otros insectos (incluendo depredadores y parásitos) y hongos que descomponen la madera. Las plantas hospederas, que revelan información sobre los micro-hábitats de los insectos y su alimentación, han sido muy poco estudiadas. Los datos son especialmente difíciles de obtener para los insectos barrenadores de madera asociados a los árboles tropicales. La tala de árboles previa a la ampliación del Canal de Panamá ofrece una oportunidad sin igual para estudiar una diversa poblacion de árboles incluyendo las faunas de escarabajos xilófagos, y de otros organismos asociados.

05 April 2010

But would the beetles come???

My job was to fret. I had received warnings that in Panama insects would not be active until the rainy season started. The forest was much drier than others where I've worked, and did indeed seem poor in insects-- other than ants. I remembered that when I went for my travel shots, I learned that the CDC didn't even recommend malaria prophylaxis in the Canal Zone. I wondered what had happened, because didn't many canal workers die from malaria and yellow fever? How could they have managed to eradicate the mosquitoes so efficiently without affecting other insects as well???

WHAT IF THE BEETLES DIDN'T COME TO OUR TREES???





As usual, I was fretting for naught. Three days after we started the cut we saw, among others, Zygops cf histrio (on Terminalia), Megacyllene cf nevermanni, Neoclytus cf columbianus (also on Terminalia), and Steirastoma histrionica (on Gustavia).

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3 comments:

  1. JaneApril 7, 2010 at 4:12 PM

    definitely cool beetles. Like the flower, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amy BerkovApril 8, 2010 at 3:11 PM

    The flower is Gustavia superba, in the Brazil nut family! It is incredibly abundant in the Canal Zone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. natera, davidJune 2, 2010 at 11:01 PM

    Greetings,

    I'm a panamanian student from the University of Panama and I interested in the topic of your study. I been working principally with mammals but I would like to participate and be useful in this project.

    I want to know what I have to do to participate
    or if I need to do an interview with you.

    Thanks for your time,

    David Natera
    8-794-2075
    nateraone@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete

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