Socratea exorrhiza: The Walking Palm

Socratea exorrhiza (Mart.) H.Wendl, the Walking Palm, is a midsize palm with stilt roots. It is moderately common on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) but has declined steeply in abundance over recent decades. In this chapter, we review previous research on S. exorrhiza (also Socratea durissima H.Wendl., Iriartea exorrhiza Mart.) at BCI and nearby sites, discussing its morphology and physiology, biomass allometries, population dynamics, and interactions with other species. We provide new height and biomass allometry equations and new calculations for the standing biomass of this spe?cies on the BCI 50-ha Forest Dynamics Plot from 1982 to 2015. We close by recommend?ing future research taking advantage of mapped plots on BCI to further investigate the decline in population on the BCI 50-ha plot and the “walking” attributed to these palms.