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 point of view.
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.
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 Rio Chagres Basin. 5. Igneous Geology and Geochemistry of the Upper Rio Chagres Basin; G. Worner et al. 6. GIS Database and Stream Network Analysis Upper Rio Chagres Basin, Panama; D. A. Kinner et al. 7. Soils of the Upper Rio Chagres Basin; J. Bruce et al. 8. Hydrology of Hillslope Soils in the Upper Rio Chagres Watershed;. J. M. H. Hendrickx et al. 9. Infiltration in the Upper Rio Chagres Basin, Panama; L. Calvo-Gobbeti et al. 10. Runoff Production in the Upper Rio Chagres Watershed; J. Niedzialek & F. L. Ogden. 11. Downstream Hydraulic Geometry Along a Tropical Mountain River; E. Wohl. 12. Bedrock Channel Incision Along the Upper Rio Chagres Basin; E. Wohl & G. Springer. 13. Using TRMM to Explore Rainfall Variability in the Upper Rio Chagres Catchment; R. G. Knox et al. 14. Tree Species Composition and Beta Diversity Upper Rio Chagres Basin; R. Perez et al. 15. A Note on the Amphibians and Reptiles in the Upper Rio Chagres Basin; R. Ibanez D. Part III: The Regional Perspective. 16. High Spatial and Spectral Resolution Remote Sensing of Panama Canal Zone Forests; S. Bohlman & D. Lashlee. 17. Biogeographic History and the High Beta-Diversity of Rainforest Trees in Panama; C. W. Dick, et al. 18. World Holdings of Avian Tissues from Panama, with Notes on a Collection from the Upper Rio Chagres in 2002; S. Rohwer & R. C. Faucett. 19. Estimation of Landslide Importance in Hillslope Erosion in thePanama Canal Watershed; R. F. Stallard & D. A. Kinner. 20. Long Term Sediment Generation Rates for the Upper Rio 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 & 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.