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Final Blog

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BIOS 319 was such a fascinating class. I have been to coral reefs before, but this was my first time in a tropical rainforest. In the first half of the course, I had such an incredible time exploring tropical rainforests with all of the tiny insect life and the large animals we caught on the camera traps.

The amount of similarities between the rainforest and the reef was truly astounding. I had never thought of ants or coral as being similar, but now I can appreciate them as magnificent colonial creatures. The similarities between fungal gardens of leaf cutter ant colonies and symbiotic zooxanthellae algae in coral colonies were so cool to compare. Both animals are quite different but have incredible similarities. They are colonies that the rainforest and the reef rely heavily on to keep biodiversity as high as it is. I had no clue ants were as important as they are prior to this class, and I have a newfound appreciation for the architects of the rainforest.

I thought the nutritional paradoxes of the rainforest and the reef were fascinating. How come both are so nutrient limited but so biodiverse? The nitrogen lab was fascinating to visualize increased nutrient limitation in the canopy. While reefs are very different from rainforests, there is still a nutrient stratification with nutrients being densest near the seafloor and forest floor. Larger animals were much more prevalent on or close to the seafloor where they could find the most food.

I observed similarities between the two ecosystems while on the reef. First, animals love to live under rocks and logs. Anytime I wanted to find a cool animal quickly, I was able to turn a rock or log over and find something. Whether it was large beetles, brittle stars, or sea urchins, turning things that provide cover for small organisms over is a great place for observation in both ecosystems. Going along with this, in such biodiverse ecosystems, animals have many predators, so they must use their surroundings as protection. Whether that was a wrasse hiding from me in an empty conch shell, cecropia ants in cecropia trees, trumpetfish camouflaging into coral, or basilisk lizards running on water, animals in both ecosystems need to get incredibly creative with their defense adaptations. I loved seeing how animals used their environments to their advantage.

(brittle star found under a rock)

I had high expectations for this course, and it exceeded all of my expectations. I expected to learn field research techniques, but the amount of technical scientific research skills I gained was incredible. While we had minimal technology and could not use fancy techniques, I gained a lot of knowledge from doing studies with limited resources. We were forced to be creative to make our studies as productive as we could. We also got to learn from each other when setting up a project and designing a poster to show our results. I loved watching us grow together as a group with our poster and presentation skills.

I also expected to be in the field a lot which we sure were. We spent hours upon hours immersed in the rainforest and under the surface of the water which is exactly where I wanted to be. I loved seeing rugged nature and learning as much as I could from it.

My favorite part of the course was how much we talked about biology. Whether it was in the field hiking somewhere, over coffee while birding, on the dock observing glass eels, or at mealtimes, we were ALWAYS talking biology. I loved being in such a nerdy environment with people who care about biology as much as I do and know worlds more about it than I do. Dr. Evans and Dr. Solomon had so many fascinating facts to share, and my classmates and I asked so many questions that we were constantly talking bio. The people, the questions, and the conversations about science in such gorgeous places were my favorite parts of the trip.

I have almost no complaints about this class. Aside from the trip only being 2 weeks long (I wish it had been much longer), my least favorite part of the class was the fact that the trip took place entirely in the peak dry season. I wish we had been able to see the rainforest as a RAINforest. I would love to see how the ecosystem changes when it gets more water. At points in time, it felt like the rainforest was asleep, and I wish we had been there to see it wake up.

I learned a TON through this class; there were definitely some things that I learned that will stick with me forever. 1. Ants are so much cooler than I could have ever imagined. Learning about the differences between leaf cutter ants, cecropia ants, bullshorn acacia ants, and army ants was so cool, and I am so glad we spent so much time focusing on them. Cutting into the cecropia tree was the coolest thing I saw in the rainforest. The chambers were so complex. 2.  Cryptobenthic fish are so incredibly vital to reef ecosystems. They are not just funny looking little fish that sit on the sand, but they make up the diets of so many fish that are crucial to the oceanic food web. I had no clue how big of a role they played in nutritional cycling.  3. Catching small lizards is so much fun and can be so easy. Sometimes they are easier to catch than others (sometimes they just jump onto my hand), but with the right technique (pouncing on them), it can be quite simple. I look forward to catching many more small lizards in my future. After this trip, I have a newfound appreciation for lizards (not including iguanas). The blue-tailed skinks are not going to see me coming this summer.

