Overview
Biotic interactions among species are fundamental drivers of tropical biodiversity, affecting species’ distributions, community assembly, and ecosystem functions and services, such as seed dispersal and pollination.
The tropics have an especially large gap in comprehensive occurrence and interaction data.
Therefore, compiling and synthesizing these data is a critical step towards diligently tracking and predicting community change. This information is vital to identifying species and areas that are at especially high risk of climate change, guiding conservation and land management decisions.
The La Selva-Volcán Barva Transect
As one of the best-preserved and most-studied elevational gradients in the tropics, this 2,900 m elevational gradient in Heredia, Costa Rica provides one of the best sources of ecological data in the tropics.
The Metanetwork
A MetaNetwork includes both observed and potential interaction data that helps us understand how communities may be structured and function.
This research is largely supported by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) at La Selva Research Station, which includes the work and dedication of their current and past researchers.