Day's end at Monteverde. Photo by )ames S. Ashe. 



18 



ing national parks and wildlife reserves, with fully 10 

 percent of its land presently under some protected status. 

 Nonetheless, the Ministry of Agriculture recently esti- 

 mated that at least 75 species of animals are threatened 

 with extinction in the country. 



Field Museum expeditions not only provide collec- 

 tions, specimens, and data which document and allow 

 future study of this diversity, but also provide scientific 

 knowledge in two very important areas. Expeditions 

 allow us to study, in detail, biological relationships and 

 patterns of evolution which are unique to the tropics. 

 Secondly, study of tropical ecosystems provides data and 

 understanding of the relationship of natural areas to the 

 preservation and management of a country's resource 

 heritage of tropical plant and wildlife. 



While the wealth of data gathered is still being 

 analyzed, preliminary results of this expedition illustrate 

 both points. Work in the Zona Protectora will provide 

 the basis of a wildlife management system for the 

 National Park Service as well as provide a very rich 

 source of data concerning the effect of elevation on 



diversity and species composition of communities. The 

 beetle-mammal relationships studied are limited to for- 

 ested areas in the upper elevations in the tropics. Our 

 studies show that these beetles fail to survive where the 

 forest is opened by logging. Yet, these beetle-host rela- 

 tionships have great potential for providing unique in- 

 sights into the way host-parasite interactions evolve, 

 since it seems to be a relatively early stage of such a sys- 

 tem. Potentially, this information may lead to greater 

 understanding of the nature of all host-parasite inter- 

 actions. The potential benefit of such understanding to 

 mankind in improving control of harmful parasites is 

 inestimable. 



The possible benefits for mankind as well as the in- 

 creased understanding of life on our own planet from 

 study of tropical ecosystems is considerably greater than 

 the most generous available estimates. The Field 

 Museum's commitment to tropical biology, with the aid 

 of donors such as the Rice Foundation, joins with the 

 international scientific community to make this knowl- 

 edge available before it is lost forever. FM 