I’ll always be a TFB, but the first chapter of my TFB life has come to a close. Come along to see what the next one is!

Claire C

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Day 12: Sea-ing a Squid!

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Today we finished our parrotfish study. We concluded that parrotfish mainly eat algae. On the reef Zoe and I saw numerous stoplight parrotfish. We met as a group for most of the morning and made our poster. In the afternoon we met to walk the trails around the island. We went to “the graveyard” which is a beach full of fossilized   corals and shells. We learned that these shells and corals all eventually become the limestone that forms the caves of Belize. It was really cool to see how the dead and bleached corals looked compared to the living ones that we have been seeing on the reef. We also saw several critters such as sea urchins, sea snails, a sea star, and more.

We also waded through the sea grass to see what we could find. The highlight was a huge crab and a couple fishes!

At night it was too windy for a night swim, so we dropped a light off the dock and observed and caught several things that were attracted to the light. The plankton is attracted to the light, which attracts the fish, and the fish’s predators. We were able to see glass eels (the larvae form of fish and eels that swim in open ocean), shrimp, fish, and a squid! Claire managed to catch the squid and we got to see it ink! We searched up what the glass eel was and it was a bone fish larvae.

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Day 9: Arriving at Glover’s Reef

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Hi! Today was our travel day from the Tropical Education Center to Glover’s Reef. We started by busing over to Belize City. We then headed over to lunch in old Belize city. Along the way you could see the environment change from jungle to forest to safari to mangroves and finally to coast. From there we took a boat ride to Glovers! It was about a two hour boat ride and we got to see go along the reef and then cross it to open ocean. There was a point where you couldn’t see land in any direction! We then arrived at Glovers where we got a brief introduction and settled in. The island is beautiful. We then did presentations and went to bed!   

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Belize Day 2: Epiphytes and Flights of Stairs

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Hi guys! Today felt like 3 crazy, wonderful days in one. Beginning with a nice 5:30 am shower, the day was filled with bird and critter identification and a stair-master tour of the Mayan mounds dotting the rainforest. 

(Caracol Ruins – 05/17/25)

After breakfast, we hopped aboard our iconic bus and took cat naps as we chugged up the mountains to the Caracol Maya Ruins. On our route, we passed through an area of the mountains known as Mountain Pine Ridge, featuring pine evergreen trees that were not very rainforesty. Our guide explained to us that this seemingly out-of-place pine vegetation was due to the fact that the soils in this region were different, composed of reddish (from the iron within) granite soils. We drove right through a ghost town that once flourished with the logging industry but has since been abandoned due to Belizean regulations shutting down the export of timber (though the export of timber products like furniture is legal). In the same area, baby pines had been planted as part of reforestation efforts. Human abandonment of the area allowed for pine restoration. It really makes you think about human/natural ecosystem competition. In this case, it was either the humans or the pines, not both. Is there a way they can coexist sustainably without edging each other out? 

Later down the road, we passed a beautiful, but squashed bright green vine snake in the middle of the road :(. Everyone disembarked to marvel at the pretty but gutty creature. Right when we got back on the bus, Sam coincidentally pulled out a green gummy worm and started munching on it. 

