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Research facility · Panama City · Panama

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

In research, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute stands highest in Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#935 of 3,409 worldwide), Environmental Science (#975 of 3,551 worldwide) and Life Sciences (#2,508 of 7,800 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Nature and Landscape Conservation, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics and Ecology — Nature and Landscape Conservation is 41.3× its share of world research.

stri.si.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#5,036
of 28,054 · #2,114 all time
Rank in Panama
#1
of 19
Research works
2.9k
◆ 1% vs 2013–17
Citations
187k
64.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
33.8%
record average 16.5%
Open access
46%
world 28%

What is Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #935 of 3,409 39.3%98 #246
Environmental ScienceField #975 of 3,551 34.4%123 #226
Life SciencesDomain #2,508 of 7,800 37.0%140 #1093
Physical SciencesDomain #6,526 of 12,888 32.7%161 #3188

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#246 #935
  2. Environmental Science#226 #975
  3. Life Sciences#1,093 #2,508
  4. Physical Sciences#3,188 #6,526
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Nature and Landscape Conservation takes 41.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 32.3 works41×
  2. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield · 57.4 works37×
  3. EcologySubfield · 43.5 works17×
  4. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 30.7 works12×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 6.29× its world share, 98 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 2.05× its world share, 36 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.67× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.65× its world share, 4 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemistry: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.08× its world share, 2 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 5.45× its world share, 28 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.51× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.08× its world share, 4 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 7.57× its world share, 124 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.19× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.09× its world share, 6 worksMedicineNursing: 0.33× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.25× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.58× its world share, 6 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.51× its world share, 5 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.17× its world share, 7 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Environmental Science, 7.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute?

Ranked on the composite score, S. Joseph Wright‬, Nancy­ Knowlton­ and A. Stanley Rand lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

  1. 1 S. Joseph Wright‬ Panama · #6,581 worldwide 1.1k citations · 64 works
  2. 2 Nancy­ Knowlton­ Panama · #35,765 worldwide 938 citations · 34 works
  3. 3 A. Stanley Rand Panama · #44,472 worldwide 545 citations · 38 works
  4. 4 Benjamin L. Turner Panama · #45,992 worldwide 848 citations · 72 works
  5. 5 Helene C. Muller‐Landau Panama · #51,982 worldwide 766 citations · 30 works
  6. 6 Dolores R. Piperno Panama · #65,710 worldwide 300 citations · 37 works
  7. 7 Gerhard Zotz Panama · #73,468 worldwide 556 citations · 58 works
  8. 8 Klaus Winter Panama · #74,975 worldwide 675 citations · 58 works
  9. 9 Stephen P. Hubbell Panama · #78,719 worldwide 484 citations · 36 works
  10. 10 Jeremy B. C. Jackson Panama · #80,787 worldwide 298 citations · 31 works
All ranked researchers at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Which keywords describe research at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Biodiversity, Invasive Species, Habitat Fragmentation, Global Change, Conservation, Population Dynamics and Ecosystem Services.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change114▲ 13×57 topics
  2. Biodiversity63▲ 26×21 topics
  3. Invasive Species54▲ 38×18 topics
  4. Habitat Fragmentation50▲ 69×5 topics
  5. Global Change45▲ 53×6 topics
  6. Conservation43▲ 30×15 topics
  7. Population Dynamics31▲ 37×12 topics
  8. Ecosystem Services29▲ 23×8 topics
  9. Plant-Animal Interactions23▲ 82×1 topic
  10. Pollinator Decline23▲ 82×1 topic
  11. Biological Invasions22▲ 74×3 topics
  12. Biogeography21▲ 25×18 topics
  13. Ecosystem20▲ 57×3 topics
  14. Community Ecology19▲ 68×2 topics
  15. Conservation Biology18▲ 54×4 topics
  16. Species Richness18▲ 86×2 topics
  17. Functional Diversity18▲ 99×1 topic
  18. Molecular Phylogeny18▲ 34×9 topics
  19. Phylogenetic Analysis17▲ 17×13 topics
  20. Ecosystem Resilience16▲ 33×5 topics
  21. Ocean Acidification16▲ 67×3 topics
  22. Phylogeny14▲ 28×15 topics
  23. Acoustic Communication13▲ 80×3 topics
  24. Ecosystem Functioning13▲ 20×6 topics
  25. Marine Ecosystems13▲ 73×2 topics
  26. Adaptive Evolution12▲ 68×2 topics
  27. Reproductive Strategies12▲ 97×2 topics
  28. Microbiota11▲ 16×3 topics
  29. Symbiosis11▲ 36×3 topics
  30. Natural Selection11▲ 60×2 topics
  31. Genetic Variation10▲ 15×3 topics
  32. Genomics10▲ 11×7 topics
  33. Evolutionary Dynamics10▲ 88×2 topics
  34. Ecological Interactions10▲ 77×2 topics
  35. Behavioral Syndromes10▲ 117×1 topic
  36. Phenotypic Plasticity10▲ 117×1 topic
  37. DNA Barcoding10▲ 19×8 topics
  38. Model Evaluation10▲ 24×2 topics
  39. Trophic Cascades10▲ 32×2 topics
  40. Evolution10▲ 12×13 topics

Which research topics does Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Plant and animal studies, Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Animal Behavior and Reproduction and Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior.

Plant and animal studies23Plant and animal studies: 23 fractional worksEcology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies: 18 fractional worksAnimal Behavior and Reproduction: 10 fractional worksInsect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior: 9 fractional worksSpecies Distribution and Climate Change: 9 fractional worksCoral and Marine Ecosystems Studies: 9 fractional worksPlant Water Relations an…8Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics: 8 fractional worksAmphibian and Reptile Biology: 7 fractional worksMarine animal studies overview: 7 fractional worksAnimal Vocal Communication and Behavior: 6 fractional works
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsNature and Landscape ConservationGeneticsEcological Modeling3 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 23 works
  2. 2 Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies Nature and Landscape Conservation 18 works
  3. 3 Animal Behavior and Reproduction Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 10 works
  4. 4 Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior Genetics 9 works
  5. 5 Species Distribution and Climate Change Ecological Modeling 9 works
  6. 6 Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies Ecology 9 works
  7. 7 Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 8 works
  8. 8 Amphibian and Reptile Biology Global and Planetary Change 7 works
  9. 9 Marine animal studies overview Ecology 7 works
  10. 10 Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior Developmental Biology 6 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available45.8%not open54.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors68.3%domestic only31.7%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 1% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Panama City

All research institutions in Panama City

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.