Chapter 4
Echinoderm Diversity in Panama:
144 Years of Research Across the Isthmus
Simon E. Coppard and Juan José Alvarado
4.1 Introduction
The Republic of Panama is the southernmost country in Central America between
07°00
0 –10°00
0 north and 77°00
0 –83°00
0 west and is located between Costa Rica to
the north and Colombia to the south. The country runs from east to west with a
length of 772 km and a width that varies from 60 to 177 km (Meditz and Hanratty
1987). Panama has both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines that total some 2,857 km
and which incorporate a vast diversity of marine habitats and ecosystems. The
80 km Panama Canal bisects the country and although this is theoretically a
freshwater barrier, it provides a link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Approximately one hundred and fifty rivers flow into the Caribbean, while over
three hundred rivers flow into the eastern Pacific.
Panama’s weather is governed by the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone which
dictates the seasonal patterns of wind and rainfall in the region. The dry season
(mid-December to mid-April) is characterised by low precipitation but strong
winds as a result of the northeast trade winds (Forsbergh 1969; Amador et al.
2006). The rainy season (May to November) has light winds with heavy rainfall
S. E. Coppard (&)
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO BOX 0843-03092Balboa, Ancón,
Panamá
e-mail: CoppardS@si.edu
J. J. Alvarado
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR),
Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, 11501-2060, San José, Costa Rica
e-mail: juanalva76@yahoo.com
J. J. Alvarado
Posgrado en Ciencias Marinas y Costeras,
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz, México
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín (eds.), Echinoderm Research and Diversity
in Latin America, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-20051-9_4,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
107
Echinoderm Diversity in Panama:
144 Years of Research Across the Isthmus
Simon E. Coppard and Juan José Alvarado
4.1 Introduction
The Republic of Panama is the southernmost country in Central America between
07°00
0 –10°00
0 north and 77°00
0 –83°00
0 west and is located between Costa Rica to
the north and Colombia to the south. The country runs from east to west with a
length of 772 km and a width that varies from 60 to 177 km (Meditz and Hanratty
1987). Panama has both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines that total some 2,857 km
and which incorporate a vast diversity of marine habitats and ecosystems. The
80 km Panama Canal bisects the country and although this is theoretically a
freshwater barrier, it provides a link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Approximately one hundred and fifty rivers flow into the Caribbean, while over
three hundred rivers flow into the eastern Pacific.
Panama’s weather is governed by the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone which
dictates the seasonal patterns of wind and rainfall in the region. The dry season
(mid-December to mid-April) is characterised by low precipitation but strong
winds as a result of the northeast trade winds (Forsbergh 1969; Amador et al.
2006). The rainy season (May to November) has light winds with heavy rainfall
S. E. Coppard (&)
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO BOX 0843-03092Balboa, Ancón,
Panamá
e-mail: CoppardS@si.edu
J. J. Alvarado
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR),
Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, 11501-2060, San José, Costa Rica
e-mail: juanalva76@yahoo.com
J. J. Alvarado
Posgrado en Ciencias Marinas y Costeras,
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz, México
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín (eds.), Echinoderm Research and Diversity
in Latin America, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-20051-9_4,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
107