(Sam’s snake – 05/17/25)

A little while later, we arrived at Caracol, a site of Mayan ruins. We learned that the Maya built their houses and buildings on mounds of soil that contained previously used buildings – sometimes with deceased loved ones inside. They hopped on the “build up, not out” concept way early on. In fact, their tallest mound had 11 other layers of structures buried underneath. Boy, was that a climb. We climbed the stairs on this massive mound to reach the top, and by the end, we were on our hands and knees crawling up. From the top, we could see Guatemala in the horizon. Also, there were stray pieces of ancient pottery dotting the ruins, and we can all now say that we touched pieces of ancient Mayan pottery – pretty neat I think. 

(TALL Mounds – 05/17/25)

Throughout the day, I’ve seen so many of my glorious epiphytes (my taxa group, the dudes that live on trees without parasitizing them) and have been to successfully identify quite a few of them with the help my handy dandy taxon ID sheet and INaturalist (in the rare case that we have internet). We also saw a strangler fig, which is super neat because it begins its life cycle as a harmless epiphyte high up in a host tree, benefitting from the direct sunlight, but then, it grows down and around its host tree to establish its roots in the soil and strangle its host to death, taking over the space. I also was able to identify beautiful arrowhead plants with bright red fruits and winged peperomia from the pepper family, both quirky, unique epiphytes. 

(Epiphyte Friend – 05/17/25)

Amongst the epiphytes in the tree canopy (the highest part of the tree), we spotted quite a few beautifully patterned birds with some interesting behaviors. In the morning, we saw a social flycatcher with a long, bright-yellow tail, and at the ruins, we admired the hanging, bag-like nests of the Montezuma oropendola. These guys create hanging nests that serve as extra protection for their young and from nest parasitism by cowbirds. Nest parasitism happens when unrelated birds lay their eggs in the nests of different birds, forcing the nest owners to raise and nourish young that are not their own. On our way out of the ruins, we watched a toucan hop from leaf to leaf and a turkey vulture scouting the area for fresh meat. 

We are now established in our final rainforest site, the Las Cuevas Research Station, which is also built upon Mayan ruins and a cave system. Also, there are epiphytes of all shapes and colors EVERYWHERE that I’m dying to identify over the course of these next few days. I have a few more bucket list items for these next few days: (1) go birdwatching, (2) explore the underground cave system, (3) see a Scarlet Macaw (the beautiful, iconic red parrot).

Today I’ve learned SO MUCH about Belize’s history, geology, and some of the plant and critter behaviors that make up ecology. 

I’m ending my Blog today with these lovely and super true quotes from Dr. Evans: “The more you know, the more you notice” and “the longer you stare at it, the more things you see.”

  • Lily 🙂
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Snorkel, Boots, and Bucket Hat Packed and Ready to Go!

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Hi everyone! My name is Lily Hestjean, and I’m an ecology and evolutionary biology major at Rice currently anticipating this exciting trip! This is how I image our Belize trip will go: Our class will be gathered together in front of this infinitely high tree surrounded by vines and epiphytes (the plants without roots that latch on to trees for structural support), and as Dr. Solomon explains how to measure trunk diameter, my eyes wander away, following the leaf cutter ants marching by. Just today, in our Belize textbook, I read about where this endless line of ants is headed. They’re on their way back to their fungal gardens. Yes, they are little gardeners who cultivate their own fungus as a food source, tucked away underground and out of our sight. While the ants bring the fungus a leafy food source, the fungus returns the favor by producing special, nutrient-rich portions of itself for the ants to eat. This is mutualism at its finest, the species relationship where both parties benefit from one another. https://discoverwildscience.com/the-symbiotic-architects-leafcutter-ants-and-their-underground-fungal-farms-1-296417/ 

(The Ant Farm – biointeractive.org)

 

In Belize, I can’t wait to see all of the fascinating ecological concepts I read about in real life. I can’t wait to wake up to the sound of birds chirping from all directions and maybe a couple of howler monkey calls. I think that this course (BIOS 319: Tropical Field Biology in Belize) is my idea of heaven – spending the day out in the rainforest doing ecological field work, spotting cool trees and insects, and bonding with my class through shared sweating and learning. In this 2-week-long course, we will be spending five days at Las Cuevas Research Station in the Maya Mountains (the rainforest) and five days at Glover’s Reef (the ocean!), gaining hands-on researching skills. Though I don’t know exactly what we’ll be doing day to day at the sites, I am so ready for all of the one-of-a-kind experiences the days will hold. 

