EL NIÑO'S POWERFUL REACH   What is
El Niño?		 Clues From
the Past		 Long Distance
Connections		 Winners &
Losers		 El Niño
Lowdown

Left 1 2 3 4 5 6 Amazonian Insects Right

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Terry Erwin and his team collect insects several hours after the trees were fogged with an insecticide. Click to view full image.

Does El Niño impact the diversity of Amazonian rainforest insects? To find out, Terry Erwin, a Smithsonian entomologist, is counting millions of small beetles. The insects were collected in Ecuador and Brazil's rainforest during the 1997-98 El Niño, which caused a severe drought there. Dr. Erwin knows from a study of the 1994-96 El Niño that the abundance of beetle species hit a three-year low as that El Niño was ending. Will his research reveal a similar impact during the 1997-98 El Niño?

More about Terry Erwin's research...		 Click to View Full Image
A rainforest beetle. Click to view full image.