LIKE A LAYER OF THIN SKIN, Panama Bay’s mangroves separate the continent from the Pacific Ocean, sheltering Panama City and 86 miles of rural coast from storms. The rich ecosystem, which includes enormous tidal mudflats, also feeds Panamanians and up to two million migrating shorebirds.
This year biogeochemist Jorge Hoyos-Santillán and a six-person team got personal with these trees, snuggling trunks with a measuring tape, bending to collect leaves from the muddy ground, and coring samples of soft earth until hitting soil so old