While I will have to get adjusted to the 5 am wake-up calls, I can’t wait to put eco-gear and training to use. I’m ready to rep my new bucket hat and green rubber boots–my protection from all of the biting critters on the forest floor. A few weeks ago, our class walked over to the Houston Zoo’s reptile exhibit to learn how to identify and react to poisonous snakes we might encounter in the rainforest. Then, we jumped into Rice Rec’s pool to practice using our snorkels and fins. We laughed at how, while we were snorkeling on one side of the pool, we got strange looks from the other side of the pool, where people were just trying to get some laps in. 

(Snorkel Practice – 04/28/25)

 

Besides my training in Houston, last summer, I was able to gain tropical researching experience at EARTH University in Costa Rica during a two-month plant science internship. The most fulfilling part of my experience was immersing myself in the rich, dynamic ecosystem and sharing my appreciation for nature with friends. I am certain I will be able to do the same in the rainforests of Belize. 

I’m also very excited to dive around reefs in search of sponges. My job as a part of the class is to be able to identify the different sponges and explain more about their living strategies, from the way they eat (by filtering little particles out of the water) to the way they reproduce (by releasing clouds of sperm into the water). While I am slightly nervous about my identification skills, especially underwater, I am looking forward to sharing some sponge fun facts with the class. Did you know scientists have discovered carnivorous sponges in the deep ocean? Look up harp sponges, trust me. 

(Harp Sponge – mbari.org)

 

While I’m there, I hope to learn how to quantify human impact on these rich, biodiverse ecosystems, like calculating deforestation rates and the impacts of elevated CO2 levels. I hope to better understand the challenges these ecosystems face and sustainable solutions. 

Thank you for checking in! Over the course of these next two weeks, I will continue updating you each day about the cool, interesting things I learn! T-minus 12 hours until our flight to Belize boards!

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Excited for Belize!

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Hi! My name is Noelle Hall and I’m going to be a senior at Brown College in the fall. I’m studying BioSciences with a concentration in Integrative Biology. I’m incredibly excited to explore the rainforests and coral reefs of Belize! I expect to encounter a wide variety of animal and insect species and to experience firsthand the incredible biodiversity that Belize has to offer. I’m looking forward to observing how ecosystems function in such a rich tropical environment and gaining a deeper appreciation for the species interactions and ecological relationships that I’ve only studied in class up until now.

To get ready for this trip, I’ve been doing a lot of hiking back home in Washington State, especially with my sister and mom. While the landscapes are very different from Belize’s tropical forests, the experience has helped me build up my stamina and comfort with being outdoors for extended periods. I’ve also been reviewing course material and packing!

I hope to learn as much as I can about tropical species and the roles they play within their ecosystems. I’m particularly interested in how species adapt to specific niches in such a biodiverse environment, and how those interactions shape the broader ecological community. I also hope to strengthen my field research skills—everything from species identification to data collection techniques—so I can apply what I learn here to future research in ecology or conservation.

I’m probably most nervous about the bugs and snakes we might encounter. That said, I’m also very curious and excited to learn about them ! The part of the course I’m most excited about is definitely snorkeling! I had the chance to snorkel before and loved doing so, and I can’t wait to see the marine biodiversity up close and learn how these ecosystems are studied and protected.

While I haven’t been to the tropics of Central America before, I’ve had some great hands-on experience with fieldwork through lab courses at Rice, including BIOS 211, BIOS 213, and BIOS 322. Most recently, I took the Conservation Biology Lab, where I really enjoyed participating in on-campus restoration work and studying how to manage and protect local biodiversity. That course helped spark my passion for conservation, and I’m looking forward to applying what I learned in a completely different environment like Belize.

