Visit From a Lizard

Last night around 10, I was in bed and planning on getting to sleep. A few minutes later, I heard the Man Cave door open and my coworker (who has the bunk above mine) came in. He climbed up and stopped. He called down to me, “are you still awake?” I said yes and he continued, “there is a lizard…in my bed.” I laughed it off and suggested that he catch it and let it go outside. Subsequently, I heard him moving around, grasping about for the lizard on the bunk above me.

Then, all of a sudden the lizard was on the floor, having landed in my little corner with my luggage and some other stuff. I looked over and saw that it was a small anole, probably 7-8 inches long with the tail. I grabbed for it in the little corner next to the metal cabinet next to me, without success. It scampered away under the bed, so I had to get my headlamp and hang over the side to look. It was all the way against the wall beyond my reach. I grabbed the closest object I could, my water bottle, and fully extended my arm under the bed, prodding at the poor lizard with the water bottle to attempt to flush it. It ran over to the end of the bed and onto my coworker’s suitcase. I finally let up and got out of bed, kneeling on the floor at the foot of the bed.

I managed to stun the lizard (or maybe it was just tired at this point) by pointing my headlamp right at it. I then snuck my hand around behind and grabbed it around the waist, since grabbing the tail would result in it just dropping it. (Lizards have this thing called autotomy, where they can disconnect their tails as a defense mechanism. The tail keeps wriggling and gives the lizard a good chance to get away while the predator is busy figuring out the tail.)

Having successfully caught the lizard, it started biting at my finger. It wasn’t able to break the skin, but it was equivalent to a bit of a pinch. It was enough of a surprise to warrant a bit of “GAH, it bit me!” and I then told it off for being a naughty lizard. With the lizard happily distracted by my finger, I got it outside and dropped it on the grass.

Finally, I came back inside and got to bed, but not before washing the lizard spit off my hand.

Fauna of Puerto Rico: Part 1

I’ve touched upon some of the wildlife I’ve seen here in previous posts, but I’m going to devote a series of posts to these great organisms.

Common Coqui, Eleutherodactylus coqui

The coquis are everywhere. They thrive on the insects of the forest and aren’t tethered to water like most frogs. They have no tadpole stage and develop into frogs straight out of the egg. The eggs are laid in various locations such as bird nests and palm fronds, and we’ve even seen a few in PVC posts marking the corners of our plots.

Every evening, and through the night, there is a deafening chorus of coquis calling. Here’s a link to an audio recording of them: ML Audio 44035; Eleutherodactylus coqui. Despite how common they are, I’ve found it hard to get a good picture, since they’re most active at night and hard to find any time of day.

Snails, Gastropoda

I don’t really know much about snails. The snails I’ve seen come in three different shapes, two of which are shown in the above picture right next to one another. The third type is a shell-less snail that is supposedly bright green at night.

They can grow to be quite big, and they’re really abundant all over the forest and the outside walls of the field station.

Scaly-naped Pigeon, Patagioenas squamosa

The scaly-naped pigeon is pretty common around here, and can always be heard calling whenever the coquis quiet down during the day. It’s usually pretty hard to see them from the ground, since they seem to stay in or above the canopy (the best looks I’ve gotten have been at the top of the tower). Here is a link to hear their call: ML Audio 37581; Patagioenas squamosa.

Trees of Puerto Rico: Part 1 (CECSCH and SCHMOR)

I finally took my camera out today and got a few pictures of some of the common trees I see every day. This is going to be the first of several posts showcasing the trees and big shrubs I’ve gotten to know over the past few weeks.  We use 6 letter codes based on their genus and species to identify them, so I’ll give you those, as well as the scientific name and common name, when I can find it (I don’t know most of the common names, but I’ll be looking them up at http://plants.usda.gov). The first two trees I’ll present in this post are both fast-growing species that excel in disturbed environments where they can get plenty of light. They usually don’t persist in old, climax forest communities, though there are a few here and there where a big tree has fallen.

CECSCH, (Cecropia schreberiana), Pumpwood

These trees have HUGE leaves that look like nothing else in the forest. The leaves are simple (as opposed to compound, which I’ll explain later) and palmate (sort of hand-shaped).  Here’s a picture of a leaf (not even one of the biggest I’ve seen) with my hand for size.

These leaves are so big and heavy that when they fall they just crash right through the canopy. It can be rather startling (to which my coworkers and I can attest) when one of these hits the ground nearby. The tree itself often has prop roots to help support the main stem.

