Bocas del Toro Research Station - Smithsonian Tropical Research ...

Biologically rich marine and terrestrial habitats
in the province of Bocas del Toro, on the Western
Caribbean coast of Panama, provide BRS visitors
with a wealth of field opportunities. The complex
geography of the region contributes to its unique
biodiversity and easy access to many habitat types.
Mangrove-fringed mainland peninsulas and islands,
seagrass beds, and patch reefs delimit two distinct
bays: the Bahía Almirante and the Laguna de
Chiriquí. Reefs are best-developed in the Bahía
Almirante. The Laguna de Chiriquí, which receives
most of the terrestrial run-off, is dominated by
seagrass and mangrove ecosystems.
The Bocas del Toro mainland is covered by
montane and lowland humid tropical forest and
banana plantations. There are large expanses of
peat-swamp forest along the coast of the Bahía
7
Almirante. Deforestation is common on the islands
of the archipelago, which are primarily covered by
secondary forest, pasture, and teak plantations. Despite
this, some old-growth forest still remains on Islas Colon
and Bastimentos.
Bocas del Toro holds vast fossil deposits. Fossil reefs
and other outcrops from the last 18 million years are
common throughout the area. Fossil molluscs, forams,
bryozoans and corals from the region are well studied.
Easy access from the BRS to these numerous habitats
and rich outcrops has enabled a diversity of studies
aimed at understanding the environmental changes
associated with the rise of the Isthmus of Panama,
subsequent environmental changes, and the resulting
evolutionary divergences between the Pacific and
Caribbean biotas.
COSTA RICA
Bocas del Toro
PANAMA
Caribbean Sea
Panama City
Pacific Ocean
The Bocas del Toro Archipelago
is composed of seven islands that
separate two main bodies of water:
Bahía Almirante and the Laguna
de Chiriquí. A complex network
of small islands and mainland
peninsulas fringed by mangroves
delimits the two bays. This
complexity makes the archipelago a
biologist’s paradise.
COLOMBIA