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An Un-Belize-able Experience

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Hey guys! It’s Michiel, and this will be my last blog post !!

My experience in Belize was life-changing; it was an adventure that I’ll never forget.  I remember expecting that this class would push my boundaries, and it certainly did! I’ve always been used to working in sterile, organized labs, and working out in the field was nothing like that. I would have never reached my hands into coral crevices to try to get a sea urchin or pick up random arthropods I found in the jungle before this class. I also expected that each day would be a great workout, and it definitely was. The physical exertion required by this class was tiring, but it made me more proud of what I was doing.

It also opened my eyes to the diversity held in both coral reefs and the tropical rainforest and showed me similarities between the two ecosystems I would’ve never noticed without this class. One of the most important similarities I noticed is the importance of destruction in the ecosystems. When plants die and fall to the forest floor, the decaying organic matter adds nutrients to the soil, which are quickly taken up by surrounding plant life. It is also a source of energy for detritivores. Thus, the decaying plant contributes to both nutrient cycling and the food chain. Similarly, the erosion of coral by waves contributes to its ecosystem, but in a different way. As the coral is eroded, it becomes sand particles that contribute to the sediment in the reef. Adding sediment creates new space for coral to colonize, which allows the reef to grow larger. It also stabilizes already growing coral. The way these habitats handle destruction contributes to the biodiversity of these places because a variety of organisms take up and use nutrients deposited by decaying organic matter in a variety of ways in the jungle and coral growth through additional sediment allows for other marine species to inhabit the area the coral colonized. However, human involvement has taken this destruction to an extreme that is unsustainable. The felling of trees for logging doesn’t allow the soil and surrounding organisms to take up the nutrients and energy from the tree, and the weakening of corals by climate change creates so much sediment that it buries live corals, obstructing their access to sunlight.

While I was in Belize, I was also able to observe a staggering amount of symbioses. In the jungle, leaf cutter ants (Atta spp.) cultivate fungus gardens by collecting leaves for it to feed on, and once the fungus is grown, it is eaten by the ants. Another example of a symbiotic relationship is between the acacia ant (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea) and the bullhorn acacia tree (Vachellia cornigera). The tree provides a home and food for the ant by allowing it to live within the thorns of the tree and giving it nectar to feed on. In return, the acacia ants are fierce defenders of their home. In the reefs, symbiodinium algae lives within coral, providing it nutrients it synthesizes through photosynthesis. In return, corals give the algae nutrients it can’t synthesize and a safe place to live. Symbioses like this allow various species to coexist in the same ecosystem, contributing to the habitats’ biodiversity. 

A difference I noticed between the two ecosystems, were their dependence on wind and waves, where the jungle depended a lot less on the wind than the reef depended on the waves. Yes, plants in the jungle rely on the wind for pollination and seed dispersal, but many plants have evolved in ways that make them rely on pollinating species, rather than the wind, and they have come up with ways to disperse their seeds that don’t require wind, like through animals. However, the reef has mass spawning events where gametes are released into the ocean and the current pushes gametes together as well as dispersing fertilized eggs to new areas of the reef. Additionally, wave activity can limit where reefs can grow, because too much wave activity will destroy coral at a faster rate than it can be produced, but too little wave activity will limit the spread of nutrients throughout the reef.

Other than analyzing the similarities and differences between coral reefs and rainforests, and observing herbivorous fish and mammals, we also had some very memorable experiences. I absolutely loved hiking through the jungle and swimming through the reef, listening to my peers get excited as they talked about their assigned taxa or topic for their lecture, and the camaraderie developed between everyone on the trip. I also loved looking through the reef for sea urchins; I thought that was one of the most fun and interesting activities I’ve ever done. However, taking freezing cold showers at Las Cuevas and wearing the same dirty clothes every day was definitely not fun.

