So what is this thing, really?

Figured I'd try writing something for a more general audience.

Visit the tropical dry forest in the wet seasons and no one would fault you if you went home and told your friend about your trip to the rainforest. But come back a few months later and you'll wonder where all the green went. Many of the trees are now leafless; most of the rest still have some of their leaves, but they've lost a lot of them. The leaves that are left have a yellowed, bleached-out quality to them. And with their leaves gone, you notice how thorny a lot of the trees are. Not what you remember from your first visit, not at all.[read more]