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The roots of tropical ecology can be traced to the voyages of European naturalists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Men who might be considered early ecologists such as Alexander Von Humboldt, Thomas Belt, Henry Walter Bates, and even Charles Darwin sailed to tropical locations and wrote extensively about the exotic flora and fauna they encountered.
Egbert Giles Leigh, Jr. (born July 27, 1940, in Richmond, Virginia) is an evolutionary ecologist who spends much of his time studying tropical ecosystems. [2] He is a researcher for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and is well known for the work he has done on Barro Colorado Island.
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI, Spanish: Instituto Smithsonian de Investigaciones Tropicales) is located in Panama and is the only bureau of the Smithsonian Institution based outside of the United States. It is dedicated to understanding the past, present, and future of tropical ecosystems and their relevance to human welfare.
Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than one-fifth of Earth's ... Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution. [106] The origin of life has not ...
The second is the notion of branching evolution, implying the common descent of all species of living things on earth from a single unique origin." [11] Additionally, "Darwin further noted that evolution must be gradual, with no major breaks or discontinuities. Finally, he reasoned that the mechanism of evolution was natural selection." [11]
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by organisms in interaction with their environment. [2]: 458 The biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal factors.
Extent of the Paleotropical kingdom Gallery forest in Guinea Savanna in Burkina Faso Acacia erioloba in the Namib Desert Pandanus utilis Nepenthes villosa. The Paleotropical kingdom (Paleotropis) is a floristic kingdom composed of the tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), as proposed by Ronald Good and Armen Takhtajan.
Evolution of seagrass, showing the progression onto land from marine origins, the diversification of land plants and the subsequent return to the sea by the seagrasses. Around 140 million years ago, seagrasses evolved from early monocots which succeeded in conquering the marine environment. [11]