The Rio Chagres, Panama: A Multidisciplinary Profile of a Tropical Watershed

ISBN-13: 9789048168323 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 357 str.

Russell S. Harmon

Opis

This book calls the attention of the scientific community, government organizations and non-government agencies, and the general public, to arguably one of the most important and complex of the world s tropical rainforest regions the greater Panama Canal Watershed. The Rio Chagres basin is the primary source for water to operate the Panama Canal, and also supplies water for electricity generation and potable water for municipal use, but this important national resource is largely unstudied from a scientific standpoint. The broad objective of the book is to characterize and understand the physical and ecological components of an isolated and largely pristine tropical rainforest and describe how the different natural components of a tropical rainforest interact with one another. The majority of the 23 papers contained in the volume are based upon presentations made at an international scientific symposium of the same title held at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort and Conference Center in Gamboa, Panama on 24-26 February 2003. In turn, most of the symposium presentations arose form research undertaken during a multidisciplinary field study conducted in the upper Rio Chagres watershed in 2001 by an international group of scientists. Convened under sponsorship of the Autoridad del Canal de Panama, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Universidad Tecnologica de Panama and US Army Yuma Proving Ground Tropic Regions Test Center, this conference brought together some 50 scientists, engineers, and government officials from the international community."

Spis treści

Dedication. Contributing Authors. Preface. Part I: Setting the Scene. 1. Geographic Overview of Panama: Pathway to the Continents and Link Between The Seas; E. J. Palka. 2. An Introduction to the Panama Canal Watershed; R. S. Harmon. 3. Light and Shadows in the Management of the Panama Canal Watershed; S. Heckadon-Moreno. 4. The Geological Development of Panama; R. S. Harmon. Part II: The Upper Rió Chagres Basin. 5. Igneous Geology and Geochemistry of the Upper Rió Chagres Basin; G. Worner R. S. Harmon, G. Hartmann, and K. Simon.6. GIS-based and Stream Network Analysis for the Upper Río Chagres Basin, Panama; D. A. Kinner et al. 7. Soils of the Upper Rió Chagres Basin, Panama: Soil Character and Variability in Two First Order Drainages; J. Bruce, J. Harrison and J. M. H. Hendrickx. 8. Hydrology of Hillslope Soils in the Upper Río Chagre Watershed, Panama;. J. M. H. Hendrickx et al. 9. Infiltration in the Upper Río Chagres Basin, Panama: The Soil Conservation Service 'Curve Numbers'; L. Calvo-Gobbeti, F. L. Ogden, and J. M. H. Hendrickx. 10. Runoff Production in the Upper Rió Chagres Watershed, Panama; J. Niedzialek and F. L. Ogden. 11. Downstream Hydraulic Geometry Along a Tropical Mountain River; E. Wohl. 12. Bedrock Channel Incision Along the Upper Río Chagres Basin, Panama; E. Wohl and G. Springer. 13. Using TRMM to Explore Rainfall Variability in the Upper Rió Chagres Catchment, Panama; R. G. Knox, F. L. Ogden and T. Dinku. 14. Tree Species Composition and Beta Diversity in the Upper RíoChagres Basin, Panama; R. Perez et al. 15. A Note on the Amphibians and Reptiles in the Upper Río Chagres Basin, Panama; R. Ibànez D. Part III: The Regional Perspective. 16. High Spatial and Spectral Resolution Remote Sensing of Panama Canal Zone Watershed Forests: An Applied Example Mapping Tropical Tree Species; S. Bohlman and D. Lashlee. 17. Biogeographic History and the High Beta-Diversity of Rainforest Trees in Panama; C. W. Dick, R. Condit, and E. Bermingham. 18. World Holdings of Avian Tissues from Panama, with Notes on a Collection from the Upper Río Chagres in 2002; S. Rohwer and R. C. Faucett. 19. Estimation of Landslide Importance in Hillslope Erosion in thePanama Canal Watershed; R. F. Stallard and D. A. Kinner. 20. Long Term Sediment Generation Rates for the Upper Rió Chagres Basin: Evidence from Cosmogenic 10Be; K. Nichols et al. 21. Estimation of Regional Actual Evapotranspiration in the Panama Canal Watershed; J. M. H. Hendrickx et al. 22. Operational Rainfall and Flow Forecasting for the Panama Canal Watershed; K. Georgakakos and J. Sperfslage. 23. Projected Land-Use Change for the Eastern Panama Canal Watershed and its Potential Impact; V. H. Dale, S. Brown, M. O. Calderon, A. S. Montoya, and R. E. Marti­nez. Index.