Macroevolution examines the temporal patterns of biological diversity in deep time. When combined with biogeography, it can provide unique information about the historical changes in the distribution of communities and biomes. Here I document temporal and spatial changes of diversity in the genus Bursera and relate them to the origin and expansion of the tropical dry forests of Mexico. Bursera ...

Tropical environments present a unique challenge for optical time series analysis, primarily owing to fragmented data availability, persistent cloud cover and atmospheric aerosols. Additionally, little is known of whether the performance of time series change detection is affected by diverse forest types found in tropical dry regions. In this paper, we develop a methodology for mapping forest c...

– The Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) is a large canopy frugivore common in the seasonal areas of the interior of Brazil. In this study, I evaluated fruit production and analyzed the toucan’s feeding habits in two types of dry forests, one deciduous, although rich in figs, and another semi-deciduous, both in the western Brazil. Both areas exhibited marked fruiting patterns, which peaks overlapped...

We examine the ecology of reddish-gray mouse lemurs from three habitats at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve using focal follows and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data. Focal observations indicate dietary differences among habitats as well as sexes and seasons. Both sexes consume more arthropods during the rainy season but overall, females consume more sugar-rich exudates and fruit than males,...

We used a comparative phylogeographical approach to investigate the origins of the disjunct wet forest biota of the Golfo Dulce region along the Pacific slope of Costa Rica. This region is isolated by Pacific dry forests north and south and isolated from Caribbean wet forests by mountains. We studied three sympatric lowland frog species in the Craugastor fitzingeri species group that prefer wet...

1. Organisms are adapted to particular habitats; consequently, community composition changes across environmental gradients, enhancing regional diversity. In Panama, a rainfall gradient correlates with the spatial turnover of tree species. While strong evidence suggests that tree species common in the wetter forests are excluded from the drier forests by seasonal drought, the factor(s) excludin...

Although seasonal and temporal variations in evapotranspiration (ET) in Amazonia have been studied based upon flux-tower data and coarse resolution satellite-based models, ET dynamics over human-impacted landscapes are highly uncertain in this region. In this study, we estimate ET rates from critical land cover types over highly fragmented landscapes in the southern Amazon and characterize the ...

Abandonment of agricultural land has resulted in forest regeneration in species-rich dry grasslands across European mountain regions and threatens conservation efforts in this vegetation type. To support national conservation strategies, we used a site-selection algorithm (MARXAN) to find optimum sets of floristic regions (reporting units) that contain grasslands of high conservation priority. ...

We used a comparative phylogeographical approach to investigate the origins of the disjunct wet forest biota of the Golfo Dulce region along the Pacific slope of Costa Rica. This region is isolated by Pacific dry forests north and south and isolated from Caribbean wet forests by mountains. We studied three sympatric lowland frog species in the Craugastor fitzingeri species group that prefer wet...