Another cool thing about these trees occurs when their stems die and fall to the ground. The stem is divided into small disc-shaped parts all stacked together, such that a decaying stem resembles a vertebral column from a sizable animal (sorry, no picture of this yet).

 

SCHMOR, (Schefflera morototonii), Matchwood

Another tree with huge leaves, however these are compound leaves. What looks like several leaves coming out of a central point in this picture is, in fact, just one leaf composed of several leaflets. SCHMOR is palmately compound, in that all of the leaflets arise from one point and go out like the digits of a hand.

We haven’t come across many of these in the Big Grid yet, so I don’t know them as well as the CECSCH. However, their leaves are very distinctive, even way up in the canopy.

Getting Into The Swing of Things

Just so you all know, I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet. I just haven’t had too much to write about since we’re starting to get into a routine here with the tree census. Each day, we get ready to go out at 8 with lunch packed for the field, and then come back a bit before 4. We go through the quadrats measuring and identifying trees, relabeling corner posts, metal detecting for old tags, and sometimes taking clinometer readings of the plots to get their slope.

All of the plots we’ve been working on in my team (Team 1) have been going smoothly, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous or difficult work. Our last subplot today was literally a pile of rocks. And by rocks, I mean boulders, taller than myself. For whatever silly reason, several trees had decided to germinate and grow among these rocks. The three of us all slipped down them at some point, but luckily nobody ended up hurt.

On the bright side, we’re all starting to get the hang of things. My two coworkers usually go out and actually measure the trees, while I have become the data person, relaying information to them about the stems they’re measuring (what point to measure them, what species they had been listed as historically, etc.) and they tell me diameters, points of measurement, and their take on the species. We have a whole system down, to the point where we managed to get through more than 1.5 quadrats today.

Around 3 or 3:30, we usually head back to the field station to go over the data and prepare for the next day. Afterwards, we are free for the evening and we’ve been collaboratively cooking dinner (1 person cooks every day of the week M-F). We’ve started calling these our “Family Dinners” because we’re getting to be a pretty close group.

I have been seeing plenty of cool places and things (lots of awesome insects), but haven’t had my camera for much of it due to the torrential rains always threatening. I’ll do my best to get some cool pictures of the flora and fauna of the area and post them soon.

Tropical Rain

Up to today, there really hasn’t been any steady rain while I’ve been here. Sure, a passing shower or thunderstorm comes through a few times each day, but nothing really heavy had been falling consistently. Today was our third day out in the Big Grid. Two of my coworkers and I (Team 1) went out about 9 this morning to continue the progress we had been making in our row.  Two others, who are usually grouped with the field tech (Team A), came out a bit later to work on the quadrats in the next row. After a few plots, we began to see the clouds start to roll in. It all started with some light rain, spattering on the leaves atop the canopy, few making it as far as the ground.

Then, the skies opened.

Sheets of rain were falling to the ground, despite the canopy, and getting us completely drenched. I was recording data by hand on waterproof paper, which meant that it wasn’t an issue, but I was soaked to the bone with not an inch of dry clothing to speak of. The other two were measuring trees and yelling over the rain to tell me their readings as I stood ten feet away. My glasses were so covered in raindrops and fog that I took them off to write on my lake of a data sheet.  We slogged on carefully to finish up the entire quadrat (2 of 400 done!) and then were planning to break for lunch if the rain should happen to let up.  After conferring with the other team, we decided to head back to the field station due to the rain. We were told that we would be working in all conditions, but this wasn’t getting us anywhere.

After a treacherous, slow walk back over slippery rocks, we arrived at the field station just in time for the rain to stop. After talking to our boss, he suggested that we not go back out to the grid, but help around the station with various tasks that needed completing. We finally broke for lunch, and I went back to the Man Cave to change out of my wet clothes.  I came back out to the sight of rain, just as hard as it had been in the forest earlier in the morning. So instead of walking back to the kitchen, I just sat where I was and accepted my rainy fate to eat lunch outside the Man Cave.

The rain let up eventually, so I made it back to the office, where we spent the afternoon going over data and completing miscellaneous tasks. I specifically ended up numbering collection bags and breaking up soil (it was full of clay, so somewhat like playing with play-doh all afternoon).

From the windows in the office, I could see even more of the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen. It is quite something to know that if you are outside for more than a few seconds, you would be drenched through. Good thing it’s warm here.

Field Work in The Big Grid

So I haven’t gone into too much detail about my job in Puerto Rico. I told most people that I would be out here counting trees, or part of a tree census. Now that I’m here, and we’ve started working in the field, I can shed a little more light on my position.

