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A Canopy Canapé: Ecology from the Treetops

Exploring the science of canopy ecology, some of which takes place 120 feet off the ground.

Published March 1, 2000

By Merle Spiegel
Academy Contributor

After millennia on the ground, we’re headed back to the treetops. That’s what Bruce Rinker would like, anyway. Rinker, an avowed acrophobe, has shinnied his way into the tops of trees from Africa to New York, from Central and South America to Florida. The science of canopy ecology is a new frontier, he says. And the view will knock your socks off.

“The U.S. and Europe spent a lot of time and money training ecologists to go into the tropics,” says Rinker. “And we learned about all these new species and new processes in the upper canopy. It didn’t take us long to ask: ‘If this is going on here, what’s going on back home?’”

Rinker and other canopy ecologists are starting to get answers to that question. On December 16, Rinker spoke to The New York Academy of Sciences’ (the Academy’s) Engineering Section about some of the findings of this new science. “Neotropical migrants—warblers and tanagers—stratify as they move through the forest,” he says. “Some never come out of the treetops.”

Rinker was introduced to the science of canopy ecology in 1991 when he was part of the U.S. team of an expedition into the treetops in Cameroon, Africa. Enthralled by the possibilities of these new techniques, he brought the technology home to the Millbrook School in New York, where he is Chairman of the Science Department and Project Director of the Forest Canopy Walkway. Built in 1995, this is one of only five such canopy research facilities in the United States.

An Amazing Miricle of Color and Noise

Rinker lights up when asked to describe the reactions of animals to his presence 120 feet off the ground. “One cold, overcast, and breezy Sunday, we no sooner got into the treetops when we could hear a swarm of neotropical migrants coming toward us. Within moments we were completely enveloped in this flock like a swarm of bees. They were literally walking on us black-throated blue warblers walking on my chest, on my shoes. There were grosbeaks and tanagers everywhere. It was the most amazing miracle of color and noise I’ve ever witnessed. It seemed as though they were oblivious to our presence. Then, in a couple of minutes, it was all over.”

Rinker is convinced of the utility of this new science and technology, but he would like to broaden its reach. “Traditionally the word canopy has referred to the upper layer of vegetation in the forest,” he explains. “We’re redefining the word, and it has upset some people. The problem is that there are all sorts of nooks and crannies and valleys and troughs. We’re redefining the word canopy to mean the entire forest system, from ground up. This means that not only can forests have canopies, but you can have sugar cane fields with canopies. You can have a golf course lawn with canopies. A kelp forest with canopies. Even the stromatolites of Australia define a canopy.

”Who knows what kind of insects and microclimate differences we will find,” he concludes.” This is all brand new.”

Also read:A Case for Going to Bat for the Bats


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