You can climb up steep, wet hillsides and look over at the tree tops. A slender tree can be climbed like a rope, hand over hand, but you cannot get very far before it bends over or breaks. From time to time, large trees crash to the ground making their epiphytes available for study, but the more mobile animals leave quickly. Entomologists have released insecticide bombs that kill the insects in a tree and collected those that fell to the ground. In the past, when the tropical forest seemed limitless, researchers cut down trees or climbed with telephone pole spikes.
Most modern scientists climb using methods that minimize harm to the environment.
A research site in Panama used a tall crane to lift a cage of researchers high into the branches. Combining inovation with mountain climbing techniques, they slingshot string over tall branches, pull up successively stronger ropes and then use ascenders to climb into the canopy. With a network of ropes and pulleys, scientists can move the about high branches with a great deal of freedom. A few research facilities and ecotourist destinations have constructed elevated walkways. One project employs a hot air ballon to survey the canopy from above and drops a large inflatable raft onto the top of the canopy.