wi

Ranking the ,.cTAk%fi Rain :,;,,-:-I

.-4aip2, ,.r.: 4% :::#g3<g&&fi\

In a maverick new program, four tropical biologists are doing quick and dirty surveys of the world's rain forests to

protect-before they disappear 96'- Y&'

FEARING THAT TRADITIONAL RESEARCH

cannot hope to match the speed with which tropical forests are disappearing, four of the world's foremost tropical biologists have put together an ecological SWAT team ready to fly anywhere to do quick and dirty surveys of this vanishing resource. The team's mis- sion is to get to remote, uncharted sites in the tropics and then use satellite imagery, - . aerial reconnaissance, and field surveys to come up with an inventory of species in just a couple of weeks, instead of the usual months or years.

The idea behind the Rapid Assessment Program, or RAP, is to gather data quickly that wiU help decide which tracts ofimperiled tropical forests are the most deserving of protection-decisions that are all too often based on politics or opportunity, and not biology, says team leader Theodore Parker. The RAP team, started just last year under the

IF Cloud forest. Alto Madidi i n the Andean foot- hills of northern Bolivia is one of the most diverse forests ever studied (top). RAP team leader Ted Parker ( lef t) can identify 3000 bird species by song alone.

well-studied forests but the unknown ones, presumed to be rich in diversity and known to be threatened with obliteration. They would have enough money-perhaps up to $50,000 per trip-for high-tech equipment and the logistics of getting the crew in and out 1

auspices of Conservation International, has surveys they say are needed. quickly. They would work closely with the already visited tropical forests in northern "Long-term research is great, but I don't biologists of the host country. And at the end Bolivia and western Ecuador. Over the next see how that fits with the immediate problem of their stay, instead of writing up the defini- 1 few years they plan to visit dozens of sites in we have," responds RAP team leader Parker tive monograph-a process that can take tropical forests in Latin America, Africa, and with obvious exasperation. "The Bolivians decades-the team would brief local officials Asia and then rank them in terms of their are setting up protected areas whether or not on what they found and then move on. biological richness. they have the [complete inventory of the] Gell-Mann sold Conservation Interna-

Radical though it may be, this program flora of Bolivia in their hands." tional on the idea, though it didn't take much has won the praise of systematists and con- RAP had its origins in a series of conversa- doing. "Everyone listens to Murray," says servationists alike. T o Edward 0. Wilson of tions between Parker and Murray Gell-Mann Parker. And as chairman of the MacArthur Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zool- I of Caltech, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist I Foundation's world environment and re o n , "It's an important method for spotting and conservationist. Gell-Mann accompanied sources committee, Gell-Mann was insuu- brushfires in the global attempt to reduce Parker on several of the natural history tours mental in securing a $750,000 start-up grant. the extinction of species." Walter Reid, an he used to lead in the tropics while working Still, Conservation International realized ecologist in the biodiversity program at the at the Louisiana State University. Both felt from the outset that money wasn't enough: World Resources Institute, calls it "enor- frustrated that too few biologists were work- RAP would work only if they could recruit mously useful." ing in the tropics, and that their research was people like Parker, who by virtue of their

But, they add, RAP is not the whole I going far too slowly, to be of much help in I unique expertise could do in a week what answer in setting conservation priorities. setting conservation strategy. Says Parker: "I would take normal mortals months or years. Some, like Reid, point out that it ignores the realized there is no way in the world we would Parker, a self-trained ornithologist, can rec- key economic and social factors, like how know enough in 20 years to decide [what ognize nearly 3000 bird species by song the rain forest is already being used. Most of land to set aside] in eastern Bolivia or parts of alone. Give him one week in a tropical the grousing, however, comes from more eastern Colombia or southern Venezuela, forest, anywhere from Mexico to Argentina, academically minded scientists, who say that where few biologists have been." and he can identify about 95% of the bird one week, even one month, is simply too The answer, they decided, was a new type species there. short to find out what is going on in any of rapid assessment, which would leave be- After hiring Parker full time to run the ecosystem-no matter how good these four hind some of the trappings of academic sci- team, they recruited three more biologists of biologists are. And, more to the I ence-thepainstakingco~ectingandcatalog- ( his caliber: Alwyn Gentry, curator for the point, they are worried that this flashy new ing of specimens-and instead concentrate Missouri Botanical Garden; Robin Foster, an program will divert attention-and more on speed. They would visit dozens of sites ecologist and botanist with the Field Mu- & -

-depth 1 over- the first the relatively I scum-of Natural History in Chicago, and

RESEARCH NEWS 1559

L zoologist. Says Tom ,,,,,,?, .,,- retan7 for external affairs at the Smithsonian Institution: "They are some of the best in the game. Going into the field with Ted P

mithsoniai T n.,e;n., ,

selected bt I " cn.,, Dnr

ecause it is LP.. ' 'Ah-.

