Hey Blog readers! Well, sorry if I have been behind on keeping up with blogging, I’ve been busy and not had ready access to the internet, so this one will keep you all occupied for some time.
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Everyone. “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and concientious stupidity.”- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Night Hike: Paul took into the forest near El Verde, we walked along the muddy trail single file with headlamps. Paul brought a purple UV light he shined along the buttress roots of a huge tree. Small, bright green millipedes shined along the trunk that appeared black with a yellowish longitudinal stripe in the light of our headlamps. Immediately when we turned off our headlamps I noticed fireflies hovering through the forest, I was ridiculously excited since I don’t ever recall seeing fireflies in my life. The abdomen of the Lampyridae had a constant glow of a yellow-green similar to a glow stick.
Along each large tree Paul would instruct the group to turn off our headlamps while he searched the bark surface with his handheld UV light (pretty cool – I want one). We did see a scorpion on one tree, it looked pretty small to me (only about 1.5 in. length), but Paul was pretty exited and told us to be really careful. Paul also talked to us about bioluminescent mushrooms that can
be seen in particular areas along the forest floor, but we had no luck finding 
them, but later in the evening we hiked up alongside the trail onto a relatively flat area and turned our light off, and waited for our eyes to adjust. I was kneeling down on the forest floor when I saw a faded glow on the tabanuco leaves below my feet and near my hands. I picked one of the aromatic leaves up reeling in excitement that I could hold it in my hands. It was incredible to see the diffuse radiance of the leaves below along the floor, and fireflies lazily traversing the canopy above, I felt like I was in Avatar or something – wish I had one of those ponytails. We did not see any mushrooms to speak of, but the mycelium of the mushrooms coats the tabinuco leaves. Christian had a large Ziploc that we put several leaves in to view at the station, but we lost it somewhere along our little journey.
We also saw several small coqui along the way. The babies are small, about as big as my pinky nail (some are even smaller). They are more abundant than the adults. We also saw a very large coqui, and Paul explained that the females have huge heads that continue to grow throughout their lifetime, so the females are much larger with huge heads, while the males are a little smaller and call out in the night. The males will sit over the eggs until they hatch, and since there is no tadpole stage, they look like miniature adults. Sasha asked why they call year round and not only during mating season? Paul looked at her very matter of factly and replied: “Because all year round is mating season, just like any Puerto Rican man.” We all laughed hysterically at that one.
We proceeded up a small stream off the trail and saw the Puerto Rican version of a whip scorpion. In El Paso, we are familiar with the whip scorpions being these scary looking huge black scorpion-like hexapods with a whip tale that shoots out acetic acid (vinegar), but here they look different and belong to a different genera. Paul scuttled up alongside a huge rock, and sitting on the vertical face of it was a whip scorpion, loaded to spring on the next unlucky passerby for a meal. Unfortunately this one outsmarted us and ran under another rock, never to be seen again. Fortunately Paul caught one further up the stream using an interesting method. He filled a freezer Ziploc with air, and put it over the Guagui in a rapid, slapping motion and picked it up while it was somewhat stunned. It was effective, and I imagine this is a method he has perfected over time.
We decided to return home, trailing along the streambed. Along the way, we saw a land crab, which I did not know existed. Just when I thought our
adventure was over, right at the end of the trail on a palm we saw a green snail with a small, vestigial shell. I thought it was a slug at first, but I could feel the remnants of a shell, almost like a fingernail on the dorsum of the slimy green animal. I had an awesome time, and slept very well that night. I have grown fond of the echoing chorus of coqui in the mountains here.
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Everyone. “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and concientious stupidity.”- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Night Hike: Paul took into the forest near El Verde, we walked along the muddy trail single file with headlamps. Paul brought a purple UV light he shined along the buttress roots of a huge tree. Small, bright green millipedes shined along the trunk that appeared black with a yellowish longitudinal stripe in the light of our headlamps. Immediately when we turned off our headlamps I noticed fireflies hovering through the forest, I was ridiculously excited since I don’t ever recall seeing fireflies in my life. The abdomen of the Lampyridae had a constant glow of a yellow-green similar to a glow stick.
