outdoors

Two new resources from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

People with an avid interest in Panama outdoors have two impressive new resources.

From the Oxford University Press, there is "A Magic Web: The Forest of Barro Colorado Island," a collaboration between photographer Christian Ziegler and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute biologist Egbert Leigh. As a coffee table book of photos about Panamanian wildlife, it at least equals Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro's "National Parks of Panama." As a popular explanation of how tropical forest ecosystems work, it's bound to be an all-time classic.

Another Smithsonian biologist, D. Ross Robertson, in collaboration with Australian colleague Gerald R. Allen, has published "Shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific: An information system" in CD-ROM format, in both English and Spanish. It's a cheap ($10) and convenient guide to the fish you will encounter in the waters off Panama's Pacific side.