The Hindu : International : Linking rivers, with happy results

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 22, 2004

International

International

Linking rivers, with happy results

New York: The engineering marvel that is the Panama Canal created a link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But as a by-product, it also connected rivers that had been separated by the Continental Divide. That river link, between the Rio Chagres on the Caribbean side and the Rio Grande on the Pacific, allowed freshwater fish species from both sides to mingle. Now, a researcher has studied how those fish have mixed in the 90 years since the canal was built, with an eye to answering some basic ecological questions about the nature of communities. Working with several colleagues, the researcher, Dr. Scott A. Smith of McGill University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, made use of a detailed biological survey of the Canal Zone, including the two rivers, that was conducted at the time the canal was built.

New York Times News Service.

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