Over the past thirty years portions of Amazonia have been developed for small-hold farms, cattle ranching, and mining. Farming and ranching in Amazonia resulted in the widespread clearing of primary tropical forest. Using the fossil record, ETE scientists study the characteristics of ecological communities and the changing dynamics of ecosystems through geological time. They also have compiled a database . Our retrospective effort to document Earth's volcanic eruptions of the last 10,000 years has led to development of comprehensive computer databases and an archive of relevant maps, photos, and documents.
Some data are available directly online , and much more is available by mail.
This focuses on the long history of ecosystem responses to human pressures and vice versa. Museum researchers are piecing together the climatic and ecological conditions that allowed humans to evolve. Digital Darwins is an electronic museum and lab that enables the viewer to observe three-dimensional digitized specimens from the collection. The Neotropical Lowlands Research Program focuses study on key groups of organisms in order to understand the functioning of lowland ecosystems in tropical Latin America. We examine the relationships, distributions, and diversities of several types of organisms, each of which provides a differing view of the processes and patterns involved.