So my job is at the El Verde Field Station of the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. It is located on land within the El Yunque National Forest, run by the US Forest Service. Within the field station grounds is a mythical place called the Luqillo Forest Dynamics Plot (LFDP). To those familiar with it, we call it the Big Grid. It’s a big, rectangular plot of forest 320 m by 500 m. It is divided into 20 x 20 quadrats, which are further subdivided into 5 x 5 subplots. All of the trees that are bigger than 1 cm in diameter at 1.3 meters from the ground are counted, and those that have been counted in the past are checked and updated.  I, along with 4 other volunteers and a field tech, split into 2 groups of 3, go out each day and measure the trees for a given subplot, then work our way through to the next.  Sounds easy, right? Well, there are a few things that I haven’t had the chance to mention about field work.

1. Climate: I’ve already ranted a bit about how hot/humid it is here (it is a tropical rainforest after all), but I haven’t gotten into how that affects other things. The best example I can give is the rocks. Being up in the mountains, you expect there to be large boulders all over. However, when you add in the rain and humidity under the canopy, you get slippery rocks with moss or algae on them. Now add in the fact that most of the maintained trails exist solely because plants cannot grow very well over large rocks (though many give it a good shot) and you get yourself a recipe for constantly slipping and sliding. But that isn’t too bad until you factor in…

2. Topography: The field station exists on the side of a mountain. And this isn’t your run of the mill mountain with a single sloping face that has a shallow decline all the way to the coast. There are ravines and gullies all over the place, as well as sizable rises to climb over to get to the field sites.  Couple this with the slippery rocks and muddy areas and getting through the forest becomes quite a chore. In fact, while in our very first quadrat, upon walking up the hill from a subplot we just finished, we got to the ridge and looked down at the start of a small valley. The drop down to the bottom was probably about 15-20 feet of steep walls, and part of our subplot went down to the bottom. One of my coworkers managed to get to the bottom by sliding down the wall, but then had quite some time getting back up to the ridge. But I suppose that’s something to be expected in the mountains.

3. Animals: The flora and fauna of Puerto Rico are pretty tame compared to those other places (I’ve seen more dangerous things in New York), but they become very relevant when you are out working in the field. For measuring palm trees, we often have to brush away the bases of old fronds. Under these live an assortment of harmless little lizards and frogs, as well as the occasional small scorpion or tarantula (which is why you don’t brush them away with your fingers). Africanized honey bees exist in Puerto Rico, and we have been warned that if we hear buzzing, our best course of action: run. There are tons of small pesky insects including mosquitoes, ants, and termites. Mosquitoes are actually few and far between in the forest, but there always seems to be one or two hanging about that you can never quite catch. I’ve mentioned the ants before and how they’re everywhere, and this is all the more true out in the forest. Termites around here tend to make these sorts of mud covered highways up tree trunks. To measure a trunk, we have to remove these, and the termites are usually not too pleased with that, so they end up all over us, though I don’t think they bite. Another issue is spiders. When you’re walking through the forest, off trails (and even sometimes on trails), you will at some point (every 2 minutes) walk through a spider web. They also always seem to build at face level, so in all likelihood, you expect to have a small, confused spider running around on your face, after you crush their architectural masterpiece.

4. Plants: Even though we are measuring trees and shrubs here, some of them are more nasty than others. Aside from some spiny vines and herbs, there are actually dangerous plants that reach enough of a size that we have to measure them. One (which we call COMGLA) can cause a rash similar to poison ivy. Another, UREBAC, is similar to stinging nettles, in that it has spines all over that not only prick, but cause you to burn or itch from them. A third is SAPLAU. This plant supposedly has a sap that can be caustic on your skin if exposed. Today, we had to measure one more than a foot in diameter. To do this, we had to get up close and personal with the trunk (under a mass of vines), and stretch our tape around. There wasn’t any sap here, luckily, but we were still cautious.

5. Field Gear: Now any of these factors on their own are a little bit inhibiting, but now add in the fact that you have to carry things into the field. Backpacks and bags full of small tools are one thing, but often there are other things that need to be brought into the woods. We measure many of our stems at 1.3 meters. To ensure that this is quick and uniform, we carry lengths of PVC with 1.3 meters marked on them. Someone from each team also has to carry a metal detector into the field to check for lost aluminum tags marking the trees. Carrying things alone is not an issue, but when coupled with the slippery rocks, steep hills, and animals and plants out to inconvenience you, it gets to be tiring.

