OPUS: RUI: Ecological Roles of Forest Canopy Communities in a Tropical Montane Forest: Synthesis and Dissemination

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Over two decades of forest canopy and forest ecosystem research in Monteverde, Costa Rica, has produced 60 scientific publications on forest ecology, nutrient cycling, wildlife ecology, and global climate change. Using NSF funding for this OPUS project, this body of work will be synthesized for scientists, students, and non-scientists. Four products will result: 1) synthetic reviews on the role of canopy communities in cloud forest ecosystem ecology; 2) a web-based graduate-level course in forest canopy studies; 3) posted datasets with the NSF-supported Canopy Database Project; and 4) a popular book called "Trees and Humans" to be published by the University of California Press. These activities will provide critical information for scientists and land managers concerned with tropical cloud forests, one of the most endangered habitats on earth. Information about canopy communities will be integrated with data on biota and processes of the whole ecosystems in an unprecedented manner. The long-term nature of the data is unique for both cloud forest studies and canopy research, and will provide new insights into these complex systems.