Center for Tropical Research

Center for Tropical Research
Name	Center for Tropical Research
Formation	1998
Founder	Michael Dawson, Bruce D. Patterson
Location	Los Angeles, California, United States
Parent organization	Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles

Center for Tropical Research is a research institute based in Los Angeles focused on biodiversity, conservation biology, and tropical ecology linked to fieldwork in Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia. The center engages in interdisciplinary studies that connect taxonomic research, population genetics, remote sensing, and conservation policy with partners across international museums, universities, and non-governmental organizations. Its activities span long-term ecological monitoring, species rediscovery, museum curation, and graduate training in collaboration with natural history collections and conservation programs.

History

The center was established in the late 1990s through initiatives involving University of California, Los Angeles, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and conservationists associated with Smithsonian Institution, Kew Gardens, and the World Wildlife Fund. Early projects built on field expeditions influenced by expeditions of Alexander von Humboldt, survey methods popularized by Ernst Mayr, and taxonomic revisions seen in work by Carl Linnaeus, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Charles Darwin. Funding and collaborative frameworks drew upon grants from the National Science Foundation, support from the Packard Foundation, and agreements with the Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy. Leadership transitions included faculty appointments linked to UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, curatorships with the American Museum of Natural History, and advisory roles with the IUCN and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Mission and Research Focus

The center's mission emphasizes biodiversity assessment, species conservation, and ecosystem functional studies connecting tropical montane cloud forests, lowland rainforests, and coastal mangroves across regions such as the Amazon Rainforest, the Congo Basin, and the Mekong Delta. Research themes integrate community ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation genetics drawing on methods developed in labs affiliated with California Academy of Sciences, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Priority areas include threatened amphibian declines studied in context with pathogens like Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, pollinator networks involving Apis mellifera, and vertebrate rediscoveries comparable to work on Lord Howe Island stick insect and Giant panda field studies. The center contributes to assessments used by the IUCN Red List, informs policy dialogues at the Convention on Biological Diversity, and supports inventories for the Ramsar Convention.

Programs and Projects

Active programs include tropical biodiversity inventories modeled on the protocols of the Rapid Assessment Program, landscape-level monitoring influenced by Landsat and MODIS remote sensing, and community-based conservation projects associated with Rainforest Alliance and Forest Stewardship Council certification efforts. Major projects have included long-term amphibian monitoring akin to studies by Conservation International and species delimitation using techniques refined by researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Royal Ontario Museum. Collaborative expeditions have partnered with field stations such as La Selva Biological Station, Barro Colorado Island, and Cocha Cashu Biological Station, and engaged with indigenous stewardship models advocated by organizations like the Amazon Conservation Team.

Facilities and Collections

The center maintains specimen collections, genetic repositories, and photographic archives integrated with major museums including the Natural History Museum, London, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Laboratory facilities support DNA barcoding techniques established by groups at the Barcode of Life Data Systems and bioacoustic archives comparable to the Macaulay Library. Its herbarium and voucher collections follow curation standards used by New York Botanical Garden and specimen digitization workflows employed by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Field equipment and GIS resources align with practices at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and geospatial centers such as the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Education and Outreach

Training programs include graduate fellowships connected to the University of California, Los Angeles graduate divisions, postdoctoral appointments modeled on programs at the Smithsonian Institution, and undergraduate internships coordinated with the Conservation Biology Institute and local schools. Outreach initiatives feature citizen science projects similar to iNaturalist, public lectures held with partners like the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and curriculum collaborations with regional educators tied to Los Angeles Unified School District and community organizations such as Audubon Society. Educational materials have supported exhibits influenced by displays at the California Science Center and regional biodiversity festivals.

Collaborations and Partnerships

The center partners with academic institutions including University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, University of Costa Rica, and University of São Paulo, and with conservation NGOs such as Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF. Museum collaborations extend to the American Museum of Natural History, the Field Museum, and the California Academy of Sciences, while governmental and multilateral interactions involve the United Nations Environment Programme, the Inter-American Development Bank, and national agencies like the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Costa Rica). Collaborative grants have been awarded by agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the Packard Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Notable Publications and Impact

Publications from the center have appeared in journals like Science (journal), Nature (journal), Conservation Biology, and Molecular Ecology, contributing to influential syntheses on tropical deforestation trends, species extinction risk, and climate-driven range shifts. Reports have informed assessments by the IUCN Red List, policy briefs for the Convention on Biological Diversity, and technical guidance used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Citation impacts include collaborative monographs with the Smithsonian Institution Press and regional biodiversity atlases produced alongside the World Resources Institute and BirdLife International.

Category:Biological research institutes Category:Conservation organizations in the United States