Now after all of this, you must be thinking me crazy to be doing this, but I absolutely love field work. All of these things are just one more part of the adventure, that you either rarely see (still waiting to see a scorpion or tarantula), or learn to deal with (take it slow on those rocks). Even though some people may prefer to be safe in their air-conditioned offices, I’d rather be out there, just waiting for the chance to see something cool. Today, we saw the shed skin from a Puerto Rican Boa (probably at least a meter long!). One of these days, we may even get to see one of these magnificent reptiles, and that alone would be enough to validate my day in the field. To me, it is well-worth these small inconveniences for the chance to be outside, in the woods, measuring trees and always looking around for something new and exciting (or bees; got to be careful).

First Weekend in Puerto Rico

Friday was pretty much just another day of tree ID and getting a look at the big grid we’ll be working at.  We saw some neat trees and plants, but I didn’t get any good pictures (eventually you’ll get to know these trees as well as I do now (which isn’t very well)).

On Saturday, we set out for a day at the beach. Around 11:30, three of my coworkers and I left with another researcher at the station in his somewhat beat up car down the mountain. The engine and body of the car were in decent shape, but the car would bottom out on the rough driveway down from the station if we were all in it, so we walked down to the road and got in there.  After that, the going was relatively smooth, although it was a warm day and all of the windows were stuck. The passenger side front window was permanently open (keep this in mind for later) and the others were stuck closed.  After about a half hour of driving, we stopped at a Baskin-Robbins, only to find out that it opened at 12, a few minutes away. Since it was hot and there was a Burger King next door, we went there instead. Fast food chains from the US are abundant along the major thoroughfares of Puerto Rico.

We also didn’t want to just wait for them to open, because apparently a lot of businesses and people down here run on “Puerto Rico time”, which means that nothing starts when it is supposed to and people don’t show up until after something starts. One of my coworkers was here for a wedding a few months ago, which the invitation said started at one time, though guests only started showing up 45 minutes afterward. The wedding, in fact was planned to start an hour after the invitation said, just to get around this “Puerto Rico time” phenomenon.

Eventually, we reached the beach and met up with the field tech we’ll be working with for the summer (he lives near San Juan). People went and swam in the water and I looked around a bit. It was very crowded, since this particular beach was right either in or near San Juan (I’m not sure, all of the signs were in Spanish).

After the beach, we headed into San Juan proper and got shown around Old San Juan by our field tech (who is from the island). There were lots of street vendors and small shops, all interspersed between the walls of the fort.  We walked up to one of the two castles (which was closed since it was late) and saw tons of people standing on the sloped lawn flying kites. Apparently, there is a constant sea breeze and people are always there flying kites and lounging on the grass.  It is run by the National Park Service, so there were a bunch of informational signs around and it was very well maintained. Later in the summer, we’ll go back and I’ll post pictures.

Since it was getting dark, we then headed back into town to get dinner at a nice place called the Old Harbor Brewery (or something like that). I had a Puerto Rican soup/stew called Sancocho full of beef and root vegetables. It was quite good, and maybe I’ll try to make it on my own one of these days.  After dinner, we walked a little more around San Juan, and then headed back to the field station to walk up the long, dark driveway.

Today, we went shopping for more groceries to get us through the week. It’s been a little hard to get a lot of food, since the field station is so full of people and doesn’t have a lot of space. Between the tree census crew, REU students, visiting researchers and grad students, as well as a group from Columbia University (who mostly keep to themselves, but use the computer/conference room), the field station is near capacity.  All the space I have for food is half a shelf in the fridge and a plastic bin in the cupboard. Any of the well-sealed food that I can’t fit there, I’ve been bringing back to my corner bed in the Man Cave. It’s pretty packed in there too, with 11 of the 12 bunks filled, so all he space I have in there is the floor around my bed and a small locker. It’s quite cozy, but I’m getting used to it. Now all I have left to adjust to is the heat and humidity.

 

Trees, towers, and waterfalls

Most of today was spent going through the forest near the field station, going over how to identify some of the many types of trees that can be found out in the forest plots. We got through less than 30 today, and I have to say that it is quite challenging. Unlike the trees in the Northeast which tend to have a variety of general leaf shapes, everything here is either oval, multiple ovals together, or Cecropia. It seems like I’ll have to commit a lot of time to try to memorize these, although it should get easier after a few days in the field.

After work, one of my coworkers and I headed up to the top of a tower on a hill behind the field station. Supposedly at the top, you can see all the way to the ocean, despite how far we are inland.