Now that this class is over, it has left me with some lessons that I won’t soon forget: drastic climate change is changing both rainforest and coral reef ecosystems that are making it inhospitable for many organisms, there is a balance between destruction and growth in both environments that is vital for its success, and termites taste like carrots.

I loved this trip! I’m so thankful to my professors and peers that made it as enjoyable as it was. I’ll miss Belize for years to come, and I’ll be eternally grateful for the opportunity it gave me to explore a new area in biology. Here are some final pictures of my new-found friends and I on the trip!

2022

A Harsh Introduction

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Day one in Belize has almost come to a close, and boy was it a long one!

We managed to get to the airport no problem, but once we did, it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride to get on to the plane. There was the issue of finding the terminal, extra paperwork, lost boarding passes, lost credit cards, and an impossible-to-find drinking fountain! But somehow the group made it on to the airplane in one piece! For the flight, I downloaded books from z-library, which I would definitely recommend, especially if you don’t have space in your bag for books.

The people next to me were an adventure as well, since they were on their honeymoon, and they were sure to make it my problem. Just kidding-they were perfectly nice.

Once we landed, we went through customs, got our bags, and then headed to the marina. We got lunch and got on the boat, expecting a two hour ride to the Glover’s Reef Research Station. It ended up being double that. We also encountered very choppy water after passing the reef barrier (which used to be Belize’s coast before sea levels rose!), and in order to fight the sea sickness, I had to stare at the horizon for the remaining 1.5-2 hours. On the bright side, I saw some floating sargassum (which belongs to the brown algae taxa!) and one of the water safety officers told us about Belize culture and language. For example, in Belizean kriol, “humoch aklak” means “what time is it.” Also, since Belize was colonized by the English until 1981, the kriol language, spoken in central Belize, is a mix of English with African language, while native/Maya languages are more spoken in the South, and Spanish in the North. Last fun fact, the population of the entire country of Belize is about 400,000, making it the population of Sacramento in an area the size of New Jersey!

When we got to Glover’s Reef, we got to look around the station area a bit. The bunk rooms, kitchen, and toilets are all on stilts, while the wet lab, classroom, and showers are not. We had a delicious dinner of rice and beans, chicken, salad, and fresh mango, and then we had a short debriefing about tomorrow, before breaking off to do our journal entries and blogs.

The island is literally crawling with huge hermit crabs and common land crabs, which is very cool. There are a lot of palm trees and some little mangroves. There were also a lot of bugs, but the wind came in so they haven’t bothered us since dusk. I can’t wait to see what else is going on on the island, and in the reefs around it!

I will update you all again tomorrow!

-Elena

ps happy birthday to my dad 🙂

 

2022

Almost time to depart! (Day 0)

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It’s thrilling to think that in just 1 week, I will be on the shores of Glover Reef learning about the delicate coral reef ecosystem.  All summer, I have been reading up on and studying  Belizean reptiles, echinoderms, flora, illnesses, and traditional medicines, and I hope to put this knowledge to good use.  When I was younger, I visited many tropical countries like Costa Rica, Belize, Bonaire, Honduras, and Peru, yet I’ve never gone on a research-based trip. Therefore, I’m excited to revisit Belize and develop a newfound appreciation for the Mayan forest’s biodiversity.

Admittedly, I am a little nervous about lionfish, venomous snakes, mosquitos, and ants. Belize has 8 different types of venomous snakes, and although they all have antivenoms, I still don’t want to get bitten by accident. Also, tropical mosquitos like the Aedes aegypti carry tons of illnesses that I would hate to host. However, I’m sure that we can avoid any dangerous interactions with proper equipment and vigilance! I think the only non-environmental concern I have is being able to identify my taxa. I’m so worried that something may pop up, and I’ll have no clue what it is. I can only hope my Taxon cards are enough!

