STRI,Environmental Science Program,esp,long-term research,terrestrial tropical biology, meteorology and hydrology,data bases,maps,ctfs,marine biology,birds of panama,plants of panama,insects of panama,fish of panama

The Environmental Science Program (ESP) has, since 1972, funded long-term monitoring projects whose core programs include both Terrestrial and Marine elements.

The Terrestrial Programs include: Meteorology and Hydrology, Tropical Plant Reproductive Biology, and the Population Dynamics of Insect, Lizards, Birds, and Mammals.

The Marine Programs include: Meteorology, Ocean Water Quality, Productivity and Biomass (coral reefs, grass beds, and mangroves), the Panama Coral Reef Monitoring Network, the Marine Environmental Assessment Study (MAREAS), and the Mangrove Monitoring Project.

The 2005 Terrestrial Meteorological and Hydrological report is now available here

Available Data

We provide, free of charge, the ESP physical monitoring data. Please read our Data Access Policy before downloading data. Many other data sets are available by contacting the PI of the ESP sponsored project. Metadata summaries of all ESP data sets can be found by clicking here.

Long-term monitoring

Long-term monitoring alone can often only document environmental changes. But, when combined with experimental studies designed to explain how different elements of the environment interact with one another, monitoring data can add a valuable dimension to the study or even be its primary theme. By its nature, long-term monitoring cannot be part of a project or a grant which might last only a few years, but must be part of a commitment by an institution operating a permanent field station. STRI is one of the very few such institutions in a tropical area that can make such a commitment. The Environmental Sciences Program has been collecting physical monitoring data on Barro Colorado Island and Naos beginning in the 1970's, and has since then added monitoring programs to the new marine laboratory at Bocas del Toro, canopy access towers at Fort Sherman and Parque Natural Metropolitano, as well as at a number of other locations. An important part of its mission is to provide monitoring data as a service to researchers at the laboratory.

Click on one of the circles for information relating to the ESP research site at that location

To search for something on the ESP site enter your query here.

Visitors: 31519