It swayed a bit the closer we got to the top, but seemed solid enough that we just hung around up there for a bit while I failed to get a picture of one of the pigeons flying about. I also saw my first Puerto Rican raptor, a Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis.

This Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis, was right up at the top with us.

You can, in fact see all the way out to the ocean from the top, but my pictures didn’t come out too well since it was such a cloudy day.

After climbing down, the rest of the tree census workers and I walked over to a waterfall we’d passed yesterday. We climbed the rocks to get a better look.

This waterfall on the Rio Espiritu Santo is in a narrow gorge.

While there, I finally managed to snap a picture of the Scaly-naped Pigeon, Columba squamosa, I’d seen at the tower.

That was about it for today, and now all that’s left is to make dinner and get to bed to be up bright and early tomorrow to venture into the research plot for the first time.  And last, I finally managed to find a Coqui, Eleuthrodactylus coqui, last night and got a picture.

They may be small, but they are quite loud.

Protocols, pictures, and first hike

Following my exhausting day yesterday, I got to sleep in until a meeting at 8, going over all of the protocols and dos a don’ts about how to census a forest. It was somewhat nice to spend most of the day inside out of the humidity. It was quite the presentation with a whole lot of specifics, so I won’t really go into the methodology.

There are a lot of ants here. As I type this, they have been running across my laptop. They were crawling all over the toaster when I was making breakfast. It seems like I’ll just have to get used to them (they’re pretty tiny anyway, extra protein).

I finally managed to snap some pictures of some little anoles running around the field station. They are everywhere and there seem to be at least a few species.

      I think this is Anolis krugi, the upland grass anole. This one is shedding.

      I’m not sure about this species. Perhaps Anolis sagrei, the brown anole.

After the protocol meeting, we went for a hike up the road. We passed quite a few spots with great views and even a few waterfalls.

Also, I saw my first tody, but it flew away just before I got my camera out. There were some other birds, but they were either far off, hiding in vegetation, or indeterminable.  I’ll have to work on learning my Puerto Rican birds.

As we were walking along, we saw this big epiphyte growing on a log across the path.

Eventually, we made it to a small pool in the stream and hung out there for a bit before turning back. We managed to get back to the field station just about dark, and I may have seen my first bat here (14 species of bats are the entire native mammal representation).

Tomorrow looks like our first day in the field, or at least getting the gist of the plots where we’ll be working. It should be exciting to really get into the woods and see the trees and everything else living among them.  I’ll make sure to bring a camera.

 

Hola, Puerto Rico

After getting up before the sun, catching the train to the airport, and a 3-ish hour flight, I have finally arrived in Puerto Rico.  What I’ve seen so far has really shown me what a cultural crossroads it is between the US and Latin America.  Sure, the announcements and signs on the plane and at the airport were bilingual, but this dichotomy of language got even more unusual. Once all of the other tree census folks I’ll be working with arrived, we set out to get food and then head to the field station.

The roads are a mess in Puerto Rico. There are cars everywhere, and seldom a turn signal to be seen.  Another interesting addition is the presence of small fruit stands on the side of the road. These are not small back roads, but thriving thoroughfares, and these small stands are maybe a few feet off the shoulder.

Once we got to the store, we were lost in the overwhelming presence of Spanish, but perplexed by the random bits of English interspersed.  One brand of a product would be right on the shelf adjacent to a similar product in a different language. Even the signs in the store aisles would list most of the items in Spanish, but then something in English like “Cheese Spread” would show up.

Finally, after shopping and a bit more time on the road, we arrived at the field station. The facility is packed with students doing research. My dorm, the “Man Cave” has every bed full. Lodgings are simple, but adequate, with a bunch of bunk beds in a room with a dehumidifier and ceiling fans. The kitchens seems a little lackluster, but I suppose I’ll have more of an opportunity to get to know them as the weeks go on.

Also, there is wildlife everywhere. The walk from the kitchen to the Man Cave is lined with small lizards and huge snails (pictures to come). I haven’t seen one yet, but I can hear the coqui peeping non-stop. The coqui are small treefrogs native to Puerto Rico, that have become a sort of national symbol. Their two-note peep can be deafening if you are too close, and they have been calling the entire time I’ve been at the field station (probably about 4-5 hours now).

Tomorrow, we get our real introduction to the tree census project and the field station, but in the mean time, I’m completely exhausted and even my cramped little corner bunk in the Man Cave is sounding appealing.  Internet and phone seem to be a bit spotty, so if I don’t get back to you immediately don’t worry.  I promise to try to get some pictures up tomorrow to add a bit of excitement to these posts.