Task: Looking for more Guarea in Rio Limbo
Location: Rio Limbo
Assistants: Fredy
Weather: Sunny and hot all day
Truck Status: One top notch BCI boat drivers left the car so low on gas that I could not make it all the way to the gas station without having to push. I missed the boat back to the island... and lots of anger ensued.
Fredy and I did not find many Guarea guidonia, but we marked three more Guarea fuzzy and 1 more Faramea luteovirens to up sample size.
I also saw the world's most amazing fungus. There was a fungus (or lichen?) that looked like very white roots that grew up the base of all the trees in a 20 m radius. It seems like it travel though the soil and also lives on top of dead logs in between. Fredy has the pictures. It was fantastic.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Fredy Fashion Tip(s) of the Day
"You should try to braid your hair back to keep the little pieces away from your face. It would look nicer."
"When are you going back to visit your boyfriend? Maybe you should go see my cousin to get your nails done first. It looks like they could use it."
"When are you going back to visit your boyfriend? Maybe you should go see my cousin to get your nails done first. It looks like they could use it."
Field Notes
Task: Trying to get to Rio Paja & BBQing
Location: Rio Paja (epic fail)
Assistants: Fredy
Weather: Only sprinkled lightly
Boat Status: I think the boat uses around 3 gallons of gas to get to Rio Paja
Fredy and I tried to get to Rio Paja again. We were not able to push the boat through the channel using the oars. I called the hostel near the channel, and they proved once again to be most unhelpful. This seals my decision to go to Fortuna at the end of the week and wait to start defoliations until I get back from L.A. on the 28th.
I am sending Fredy home on Tuesday. We will probably start recesusing and defoliating trees on Saturday.
Location: Rio Paja (epic fail)
Assistants: Fredy
Weather: Only sprinkled lightly
Boat Status: I think the boat uses around 3 gallons of gas to get to Rio Paja
Fredy and I tried to get to Rio Paja again. We were not able to push the boat through the channel using the oars. I called the hostel near the channel, and they proved once again to be most unhelpful. This seals my decision to go to Fortuna at the end of the week and wait to start defoliations until I get back from L.A. on the 28th.
I am sending Fredy home on Tuesday. We will probably start recesusing and defoliating trees on Saturday.
Field Notes (May 10, 2014)
These are notes for the day May 10, 2014
Task: Recensusing Saplings (counting leaves, taking missing hemi photos, measuring diameter and taking new pictures)
Location: Camino de Cruces (P24)
Assistants: Fredy
Weather: It started to rain hard at 2:30 when we were finishing up.
BCI Truck Status: I returned the BCI truck clean with pretty much the same amount of gas.
Paint Color: Blue
We found all the saplings in P24 except for two Virola. We did initial measurements for 4 new Virola to repalce the two we lost and to add a few new healthy individuals. Some of the Virola in this population seem a little bit sickly (very few leaves for their size). I wonder if I should add even more healthy individuals.
The Virola didn't seem as affected by the dry season (they lost a few leaves and put a few leaves back on). The Guarea have lost a significant number of October leaves... and have not put many new leaves on since January.
We paid $20 for the boat ride to Camino de Cruces, which I feel is obscene
Task: Recensusing Saplings (counting leaves, taking missing hemi photos, measuring diameter and taking new pictures)
Location: Camino de Cruces (P24)
Assistants: Fredy
Weather: It started to rain hard at 2:30 when we were finishing up.
BCI Truck Status: I returned the BCI truck clean with pretty much the same amount of gas.
Paint Color: Blue
We found all the saplings in P24 except for two Virola. We did initial measurements for 4 new Virola to repalce the two we lost and to add a few new healthy individuals. Some of the Virola in this population seem a little bit sickly (very few leaves for their size). I wonder if I should add even more healthy individuals.
The Virola didn't seem as affected by the dry season (they lost a few leaves and put a few leaves back on). The Guarea have lost a significant number of October leaves... and have not put many new leaves on since January.
We paid $20 for the boat ride to Camino de Cruces, which I feel is obscene
Friday, May 9, 2014
So fresh and so clean!
I just realized that the greenhouse in Gamboa has a shower. I love not having to wait to go back to BCI to shower. God Bless communal bathing.
Field Notes
Task: Recensusing Saplings (counting leaves, taking missing hemi photos, measuring diameter and taking new pictures)
Location: Rio Limbo (P06)
Assistants: Fredy
Weather: It rain for a bit around 11:30.. but mostly very hot and sunny (more rain at 3:30 after we finished).
BCI Truck Status: Even though I'm the first one to drive the truck after it was under repair for 6 months, they still managed to leave me with only 1/4 tank of gas. Should probably get gas tomorrow after I use it.
Paint Color: Blue
We finished recensusing all the individuals previously measured in Rio Limbo. The trees were reasonably easy to find from the map. I made initial measurements of one extra individual of GUAFUS (17) -- remember to put this GPS point in the dataset
Most of the Faramea luteovirens individuals have recently flushed their leaves. About 2/3 of the Guarea individuals seemed on the verge of leaf flush (many buds and emerging leaves).
I was unable to get the hemisperical photos for FARLUT 12-15 and GUAFUS 17 because there was some condensation inside the lens today. I need to remember to store the lens in the dry room tonight.
Location: Rio Limbo (P06)
Assistants: Fredy
Weather: It rain for a bit around 11:30.. but mostly very hot and sunny (more rain at 3:30 after we finished).
BCI Truck Status: Even though I'm the first one to drive the truck after it was under repair for 6 months, they still managed to leave me with only 1/4 tank of gas. Should probably get gas tomorrow after I use it.
Paint Color: Blue
We finished recensusing all the individuals previously measured in Rio Limbo. The trees were reasonably easy to find from the map. I made initial measurements of one extra individual of GUAFUS (17) -- remember to put this GPS point in the dataset
Most of the Faramea luteovirens individuals have recently flushed their leaves. About 2/3 of the Guarea individuals seemed on the verge of leaf flush (many buds and emerging leaves).
I was unable to get the hemisperical photos for FARLUT 12-15 and GUAFUS 17 because there was some condensation inside the lens today. I need to remember to store the lens in the dry room tonight.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
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.
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.
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