Monthly Archives: May 2016

2016

(Nakian) May 22: Ants x Statistics x The Unexpected

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Another big day for ants. We retrieved the pitfall traps we have deployed yesterday and the amount of ant species diversity was stunning. I identified species I almost lost hope of finding in this trip. I found Anochetus with long mandibles on narrow head, Wasmannia small but nasty, Neoponera with fat petiole, Pheidole big head and club like antennae, Carebara with giant head, and Adelomyrmex. Not having seen these species in day light, these findings really support my hypothesis that many of these ants are nocturnal, or at least not around in afternoon. However, I still could not identify half of species today, because many of them looked so similar, or were not in my taxa ID sheet. It could be that many of them were same species but in different castes, but I just could not distinguish them and considered them as same species. Also I have to consider that I tend to focus on exotic looking species when making my taxa ID sheet. Tonight’s night hike might give me some more opportunities to find more species. However many of these species are really small that I don’t know if I would be able to identify them so readily during the hike.
Today we had a long discussion about the result of our pitfall trap experiment. Different data interpretations flipped the results that made me think of how to approach data when making conclusion relevant and accurate for the question we are asking. I think I must train myself more in the ability to design statistically sound experiment and analysis methods. In a discipline with large data analysis such ability seems crucial.

Having spent a week in the field, it comes to me that unexpectedness makes field biology awesome. In a lab we can simulate the natural environment but the results are restricted from the limited perimeter. If I conduct an experiment here, I don’t know what will be in my trap. It could be nothing or could be bombardments of ant species I hoped to see. This unexpectedness turns field biology so attractive.

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2016

Weird Science! (feat. Urine)

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Today was a lab day primarily. We collected the traps from an experiment we set up yesterday that involved urine and insect death traps. I know it sounds odd, but it was totally normal for a tropical field biologist. The experimental design we used involved placing two pitfalls on tree trunks, one filled with plain soapy water and one filled with urine (common name: pee-pee). We also placed another pair of traps in the leaf litter to catch floor dwelling insects. All the arthropods (common name: creepy crawlies) that made the unfortunate choice of exploring these traps fell to their deaths.

Our aim was to compare the community composition and the species richness (how many unique species) and abundance (how many individual organisms) of both forest canopy and forest floor species. The urine component was put into our design to collect relevant data on the affinity to nitrogen (found in ammonia in urine) of arthropods in each habitat. Here’s a photo of all the morphospecies I identified!

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There are plenty of crickets and their nymphs in this photo, all of which I have not identified to a species level, but rather characterized as unique by certain morphological characters. This process can be difficult because size can vary with age and color/markings with sex. This method of ID is inherently an estimate of true species richness/abundance.

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While it may seem esoteric and boring, the data set we compiled after sixteen hours of sampling was truly enlightening. No single way of looking at this data was 100% correct or incorrect, but depending on the statistical methods our group drew radically different conclusions—just another confounding and thought provoking aspect of scientific methods. Complicated, but never boring, the “telling” of the story completely affects the “message” or “moral” of what you are saying. Even in after just under a day of collection we had a TON of information on our hands and it was up to us entirely to make sense of it. Truly exciting.

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Cave Las Cuevas, Day 5

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Today was interesting. I woke up early to the sounds of the other group that is here. I also did not fall asleep as early as I would have liked because the other group was being loud past 11 pm and I am a light sleeper. So I am kind of grumpy.

Today we wrapped up our trumpet tree projects and then we all peed into two vials. I am impressed by how clear everyone’s urine is. We are a healthy crew. After lunch, we took our helmets and headlamps to the Las Cuevas cave! I’ve been caving before in Idaho as well as Belize. I’ve also been cave diving, which is something I think I much prefer. The added level of danger is quite exciting. Anyway, we met a few bats in the cave and saw a few scorpions. We also encountered a chamber with low oxygen levels, which I definitely felt.

After exiting the caves, we went out onto a trail right near the station and used our urine for an experiment by placing vials of urine and water in trees and on the forest floor. If I haven’t already mentioned, an ancient Mayan site lies right outside the clearing of Las Cuevas. It is believed that the site had been used for ceremonial purposes.

