We’re nearly finished with our transects here. Over the past month we’ve installed fifty 50 meter x 2 meter transects, tagging all plants with a diameter greater than 1 centimeter. Today we finished the last one – 5,419 stems in all. Nearly all of these are small – seedlings, or small vines. Large plants require…

Some animals challenge the human tendency to assume our superior nature. Leafcutter ants (Atta sp.) are one of these species. These ants explore the forest, choosing only the trees with the tastiest leaves. They then send thousands of workers to systematically cut small sections from each leaf. The harvested material is carried back to their…