Drilling Field Trial 1

I went to Buena Vista today to test out my brand new drill! My plan is to use a small drill bit to take saw dust from the stem of live saplings. I hope this technique will be a minimally invasive way to compare wood samples from the same sapling before and after defoliation. Otherwise, I may have to sacrifice several individuals at the beginning of the experiment so that I know what the carbohydrate and nutrient levels are at the beginning of the growing season.

Overall, I think the first field trial went well. The drill is powerful enough, and the battery showed no signs of slowing down (I also have two of these batteries!). I took only the 1/16" drill bit to the field because I thought it would be less invasive that the 3/32" bit that I used in Tupper. The problem with the 1/16" bit was that it was only slightly longer than the eppendorf vial I used to catch the saw dust, which made it difficult to drill deep enough into the sapling. Maybe next time I should bring the larger size for the bigger saplings -- also, maybe it's possible to find 1/16" bits that are longer?

By drilling four holes in each sapling, I was able to extract ~20 mg of fresh material from the practice Faramea saplings (these are currently drying in the oven to determine their dry weight). Drilling the practice Inga was more difficult because this species has a lot of sap. The wood kind of sticks to the vial and to the drill bit. Luckily, most of my Ingas are bigger than 1 cm, so I am guessing I will be able to use the bigger drill bit. Also, I should bring a pair of tweezers to carefully remove the wood from the bit and vial.

I wonder if I can make a rain coat for my drill... I think it would be a bad deal if it got wet.