Forest canopy research : A physical and scientific Frontier
Forest Canopy Research: A Physical and Scientific Frontier
Studies of warblers showcase how ecologists approach studies of one or a few species. Other ecologists have been concerned with the ecology of entire forests, lakes, or grasslands, which they treat as ecosystems. An ecosystem includes all the organisms that live in an area and the physical environment with which those organisms interact. Many ecosystem studies have focused on nutrients, the raw materials that an organism must acquire from the environment to live.studies of warblers showcase how ecologists approach studies of one or a few species
For ecologists who study the budgets of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, or calcium, one of the first steps is to inventory their distribution within an ecosystem. Inventories by Nalini Nadkarni changed our ideas of how tropical and temperate rain forests are structured and how they function. With the aid of mountain-climbing equipment, Nadkarni slowly made her first ascent into the the canopy of the Costa Rican rain forest, a world explored by few others and where she was to become a pioneer. She stood on the rain forest floor and wondered about the diversity of organisms and ecological relationships that might be hidden in the canopy high above. Her wonder soon gave way to determination, and she not only visited the canopy but was among the first to explore the ecology of this unseen world
Because of leaching by heavy rains, many rain forest soils are poor in nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus The low availability of nutrients in many rain forest soils has produced one of ecology's puzzles. How can the prodigious life of rain factors contribute to the maintenance of this intense biological activity. Nadkarni's research in the treetops uncovered one of those factors, a significant store of nutrients in the rain forest canopy.