In an unprecedented finding, researchers from the Smithsonian Institute of Tropical Research (STRI) have discovered on Barro Colorado Island in Panama what could be the largest liana in the world, challenging other scientists to find a larger one.

With a diameter of more than two feet (635 mm), this huge liana, found on March 9, 2023 by research assistant Biancolini Castro, belongs to the species Amphilophium crucigerum, popularly known in Panama as “monkey comb” for its large and thorny seed pods.

“We are a bitrs of the world to find a bigger one,” said Stefan Schnitzer, a professor at the University of Marquette and an associate researcher at the STRI, who leads this research team in Panama. “There are large lianas out there, but biologists usually only meass trees. We urge you to also measure the lianas.”

According to a recent study of which he is co-author S. Joseph Wright, a scientist at STRI, the lianas are favored by forest disturbances such as felling, road construction, agriculture, mining and other human activities.

Wright’s research manager, Osvaldo Calderón, every week for many years, has collected and identified the leaves that fall into mesh traps on Barro Colorado Island. The results showed a 50 percent increase in lianas on the island between 1986 and 2002. Schnitzer and his field team, led by Seberino Valdéz, also demonstrated that in Barro Colorado Island, a protected area, natural disturbances such as the fall of trees and lightning create favorable conditions for the lianas.

Lianas compete with trees and can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they store, frustrating efforts to curb climate change by conserving and planting tropical forests.