Along each large tree Paul would instruct the group to turn off our headlamps while he searched the bark surface with his handheld UV light (pretty cool – I want one). We did see a scorpion on one tree, it looked pretty small to me (only about 1.5 in. length), but Paul was pretty exited and told us to be really careful. Paul also talked to us about bioluminescent mushrooms that can
be seen in particular areas along the forest floor, but we had no luck finding 
them, but later in the evening we hiked up alongside the trail onto a relatively flat area and turned our light off, and waited for our eyes to adjust. I was kneeling down on the forest floor when I saw a faded glow on the tabanuco leaves below my feet and near my hands. I picked one of the aromatic leaves up reeling in excitement that I could hold it in my hands. It was incredible to see the diffuse radiance of the leaves below along the floor, and fireflies lazily traversing the canopy above, I felt like I was in Avatar or something – wish I had one of those ponytails. We did not see any mushrooms to speak of, but the mycelium of the mushrooms coats the tabinuco leaves. Christian had a large Ziploc that we put several leaves in to view at the station, but we lost it somewhere along our little journey.We also saw several small coqui along the way. The babies are small, about as big as my pinky nail (some are even smaller). They are more abundant than the adults. We also saw a very large coqui, and Paul explained that the females have huge heads that continue to grow throughout their lifetime, so the females are much larger with huge heads, while the males are a little smaller and call out in the night. The males will sit over the eggs until they hatch, and since there is no tadpole stage, they look like miniature adults. Sasha asked why they call year round and not only during mating season? Paul looked at her very matter of factly and replied: “Because all year round is mating season, just like any Puerto Rican man.” We all laughed hysterically at that one.
We proceeded up a small stream off the trail and saw the Puerto Rican version of a whip scorpion. In El Paso, we are familiar with the whip scorpions being these scary looking huge black scorpion-like hexapods with a whip tale that shoots out acetic acid (vinegar), but here they look different and belong to a different genera. Paul scuttled up alongside a huge rock, and sitting on the vertical face of it was a whip scorpion, loaded to spring on the next unlucky passerby for a meal. Unfortunately this one outsmarted us and ran under another rock, never to be seen again. Fortunately Paul caught one further up the stream using an interesting method. He filled a freezer Ziploc with air, and put it over the Guagui in a rapid, slapping motion and picked it up while it was somewhat stunned. It was effective, and I imagine this is a method he has perfected over time.
We decided to return home, trailing along the streambed. Along the way, we saw a land crab, which I did not know existed. Just when I thought our
adventure was over, right at the end of the trail on a palm we saw a green snail with a small, vestigial shell. I thought it was a slug at first, but I could feel the remnants of a shell, almost like a fingernail on the dorsum of the slimy green animal. I had an awesome time, and slept very well that night. I have grown fond of the echoing chorus of coqui in the mountains here.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday was exciting, we headed out into the field early that morning, and focused most of our time learning a variety of ferns. Chris pointed out a tree fern growing along the trail. Tree ferns are quite ancient, and are becoming less and less abundant all over the world. We also learned a few more species of seedlings and vines that we will need to identify for our census. I hope I can remember everything, but at least Chris is repetitive so I am sure most of it will stick eventually. Different terminology is used to describe ferns versus other plants. The day was absolutely gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky and a mild breeze flowing down the hills. That afternoon we sat outside at one of the picnic tables and went over the seedling count protocol under the dappled light.
After work, one of m
y roommates, Sasha went on a short run up the mountain with me and we got ready for a fiesta. That evening, we headed down the hill just outside the park to 
“The Stream House”, a two-story home with a beautiful porch on the upper level for a pot luck. I brought some wine and the girls and I contributed our resources to make a salad. It’s a blast chilling with people who are excited when bugs and lizards join us at our affair. Several of us were glued to the porchlight watching an anole lizard pigging out on all of the bugs flying near by.
The “Seedling Squad” as we are dubbed, asked Mike (The Bromeliad Dude) and his wife Barbara, who analyzes the microorganisms in the bromeliads, to take us on a hike sometime and share their knowledge. “Oh yes,” he said, “we will go to the elfin forest and show you around.” Elfin forest! Wow, now it’s like I’m in Lord of the Rings novel. I marvel at the biogeography here in Puerto Rico, where else do you get a wet rainforest, beach, endemic species and a dwarf or cloud (elfin) forest.