We had a guest lecturer named Boris from FCD, a non-governmental organization that works in this area of Belize. His talk centered on the illegal extraction of resources from the Chiquibul, the research he does, and the social and political conflicts that have arisen from border disputes with Guatemala.

I didn’t see any bees today, probably due to the fact that we spent a large part of the day in the classroom. Tomorrow I will try to attract some bees, if time allows.

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Cave Las Cuevas
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Cave Las Cuevas
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Ant digging, Day 4

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I woke up today to the sound of my alarm and immediately fell back asleep. Instant coffee and sausages helped revive me this morning. We immediately went to the classroom and tried to design experiments that could answer the question as to how young trumpet trees against herbivores because they do not form a symbiosis with Azteca ants until they’re older. We then hit the trails again, though not as intensely as yesterday. We found a line of army ants, discovered a young queen inside a young trumpet tree, and recovered many leaf samples.

After lunch, we stayed in the proximity of Las Cuevas and dug up leaf cutter ant hills. We did so in a way to not kill the queen and allow the colony to recover. We dug vertically down into the soil on the side of the opening of the ant nests until we discovered a chamber containing the fungi and pupae. What’s incredibly neat is that these ants are farmers of the forest. They cut leaves and drag them back to the nest in order to farm this fungus, which can only survive by the aid of these ants. The soldier ants bit Michael, which was pretty funny.

We could hear howling monkeys today. I knew they were farther away than they sounded but I loved listening to them and am hoping we get the chance to see them. The other highlight of my day included seeing the scarlet macaws again. I was inside the building when they flew over and landed in the gutters. I ran over to the bridge between the kitchen and main building to take photos. One of them decided to fly over and pay me a visit. It was AWESOME. I slowly took out my camera and snapped a great photo, which I won’t include here. Find me later in person if you know me and would like to see.

I saw what I believe to be a large bumblebee today, as well as the same little black Euglossini bee. Tomorrow I am setting up my contraption to attract some orchid bees. Right now it is 9:30 pm and I am hitting the hay. I have a 5:30 am wake up call and no desire to get under 8 hours of sleep.

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Fungus that the leaf cutter ants cultivate
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Day 5

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Caving was just as exciting (and tiring) as I thought it would be. The first half was not that bad in terms of the amount of mud that I got on myself. Prematurely, I thought that I would come out unscathed. But no, it was the last part of the cave walk that really got me. After going through the main chambers in the system, there was an optional offshoot where they had previously found a peccary skeleton. The first crawl through was narrow, but the second was so narrow that you absolutely had to get down on the ground (flat on your belly) and army crawl through. My clothing was obliterated. But completely and totally worth it. I hope that I get to continue caving after this trip.

Otherwise, the day consisted of us finishing up the analysis of our Cecropia hypotheses and making posters. Our data, though it seemed to indicate higher investment in leaves and juveniles (consistent with the herbivore satiation hypothesis) was limited by our small samples size and estimation techniques. In the end, none of the groups has conclusive evidence, keeping the question of how young Cecropia defend themselves against herbivory prior to Azteca ant colonization open for future study.

Lastly, we set up our pitfall traps (using our own urine and water) to compare biodiversity in the canopy and forest floor settings. Specifically, we hope to learn about the differing needs in nitrogen in both. Tomorrow, one of the things that we will be doing is collecting the traps and analyzing the subsequent data.

 

 

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Day 4

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The tiredness continues. Today’s two tasks were to test our four hypotheses related to Cecropia herbivory defense and explore ant nests of different ages.

The Cecropia tree is normally in symbiosis with several species of ant. Their function is to be a defense mechanism against any threat to the integrity of the tree. This mostly means herbivory from various types of organism. However, there is a period when the tree is young prior to the colonization event of the ant population. We explored different ways in which the tree could potentially protect itself in this vulnerable period. After discussing the issue as a group for a while, covering many different possible solutions, we settled on four distinct hypotheses. Briefly, they focused on mimicry, chemical defense, leaf quality, and the predator/herbivore satiation hypothesis.

