Coexistence: the ecology and evolution of tropical biodiversity

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Coexistence

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Coexistence

The Ecology and Evolution

of Tropical Biodiversity

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Jan Sapp

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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers

the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education

by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University

Press in the UK and certain other countries.

Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press

198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.

© Jan Sapp 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

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above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the

address above.

You must not circulate this work in any other form

and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.

CIP data is on file at the Library of Congress

ISBN 978–0–19–063244–1

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America

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For

Camille Limoges

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgmentsâ•…â•…ix

Interviewsâ•…â•…xi

1. The Other Worldâ•…â•…1

2. Legendsâ•…â•…11

3. Romancing the Rainforestâ•…â•…25

4. Regenerationâ•…â•…40

5. Is Evolution Different in the Tropics?â•…â•…52

6. Niche Constructionâ•…â•…62

7. Rhythms of the Forestâ•…â•…78

8. On the Waterfrontsâ•…â•…93

9. The New Dealâ•…â•…104

10. Ecology in Disequilibriumâ•…â•…114

11. The Central Enigmaâ•…â•…126

12. Liberated from Fashionable Scienceâ•…â•…136

13. Territories, Taxonomy, and Timeâ•…â•…151

14. Nineteen Eighty-Nineâ•…â•…165

15. Biodiversity in Heatâ•…â•…174

16. A Continent in the Canopyâ•…â•…185

17. At the Root of Diversityâ•…â•…197

18. The Other World Todayâ•…â•…208

Notesâ•…â•…215

Indexâ•…â•…267

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My interest in this history has its genesis in my book about coral reef environmental

science: What is Natural? Coral Reef Crisis. In 2007, I  contacted Ira Rubinoff, then

Director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, whom I  had first met in

1996 at the Eighth International Coral Reef Symposium, which the institute hosted

in Panama. I  told him I  was interested in writing another book on the history of

tropical biology as soon as I completed the project I was working on—the history

of microbial evolutionary biology. He asked me if I’d consider writing the history of

STRI. In the following years, his successor, Biff Bermingham, gave me access to the

facilities, invited me to become a research associate, and facilitated my research and

interactions with Smithsonian biologists.

Many people have collaborated in this project by generously providing their time

for interviews and/or reading draft chapters, correcting errors, and offering sug￾gestions. George Angehr, Allen Herre, Stephen Hubbell, Jeremy Jackson, Nancy

Knowlton, Eugene Morton, and Ross Robertson read specific draft chapters. Ira

Rubinoff also offered helpful comments. I thank Carole McKinnon for her readings

of the manuscript and support throughout the whole project. I am also thankful to

Egbert Leigh for his support throughout the writing of this book and for his close

and careful reading of the entire manuscript, which was simply invaluable.

I am grateful for the help of Nancy Korber at the Fairchild archives, the help of

Mary LeCroy in the Department of Ornithology of the American Museum of Natural

History, Anthony Walker for the adventure of floating across the rainforest canopy

and among the trees on the Sherman Forest Crane in Panama, Jorge Aleman, and

the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for the use of photos. I am grateful to

the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Social Sciences and Humanities

Research Council of Canada for their support of this work.

Thomas Barbour Papers, Pusey Library Archives, Harvard University, Boston.

Frank Chapman Papers, Department of Ornithology Archives, American Museum

of Natural History, New York.

Eugene Eisenmann Papers, Department of Ornithology Archives, American

Museum of Natural History, New York.

David Fairchild Papers, Center for Tropical Plant Conservation, Fairchild Tropical

Botanic Garden, Miami, Florida.

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, DC.

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Archives, New York.

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INTERVIEWS

George Angehr

Peter Ashton

Lisa Barnett

Eldredge Bermingham

James Bever

Charles Birkeland

Anthony Coates

Rachel Collin

Laurel Collins

Timothy Collins

James Collins

Richard Condit

Richard Cook

Barbara Davis

Robert Dressler

Kerry Dressler

Robin Foster

Allen Herre

Stephen Hubbell

Jeremy Jackson

Gabriel Jacome

Nancy Knowlton

Egbert Leigh

Harris Lessios

Olga Linares

Lena Lombardo

Scott Mangan

Eugene Morton

Leonor Motta

Jorge Motta

Aaron O’Dea

Dolores Piperno

Patricia Rand

Ira Rubinoff

Roberta Rubinoff

Ross Robertson

William Robertson

Henry Stockwell

William Wcislo

Donald Windsor

Joseph Wright

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Coexistence

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