Friday was exciting, we headed out into the field early that morning, and focused most of our time learning a variety of ferns. Chris pointed out a tree fern growing along the trail. Tree ferns are quite ancient, and are becoming less and less abundant all over the world. We also learned a few more species of seedlings and vines that we will need to identify for our census. I hope I can remember everything, but at least Chris is repetitive so I am sure most of it will stick eventually. Different terminology is used to describe ferns versus other plants. The day was absolutely gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky and a mild breeze flowing down the hills. That afternoon we sat outside at one of the picnic tables and went over the seedling count protocol under the dappled light.
After work, one of m
y roommates, Sasha went on a short run up the mountain with me and we got ready for a fiesta. That evening, we headed down the hill just outside the park to 
“The Stream House”, a two-story home with a beautiful porch on the upper level for a pot luck. I brought some wine and the girls and I contributed our resources to make a salad. It’s a blast chilling with people who are excited when bugs and lizards join us at our affair. Several of us were glued to the porchlight watching an anole lizard pigging out on all of the bugs flying near by.The “Seedling Squad” as we are dubbed, asked Mike (The Bromeliad Dude) and his wife Barbara, who analyzes the microorganisms in the bromeliads, to take us on a hike sometime and share their knowledge. “Oh yes,” he said, “we will go to the elfin forest and show you around.” Elfin forest! Wow, now it’s like I’m in Lord of the Rings novel. I marvel at the biogeography here in Puerto Rico, where else do you get a wet rainforest, beach, endemic species and a dwarf or cloud (elfin) forest.
Saturday, January 15, 2011 – Weekend
I awoke with a slight pounding in my head, and chugged down two full bottles o
f water and some 
coffee. The Luquillo annual meeting was starting around 8:00am, but fortunately it is a latino-influenced country and things begin a little later than the predicted. Some of the more anglo scientists seem irked, but I don’t mind it. We drove along the expressway and turned onto a smaller avenue. There were about 20 cops sitting around the front of the natural sciences building for our protection in case of a riot or huelga. Students have been in an uproar over an additional raise in tuition and an $800 per semester quota. Most students want to peaceably assemble and protest, some want to peaceably assemble and have classe
s closed, and some have turned to violence wearing masks, throwing smoke bombs, and burning books (yes this sounds ridiculously counterproductive to instilling an educational institution with the liberties and interests of the students in mind) in the library. Unfortunately it only takes a few dumbasses to ruin a cause. The violent student wore masks and even threatened other students trying to finish up their classes.
The meeting began with food and coffee, and we went into an auditorium classroom upstairs to listen to the first presenter, a socioeconomist interested in the types of factors that influence human behavior and human values towards environmental issues. I found it pretty interesting, but also depressing to think of “the bottom line” someone has in terms of conservation and overall quality of life. I asked myself the same.
In the late morning, early afternoon we broke into groups to discuss scientific jargon and the overarching conceptual framework in which the proposal would take. I won’t bore you all with the nerdy details, but I found it enlightening. One question that emerged is how do we classify disturbance, because we cannot usually define a disturbance event unless we look at the ecological response to that event that would classify it as a stressor to that system. Can we separate disturbance from response? For example, when does a drought begin, at what point is it considered a drought, and under what threshold does a system respond to it? Can you decide this without looking at the response of organisms to that response? Another discussion that revolved around scientific lexicon involved “chronic and acute vs. pulse and press.
In the words of Ani Difranco “Science chases money and money chases its tail.” The National Science Foundation is a huge source of funding for many projects, particularly Long Term Ecological Research (LTER – there are several all around the US and world). There are several themes that seem to be emerging in science as a push from funding sources kind of dictates the direction in which it will go. For example, lately in science there is a growing concern and even an “aha!” moment when humans realized that we are part of the system, and that we actually depend on several resources and ecological processes for our society. So now, we have science involving “disturbance”, “anthropogenic influences”, “land history use and land cover change”. Of course, this is shifting even with technological advances, one major theme in some universities is “from genes to environment”, looking for genetic precursors, signals and such. ANYWAY – enough nerd talk!
After lunch the rest the seedling squad and another student headed to Avenida Ponce de Leon where there are lots of little shops (just like downtown El Paso) and food vendors. There was tons of grafitti, and one of the artists even designed art for coca cola. Entire buildings are pieces of art, and most of it has some form of sociopolitical influence. After a long walk and a beer we headed back to the conference past a gate full of police. One of them veered over at us and placed his hand on his baton (mind you he was surrounded by 15 other cops with weapons, while we looked like guero tourists). Alejandro, the only boriqua in the seedling squad informed them we were there for the conference and they let us through. We just sat outside and napped since we were back late and the meeting had already began. After, we ate and Colibri picked me up from campus.