In long form these were our ideas. Maybe the young Cecropia trees are in some way similar to another species that has it’s own process for herbivory deterrence. Through mimicry, young Cecropia may benefit from the association made by herbivores. Secondly, there could be a chemical defense mechanism that is then replaced by the ants later in life. Thirdly, leaves on juveniles could be of poorer quality so as to deter herbivores, who would be better off selecting other species. Lastly (and the hypothesis I worked on), was herbivore satiation hypothesis. Under this assumption, we would expect to see high numbers of seed and juveniles, with the high number of individuals “flooding the market” and ensuring both sufficient herbivory and a proportion of individuals surviving into maturity (and therefore protection via ants).

After collecting and analyzing our data, we moved on to the ant colony structure. Scott showed us the different stages of nest. We spent the rest of the day looking for the fungus chamber and evading the (amazingly strong) bites of soldier ants.

Tomorrow, we go caving. I’m excited, as I have never done anything of the sort before.

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Day 5: Cave Mysteries

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Today was a bit low on cockroaches, mostly because our group was out busily setting up our pitfall traps. We wanted to analyze differences in nitrogen limitations (AKA organisms desire for nitrogen compounds) between creatures that live high in the forest canopy and those that live on the ground since distribution of nutrients is different in those locations. These traps held nitrogen bait (human urine!) and served to trap insects within. One trap was set onto a tree and another on the ground. Maybe this will be a good chance to see a few roaches!

Most of the roaches that I have found in Belize were often under a pile of leaves, feeding on decaying matter. The advantages of such a bottom-dweller lifestyle is double edged. Dead materials are not usually heavily competed for due to abundance of microbes and leaf litter provides excellent protection from predators and aspiring entomologists like myself. Perhaps in light of this, I can predict that if the traps can fit roaches, then I should find more roaches in the ground traps than in the tree traps. But whether their contribution to our question on differences in nitrogen limitations of the canopy and the ground will matter is up in the air until tomorrow when we retrieve our traps. Before then, I can only guess.

A roach was sighted during a noon leisure excursion to one of the Las Cuevas trails. It was tiny, wingless and fast moving. I tried to snap a photo, but it managed to hide a part of its body behind one of the spines of a give and take palm. Better than nothing I guess! I could improve my roach findings by perhaps searching during one of our night hikes!

Other than trap setups, our team visited a cave near where we lived, learning about the caves history and use by the ancient Mayan societies as a ceremonial ritual between their chief and the nine realms of the underworld that each section of the cave represented. In spite of the uneven terrain and low oxygen levels, I was captured by the mystery surrounding the cave structures and biological life! We spotted bats, tiny insects like diplurans, isopods, crickets, and even large millipedes, and learned how these creatures were sustained by cave nutrition. This may come in the form of droppings by bats or by nutrients entering the cave. No roaches, so bummer for me, but exciting nevertheless to explore one of the mysterious habitats of the earth!

Into the cave we go!
Into the cave we go!

P.S: speaking of mysteries, we found a peccary skeleton in a tiny chamber of a cave. I wonder how it got there? Did it wander through the pitch-black cave and get lost, or was it brought in as sacrifice by an ancient tribe.

 

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Day 5: MAMMALS!!

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Today was the best day at Las Cuevas thus far. In comparison to most other days, I saw many mammals today of various new species. The most exciting viewing occurred at the very beginning of the day, during an early morning walk in the forest. As I neared the entrance to the research station clearing, a tayra (type of weasel) walked across the path about 15 to 20 meters ahead. The tayra looked very typical, with a dark brown body, paler head, and yellowish chest patch. Upon seeing me, the animal raised its tail and began to growl softly. After taking a few steps forward, it calmly decided that I was not worth its time and walked off into the forest. Amazing!

Tayra captured as it walks back into the forest cover
Tayra captured as it walks back into the forest cover

We had a few other mammal encounters today. As has occurred the last few days, we heard Mexican black howler monkeys from the research station. Today, the howling was more frequent and louder. I’m hoping that this means that we can actually find them in the forest soon.

Additionally, we saw two species of bats when we visited the Las Cuevas caves. The nine-chamber system used to be an ancient Mayan ritual site, as can be seen by the built structures and pottery sherds (sherds for pottery, shards for glass, as I learned today). While crawling through the caves, we came across a small group of wrinkle-faced bats roosting in the cave ceiling. In another chamber, we saw a larger group of what were likely gray fruit bats hanging upside down from the ceiling. The high-pitched sounds made by these animals was really cool to experience.

