The Pantiacolla of southeastern Peru, a ridge separated from Andean foothills by the Rio Alto Madre de Dios, Ornithologists John Fitzpatrick 

 and David Willard have assembled a complete inventory of birds at this site, one of the world's richest. In the process, they have described 

 new species that are restricted to this isolated range and detailed the elevational ranges of the entire avifauna. This information is critical to 

 understanding dynamics that shape these avian communities. Photo by j w Fuzpatnok 



most important of these is public education. 



Once systematic studies of a group or a region 

 have been completed, this information can be pre- 

 sented readily to the public. Popular accounts often 

 have tremendous impact on the general public by mak- 

 ing complex biotas generally accessible to nonspecial- 

 ists. Clifford Pope's Reptiles of China and Robert Inger's 

 The Fresh-water Fishes of North Borneo and The Amphi- 

 bia of Borneo are enduring examples of such work. 

 Through fostering an appreciation of a region's natural 

 resources and providing keys for the identification of its 

 species, these works enable the public to observe and 

 study nature. 



Through its public programs (exhibits and public 

 education), the Museum also communicates the find- 

 ings of its scientists on the nature of diversity and its 

 interdependencies. Public lectures, tours, and popular 

 articles by the scientists themselves are valuable ad- 

 juncts to these efforts, as is technical consultation on 



public programs of other communications media and 

 organizations. Together, these efforts shape the value 

 systems of people, both in this country and abroad. In 

 the final analysis, all development decisions involve 

 weighing the value of conserved diversity versus 

 development of natural resources for some other end. 



Conclusions 



Scientific progress takes a very predictable historical 

 course. One first identifies the variables that are in- 

 volved in a phenomenon, and then evaluates them 

 singly or in concert with others; ultimately, one derives 

 predictions of their specific effects. Tropical biology is 

 still in its infancy. Only recently have we discovered 

 that some high-calorie seeds not eaten by modern con- 

 sumers are actually vestiges of prehistoric ecologies, 

 that hunting behavior of bats can affect the mating 

 calls of frogs, and that mice play a key role in growth 27 



