The Amazon rainforest is masterful at recycling plant nutrients. It has to be. Soils in Amazonia are notoriously poor in nutrients with the vast majority within the biomass of the forest itself. It is incumbent on the forest to vigorously recycle nutrients. Elsewhere, though, even if soils are rich in nutrients, recycling them is valuable … Read more
A stand of palm trees towers above the swampy forest floor, 10 meters, 20, 30. Just visible at the top of the tree is a flash of color—stark red against the white, misty air of the rainforest. The breath of a breeze is followed by a plunk. An odd, scaly fruit—the size of a large … Read more
Sprawled on the palm floor of her home, I listen intently as Marcelina recounts the local bees she knows. With the ease of describing old friends, Marcelina names mejayo ua, batigana ua, and many other native stingless bees in her Indigenous language, explaining their behavior, appearance, where she’s found them in the forest, and what … Read more