Gray fruit bats with distinctive noseleaves
Gray fruit bats with distinctive noseleaves

We also started another project today that we will conclude tomorrow. We set up vials of urine (produced locally) and water (as a control) as pit-fall traps for insects and other arthropods. We put half of these in trees and half in the ground to test whether tree species are more attracted to the nitrogen-rich urine due to nitrogen limitation in the canopy. Hopefully we’ll catch some cool creatures overnight!

Finally, one of tonight’s lectures was given by Boris Arevalo, a biologist for Friends for Conservation and Development. He discussed the various challenges and opportunities associated with the Chiquibul forest, and how conservation involves an understanding of social, political, and ecological issues. I found this very fascinating, especially as he discussed the delicate situation between Guatemala and Belize at the border. I look forward to hearing more from other researchers here at the station tomorrow!

2016

All About Ants

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Today was all about ants! The day started with the developing and testing of hypotheses regarding the Cecropia tree and the Azteca ants. Azteca ants live in Cecropia trees, providing protection for the tree against herbivory. However, young Cecropia trees do not yet have these ant symbionts, so we looked at how these juveniles might avoid herbivory without their ant defenders. In the afternoon, we learned about leafcutter ants by digging up three ant nests at different stages. The first was about a year old colony, the second about 5 years, and the third at least 10 years of age. Learning about these ant societies was really interesting, as they effectively function as one super-organism.

Evidence of two species of mammals was definitely observed today. On our way back from the final leafcutter ant nest, we heard Mexican black howler monkeys from afar. However, the howling got significantly louder over the next half hour. We guess that the primates were likely about 100 meters from us at their closest proximity. I loved standing in the forest when some others had moved ahead, just listening to the roars of the howlers. We also saw a wrinkle-faced bat after dinner that had been caught in a mist net by another group at the station. The bat was much smaller than would be expected, and had a pug-like face. Some other animal sightings included army ants and a tree frog (on my clothing that was hanging to dry!).

Wrinkle-faced bat
Wrinkle-faced bat

I also gave my first presentation today on cave life. I’m very excited to put this knowledge to practice tomorrow in the caves! Hopefully we will see many more bats and other specialized cave species.

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Day 5: Null Hypotheses and Spelunking Adventures

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Today we started off by summarizing the results from our experiments yesterday about Cecropia and ant interactions. My group ended up with negative results. We didn’t find any evidence of young Cecropia mimicking other plants. We did notice some differences between juvenile and adult trees, such as red petioles (the stems of leaves) and slightly longer trichomes (the tiny hairs on plants). However, we weren’t able to conclusively determine that those differences had an adaptive role. One group tested the toughness of juvenile and adult leaves and found that juvenile leaves were tougher. This could be adaptive because it would make it more difficult for herbivores to eat the leaves. If the project was continued, it would be beneficial to see if herbivores preferred younger or older leaves.

We also were able to visit the cave at Las Cuevas. The cave was a part of Mayan ceremonies, and there is still evidence of their presence. There are pottery shards throughout the cave system and the cave is built up in some areas. Platforms were built near the entrance and some spaces between chambers were made to be narrower. The whole history behind the cave is extremely interesting. The caves also had some wildlife. We saw at least two species of bats, millipedes, and a species of scorpion with long legs and no tail. One of the best aspects about the cave was how undeveloped it was. I’m not used to visiting preserved caves that haven’t been commercialized. It was cool to feel like I was one of the first to visit the cave, even though many, many people have visited it before me.

Entering the cave
Entering (taking pictures of) the cave

My favorite trees today were the big trees that we commonly see around the Chiquibul. The cedar (Cedrela odorata) can be 20-30m tall. Right now it doesn’t have leaves, but it has some wooden seed pods that are still attached to the branches. The seed pods look like 5-petaled flowers – they’re very pretty. Another big tree is the ceiba (Ceiba pentandra). When it is mature, its bark is very smooth and it can reach 60-70m. It has been difficult for me to identify ceiba from their leaves because the trunks reach so high into the canopy.

Ceiba
Cedar seed pod

We only have two more full days at LCRS, so we’ll have to make them count!