My goals for the trip are as follows:

  1.  Find a Holcosus festivus aka the Central American Whiptail. Whiptail lizards are my favorite species and their colorful variants are only found in tropical areas
  2.  Find a West Indian Sea Egg (Tripneustes ventricosus) and name them “Fuzzy”
  3. Identify a few traditional medicine plants, and maybe use one if it is safe. (For context, medicine is a niche interest of mine)
  4. Learn about the tropical bats in Belize and how they differ from “old-world bats”
  5. Gain research experience and better understand  how research is conducted:  the environment, tasks, etc.
  6. Better understand the Ecology and Bioscience fields (my major!!!) as a whole

I’m most excited to see the wide variety of fauna and walk through the rainforest. The ocean is great and all, but as a Floridian and an experienced diver, I have already visited very diverse reefs. So, I am way more excited to be immersed in an unfamiliar ecosystem like the jungle. Also, the professors keep mentioning cave systems and Las Cuevas, and caves mean my favorite animals, BATS!!! Lastly, I’m hoping to get some great photos to paint when I get back in July.

Even though it’s a week away, I’ve been studying, planning, preparing, and packing , so my suitcase is already stacked for adventure!

Wish me luck, because the next time you will hear from me I’ll be in the tropics! Till then!!!

I’ve had this suitcase packed for weeks now, slowly adding to the collection as gear came in the mail!!!

-Faith

 

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Wrap-up…life-changing

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The drop

May 30th, 2019

The tropical rainforest and the coral reef are two very biodiverse and seemingly opposite ecosystems; however, I’ve learned that they are quite similar.  One similarity is that both ecosystems are actually nutrient poor, however they are able to support a wide array of organisms through very efficient nutrient cycling. In the rainforest, the nutrient cycling is due to the rapid decomposition of leaf litter. In coral reefs, the nutrient cycling mainly happens in nearby mangroves.

Also, in both the tropical rainforest and coral reefs, there is a wealth of symbiotic relationships that help organisms flourish. For example, we learned about the Pseudomyrmex ants and their relationship with the Bullhorn Acacia. The ants defend the acacia, while the acacia provides shelter, carbohydrates, and protein. While in coral the skeleton provides shelter for Symbodinium, while the algae provide food for the coral.

Quite honestly, I don’t remember what my expectations were for the course as the start of it seems so long ago. From what I can remember, I took this course as an indicator to see if I would like doing reef fieldwork and to see if that’s what I would like to do post-graduation, which I can say I want to. What I didn’t consider was how much I would love doing fieldwork in the Chiquibul. I think my favorite part of the course was diving the fore reef. Being able to swim over and stare into the drop-off was just a surreal experience. I also loved the night hike and the night snorkel; the familiar trails and reefs looked very different in the dark and it was a chance to see a lot of predators out and about. I don’t really think I have a least favorite part of the course, except for running through the Mangroves of Death and getting over 50+ bug bites.

One thing that I learned that still haunts me almost is the fragility of both ecosystems and their vulnerability. Both the tropical rainforest and coral reefs rely on a careful balance, such as the balance of coral and macroalgae, and if that balance is interrupted both ecosystems can collapse. I also did not expect how difficult it would be to perform fieldwork underwater. Despite having to deal with wind, current, and the ever-present fire coral, the hardest part was communication. Yet despite the difficulties, I loved the reef fieldwork. Last but certainly not least, I learned that every day things that I take for granted are commodities not necessities. I ended up missing things like a well paved road or warm shower, things that I had never missed before.

Rainforest Mammals seen in the wild

Alouatta caraya

Ateles geoffroyi

Chiroptera

Dasyprocta leporine (possibly)

Didelphis virginiana

Taprius bairdii (camera trap)

Puma concolor (possibly on camera trap)

 

Herbivorous reef fish

 

Acanthurus bahianus

Acanthurus coeruleus

Aacnthurus chirurgus

Stegastes planifrons

Abudefduf saxatilis

Stegastus fuscus

Stegastus partitus

Sparisoma viride

Stegastes leocostictus