; "incredib 1y threat- ICOL r\C+Ln

think R I h....n A

d at ident :,, ,:,L..,

ifving area ," -4- c,--

s that - --A CIILu, $a\ 3 A aIRCI. I k u u ~ t 90% to 9 0 ,u u, L I I L

original forest has already been destroyed. And within the next 1 0 or 20 years, all of the forest will disappear if steps are not taken to

I l d \ C d Illsll JpLCICD I ICI I I IChh UI LlCC

birds," says William Duellrna~ Center for Neotropicai Dive versity of Kansas. "But does that 111g1l s richness a high r there? Y

h d l l C 1

ofthe : Uni-

n, director rsity at the . . . .

pecies 8 . 'arker is a I

ird songs IOLIS men ,nc+P,. -..a

.evelation. you can't

The guy 1 believe, a try and , I p n + * ;n

ias an ear f nd an en( I_

or protc ;r- I ity t(

7

:ct it." Fo: I identifv t

;ter, who t :rees from

sites th 1 .....,L .

IPS an unc: the air, pic [at appear1 -..- "..."*

Lnny abil- :ked four :d to be LA.-PA -..

of trees an species ric ou can't g .A -....,. l-

d birds me hness of ( ,et that fro ,..rill..--..

.an you nil Ither orga m RAP." L:-l--:"*"

I nave nisms

lory. Gen +LP Pn11;.," Venezuela Instehu, aa!a ULICLI I I Id I I , V I u I u ~ I S L D

t o look at other organisms I easy co~ulting, like ants and reptiles. And they need to d o ~t not

L I C I I L a 111

d. And )ws her

\ ? V I L L I p U 1 J L L l l l 5 , VdJLU UII

I size and presumed species

mbia I., diversity. The RAP team , - then spent the month of

Januaq

l lCCC1

ble t o :s and for 1

he botan ,mmons I

tuff."

ical worl -eally knc

- ess arnena l buttcrflie . .

n'r -

detail : mission -ists was ;

: Andean 1 ~n R-I:.,;

for the a cloud foothills n A l t -

The first Iur scient Irest in thc 3 nr\r+h,%,

in the fie1 Id. I week, b~ once in

. ~ t probabl the dry se :xactly n h :

. . ..'. ".+-" ..-

:eks at a st mce in thc In plans to -.. La":-

s '. '- Ecuador :

- I .

, I

3 <

retell,

: wet. 1 d o at

ason and ( at Duellrn: +I--

fc ill llul L l l C l l t U u I I \ L a , I i iuIIICIuu3 D I L L 3 111 L t l L nllldLu11 udSl11 d

Madidi, selected in 1 of the new BIOTROP pro! cause of the favorabl' collaboration with Peter Ra cal climate. T h e I souri Botanical Garden and kdarard \r

P at Haward. Indeed, with a c, tional Geographic, they alr I( seasons in the field in Cuzcc ball L I C w I"551115, Peru. But their ambitious plnlls 1~11 i

while t h e country trips may be foiled, Duellmnn \\lorries, sets conservation pri- the National Science Foundation just t orities. But Bolivian down the group's S1.8 million grant prc P ~d little to to cover g luse biolo Duel1 e pe of the asrlan In

onal Park MacArtl t l a ~ ~ u ULI h e forests V L I LI U, ~ ~ u a u u i , a"' tion t h & ~ I I ~ > ~ C I I C I U U S I ! S L I ~ ~ U I L C U

C nore dive1 And that, says Reid of the World Resc tl :loser to t .o ~ z u l Institute, may explain some of the te em * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i l bet\veen the two camps, which really

that far s Reid: "E \x nizes tk o r both I

B long-ter . But there OLLL u L Ll lC l l l U J L U L V C L J of monty, >U I L =lids up b e i ~ ~ l : d V ~ L L I I

world. Heading out with his tap at W ian sites apart is not dawn, Parker identified 4 0 3 spe is, SO m ;ays Parker, but the which he thinks account for 95% or the total unusually large number of unique species

P , including )e- they cedes, however, fc :d in Boliv .d- plan1 t RAP are legiti- i~ ng proced im thou )e nice to add a tb L U L L L ~ ~ I C diversity ill UIIICILIIL IUICDLD ldp- At Machalilla ~ C ~ L I V I I ~ I I ~ I K , \VIICIC LIIC L C ~ I I I

idly, Gentry identified 204 woody plant survc llated on ridge tops, species within a quarter of an acre-a huge Park 25 montaine bird number-many of them new to Bolivia, and species that weren't known t o exist outside sc

E

Brazil That is e I ....... _..̂ s part ,un in : Mis- filson . .