The rest of the crew proceeded to Fiesta de San Sabastian, a boriqua rager that goes on from Thursday to Sunday. I decided to opt out, I don’t like huge crowds of borrachos, and in the evening it gets so packed that you can barely move around. Fortunately Coli shares my sentiments. I will have to ask how the others enjoyed it, but I went to Coli’s and chilled out and slept, quite satisfied. Colibri set me up on a nice inflatable mattress in the living room of her apartment and fed me although we don’t know each other really well or anything.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
I met Colibri in El Paso through a mutual friend, and we had gone climbing together several times while she was there. The previous evening we talked a lot since we didn’t know each other really well. She has been very hospitable and friendly. That morning we headed to her dad’s house in Rio Piedras to give him the car, since they share it. While he was getting ready to go to work at El Yunque, Coli and I talked a bit. She’s been through some really rough times, emotionally and financially. Her mom died of cancer 5-6 years ago and her father went thorough a bought of depression, but I am taken back at her incredible fortitude and positive attitude toward her goals. Fortunately he is doing much better, and he dropped us off near old San Juan since we were going to try to go to the Fiesta that afternoon, but the busses were jam packed full of people and we both opted out once more. Abre! We yelled and the bus doors opened to open air and freedom. We walked about 2 miles back to her place, which by the way is only 1 block from the beach. That afternoon all we did was hang out at the beach and swam. I have not been to one in over 8 years! Way too long, I need to get out and travel more, I think it puts so much more perspective on life.
Last night, after returning from the beach Colibri cooked some red snapper and pasta. Later we went to a really cool and trendy little Indian food place that plays great music – like the Buena Vista Social club and in the late evening people go there to dance. It was a friend’s birthday. We were both tired so we headed back and I fell asleep as soon as I hit the mattress.
I awoke with a slight pounding in my head, and chugged down two full bottles o
f water and some 
coffee. The Luquillo annual meeting was starting around 8:00am, but fortunately it is a latino-influenced country and things begin a little later than the predicted. Some of the more anglo scientists seem irked, but I don’t mind it. We drove along the expressway and turned onto a smaller avenue. There were about 20 cops sitting around the front of the natural sciences building for our protection in case of a riot or huelga. Students have been in an uproar over an additional raise in tuition and an $800 per semester quota. Most students want to peaceably assemble and protest, some want to peaceably assemble and have classe
s closed, and some have turned to violence wearing masks, throwing smoke bombs, and burning books (yes this sounds ridiculously counterproductive to instilling an educational institution with the liberties and interests of the students in mind) in the library. Unfortunately it only takes a few dumbasses to ruin a cause. The violent student wore masks and even threatened other students trying to finish up their classes.The meeting began with food and coffee, and we went into an auditorium classroom upstairs to listen to the first presenter, a socioeconomist interested in the types of factors that influence human behavior and human values towards environmental issues. I found it pretty interesting, but also depressing to think of “the bottom line” someone has in terms of conservation and overall quality of life. I asked myself the same.
In the late morning, early afternoon we broke into groups to discuss scientific jargon and the overarching conceptual framework in which the proposal would take. I won’t bore you all with the nerdy details, but I found it enlightening. One question that emerged is how do we classify disturbance, because we cannot usually define a disturbance event unless we look at the ecological response to that event that would classify it as a stressor to that system. Can we separate disturbance from response? For example, when does a drought begin, at what point is it considered a drought, and under what threshold does a system respond to it? Can you decide this without looking at the response of organisms to that response? Another discussion that revolved around scientific lexicon involved “chronic and acute vs. pulse and press.
In the words of Ani Difranco “Science chases money and money chases its tail.” The National Science Foundation is a huge source of funding for many projects, particularly Long Term Ecological Research (LTER – there are several all around the US and world). There are several themes that seem to be emerging in science as a push from funding sources kind of dictates the direction in which it will go. For example, lately in science there is a growing concern and even an “aha!” moment when humans realized that we are part of the system, and that we actually depend on several resources and ecological processes for our society. So now, we have science involving “disturbance”, “anthropogenic influences”, “land history use and land cover change”. Of course, this is shifting even with technological advances, one major theme in some universities is “from genes to environment”, looking for genetic precursors, signals and such. ANYWAY – enough nerd talk!
