Ecophysiological studies on plants of the lowland wet tropics have been started relatively late, leaving a large gap between the early work of Schimper, Stocker and Walter. However, more recently research in this area made strong progress by the development of joint projects by scientists from the U.S.A. with local institutions. The availability of portable instruments of energy fluxes, water potential components, and gas exchange has created the basis for matching up with modern approaches in research elsewhere.