Jart be- e politi- iolivian

gram, beg ven at the *- . . --

resident alled for Igical pail ..n -n --..

recently an "eco- se," or a . I,,":""

grant fror eady spen 3 Amazon

c-.. ,

n Na- t nvo ico in c.*....-

drove 1

the bar, studyiyil nlnnrr t

zorth, aln der of Col tg seuera ho ,,,n,,

zost to ombia, 1 sites

LULLLLC

since urned ~posal

lanners ha o on, bec: astern slo --+-A -- +I

the first 2 man is stil hur Founc .* La..

l years. l awaiting iation-th .-..-..- I - . -

gists stud! Andes h

~ C D P R . -C

,ling the ri ave conce :".,..A,... n

word fro] e same fo ..----&-A

m the unda- D A n

r r o San Seb achalilla Nati

M I . . )urces nsion aren't

:olombia, i an Bolivi quator.

presumec a because

1 t o be n they are c

RAP team ;t May, th ranked Al

ound the ie field las

Not so, f reeks in tk ,olivian co ..- -C +hP

t 2 eir as

L

apart. Say ie need f ,m studies .-. a- .* --

:veryone r short-tern : is a Iimite -- - L---I

ecog- 1 and :d pot - >?

unterparts - n o + A;.,*

hat sets th uch their .. .

e Ecuador diversity, 5

-. lrgent 1s the lough

le recorder cies of birc ., " .

- ear: The L ounveigt

tories-th * * opulation.

Ire reportc :ed sampli, .

; nine spec ia. Using I ure, which .. ,4:4Tn..n..

ies never t his standar enables h,

+ C-..-"*" ....

contain: t and ani ght t o resi

Roughly ma1 speci~ d e in west .T-*:---l n.

one-fourt es they fc ern Ecuad .-I- --.L ---

h of the ~ u n d are o r alone. & L A ..---

~uld be ide ie of the g ying that . * --

al. H e con ripes abou it \ilould t

:yed moist er identifi , .

forests iso ed 20 t o . .

down." :er says, R

n't bog us : end, Park

.. . . AP will sta

3me new t Though

:o science. mammals etected 45 l..Ain- +h.

~ e , I restr the . Andes. Sir

icted t o ju re kilomet ,Irn, ",A L

nilarly, G' st one mo ers or less .:* "-Il---.

e n t n four untain to[

id plants of a few

:ssful has a uence the lents that 7 - L--... -.

lot to d o T

consen7at will be set .-L 2-

,i.ith nrhetk ion group ting aside .-.:*L --.L-*I

ler we s and lands. L^ - --

are far n 1 species ir

..n..-,<

lore elusii 1 her nigh tly I squa

, .." D" p l u r v ~ ~ , Illcluulllg L l i I L L I L p U l Led in Boli\ la

for the first i dog, spiny- tree rat, an( suspects that an equal number went undetected. What was most e n c o ~ ys Parker, n - dance of la lals, such nd spider mon ch indicat [to Madidi is laLgLL! uLLCListurbed by IlullldllD.

Work on RAP'S second mission began last December when botanist Robin Foster and Brent Bailey, the RAP coordinator at Conser- V

r( CI

L dlhL.1 dllU l l l h LUIICdgUCh d l C l IU\\ W ' I I L 1 1 1 ~

up their brief reports on both Bolivia and Ecuador, which will be distributed widelv to

LlCI UI

asure, divian Foun- - . .

- time: the ! I big-earec

influence s lready pro

icience." E \ring succe

- . .

Ly that me ssful. A Bc ". -

short-earec 1 bat. She

not nre I

RAP is a consenTatlon group, kr~ends ot Nature I promote consenlation. Buoyed by their ini-

raging, sa rge mamn [keys, whi .--nl., .."A:

is the abu as tapirs a es that A1 ,. L....."""

tial success, th e RAP tea l e forest i~ divia agair .--

m is planr n southerr 1 in May,

ling trips 1 Mexico and then

dation, Madidi

"We

has alread to protect know we .I--.. L' A - *

y purchas it. can influe 1 ... - 1

ed part ot t Alto t o the montair in April, t o Bc probably to Pe

All of which their academic

,rice decisi .. ... ... :11 says Par ;1u.

is a bit tc colleagues , . . .

KCI. N I L

;. Look at this count - . . .

I M'C KIIU\Z' \\'C W l l l

: the cons n 1 0 0 o r I

enration r 50 years ag

. -

mistake! 30 fast for some of ;. N o one questions

nove- ment in some of the d e c ~ s ~ o n s they made. Bu

o and .t if it that these four b~olog~sts can get a remarkable

ation Inte :nted a sn oastal mol

rnational la11 plane untains of

in Washin and flew (

western

@on, D.( 3ver the I( Ecuador.

shot durin , question : to decid~

g their bric whether t k e which k

sf stay. But iat snapshc inds to pr

: a few, at ~t is suffi- ,otect. "I

weren't others, this cou

for Teddj we \vould ntni."

Roose\lel n't have ;

Lr

t and just a tenr mything left in ISLIE ROBERTS

ENCE, VO SCI