After lunch the rest the seedling squad and another student headed to Avenida Ponce de Leon where there are lots of little shops (just like downtown El Paso) and food vendors. There was tons of grafitti, and one of the artists even designed art for coca cola. Entire buildings are pieces of art, and most of it has some form of sociopolitical influence. After a long walk and a beer we headed back to the conference past a gate full of police. One of them veered over at us and placed his hand on his baton (mind you he was surrounded by 15 other cops with weapons, while we looked like guero tourists). Alejandro, the only boriqua in the seedling squad informed them we were there for the conference and they let us through. We just sat outside and napped since we were back late and the meeting had already began. After, we ate and Colibri picked me up from campus.
The rest of the crew proceeded to Fiesta de San Sabastian, a boriqua rager that goes on from Thursday to Sunday. I decided to opt out, I don’t like huge crowds of borrachos, and in the evening it gets so packed that you can barely move around. Fortunately Coli shares my sentiments. I will have to ask how the others enjoyed it, but I went to Coli’s and chilled out and slept, quite satisfied. Colibri set me up on a nice inflatable mattress in the living room of her apartment and fed me although we don’t know each other really well or anything.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
I met Colibri in El Paso through a mutual friend, and we had gone climbing together several times while she was there. The previous evening we talked a lot since we didn’t know each other really well. She has been very hospitable and friendly. That morning we headed to her dad’s house in Rio Piedras to give him the car, since they share it. While he was getting ready to go to work at El Yunque, Coli and I talked a bit. She’s been through some really rough times, emotionally and financially. Her mom died of cancer 5-6 years ago and her father went thorough a bought of depression, but I am taken back at her incredible fortitude and positive attitude toward her goals. Fortunately he is doing much better, and he dropped us off near old San Juan since we were going to try to go to the Fiesta that afternoon, but the busses were jam packed full of people and we both opted out once more. Abre! We yelled and the bus doors opened to open air and freedom. We walked about 2 miles back to her place, which by the way is only 1 block from the beach. That afternoon all we did was hang out at the beach and swam. I have not been to one in over 8 years! Way too long, I need to get out and travel more, I think it puts so much more perspective on life.
Last night, after returning from the beach Colibri cooked some red snapper and pasta. Later we went to a really cool and trendy little Indian food place that plays great music – like the Buena Vista Social club and in the late evening people go there to dance. It was a friend’s birthday. We were both tired so we headed back and I fell asleep as soon as I hit the mattress.
Monday, January 17, 2011 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Life is rough here in Puerto Rico; I slept in until 8:30, journaled (I realize that is not a word), reviewed some plant species and hit the beach. Colobri wanted to swim, so we stretched and swam about ¼ mi. which is challenging in the ocean. I consider myself a fairly descent swimmer, but after paddling my butt off and barely being able to keep up with Coli I realize I have a long way to go before being able to go surfing. I had fun trying to catch waves and body surf. After swimming in the warm waters along the northern coast, I did some hard work falling asleep in the sand. Now I am heading back to El Verde Field Station, where I will unpack from the weekend and prepare for work tomorrow. We will be enacting all of the protocol on “The Big Grid”. I hope I can remember all of the species I learned, I reviewed them a bit today, but I still feel like I am behind in learning some key characteristics of them – Practice makes perfect, so they say, or as my guitar instructor used to tell me, perfect practice makes perfect..
Hope you all enjoyed my verbose ramblings, until next time….
Life is rough here in Puerto Rico; I slept in until 8:30, journaled (I realize that is not a word), reviewed some plant species and hit the beach. Colobri wanted to swim, so we stretched and swam about ¼ mi. which is challenging in the ocean. I consider myself a fairly descent swimmer, but after paddling my butt off and barely being able to keep up with Coli I realize I have a long way to go before being able to go surfing. I had fun trying to catch waves and body surf. After swimming in the warm waters along the northern coast, I did some hard work falling asleep in the sand. Now I am heading back to El Verde Field Station, where I will unpack from the weekend and prepare for work tomorrow. We will be enacting all of the protocol on “The Big Grid”. I hope I can remember all of the species I learned, I reviewed them a bit today, but I still feel like I am behind in learning some key characteristics of them – Practice makes perfect, so they say, or as my guitar instructor used to tell me, perfect practice makes perfect..
Hope you all enjoyed my verbose ramblings, until next time….
No comments:
Post a Comment