We screened 51 species of trees and vines for isoprene emission by using a
tower crane to gain access to the top of the canopy in a semideciduous fore
st in the Republic of Panama. Of the species screened, 15 emitted isoprene
at rates greater than 0.8 nmol m(-2) s(-1). We measured the influence of li
ght and temperature on emissions. The species-dependent emission rates at 3
03 K and 1000 mu mol m(-2) s(-1 o)f incident photosynthetically active radi
ation ranged from 9 to 43 nmol m(-2) s(-1) with coefficients of variation o
f about 20%. Isoprene emission showed a hyperbolic response to light intens
ity and an exponential response to temperature. We modified an existing alg
orithm developed for temperate plants to fit the temperature response of th
ese tropical species. We suggest a new algorithm to fit the light response
of isoprene emission. The new and modified algorithms are compared to the a
lgorithms developed for temperate plants that are used in global models of
isoprene emission. Both sets of algorithms also are compared to additional
validation data collected in Panama and to published data on isoprene emiss
ion from a tropical dry forest in Puerto Rico. Our comparisons suggest that
algorithms developed for temperate plants can significantly underestimate
isoprene emissions from tropical forests at high-light and high-temperature
levels.