Online Modules
Please register on Gala to access these modules. If you are interested in creating an OCELOTS module that is based on your peer-reviewed research in tropical biology, please contact Ann Russell (arussell@iastate.edu). Gala supports content in many languages – your module does not have to be in English! Please note that OCELOTS has a friendly peer-review process, which starts with the author 'deploying' a draft of their module, thus enabling OCELOTS participants to post comments directly on the module. The module author then presents their module draft during a one-hour-long Zoom meeting – the Networkshop – which allows time for discussion and suggestions for improving the module. This participatory process enables authors to improve their modules, and for participants to gain insights about module creation in a congenial, collaborative way intended to grow the community.

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A rainforest with a gold chain
Explore how the use of mercury in gold mining affects both aquatic and terrestrial food webs in this region known for its high biodiversity, and how this connects to the local health, economy and social systems.
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Author Guidelines
These Author Guidelines are designed to assist module authors throughout this participatory process of creating a new OCELOTS module or adapting an existing one.
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Between a rock and a hard place
Unique rock outcrops in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India provide a setting that challenges students to develop a study to assess the impact of land-use change on threatened animals within the context of a socio-ecological scenario.
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Causes and consequences of resisting herbivory: How long-lived plants avoid damage from diverse short-lived insect herbivores
Students experience decades-long studies of tropical plant-insect interactions to elucidate the ecology and evolution of plant defenses while considering the importance of diversity and equity in scientific research.
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Cold blood and wet skin in hot and dry secondary forests
Students will synthesize information from biological and physiological traits of amphibians and characteristics of secondary forests in Costa Rica to form hypotheses about persistence of amphibians in secondary forests and in response to land-use
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Colorful wings send messages
Red postman butterflies live in tropical rainforests and have a bright mix of red, yellow, and black on their wings. These bright colors may warn predators or attract mates.
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Functional trait-based restoration
A hybrid restoration experiment in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, in an area of high biocultural conservation value, that address the ecological and philosophical issues involved in conducting restoration with a combination of native and introduced species.
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Healing the Scars - Tropical rainforest carbon cycling
A long-term field experiment in Costa Rica connects the dots about how carbon cycling traits of species at the whole-plant level translate into global-level effects.
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High technology to measure forest carbon stocks
A case study on the estimation of aboveground biomass using advanced remote sensors (LiDAR and hyperspectral) in the Brazilian Amazon.