Tag Archives: Belize

Caracol & Las Cuevas

Today we completed our journey south-west through Cayo and into the Chiquibul rainforest. On our way to our home camp at Las Cuevas Research Station we took an anthropological detour through Mayan ruins. We were guided through the Caracol Archeological site and climbed up and in and down the ruins and tombs. Even though it was mostly overgrown and covered by years of sediment the pyramidal structures still stood and it was easy to image the bustling metropolis it was 2000 years ago. Hearing about the (hypothesized) reasons for its decline was ominous; overpopulation, agricultural collapse, drought… sound familiar?
Even though its citizens are long gone the city is still full of life. Almost everyone found an animal from their taxonomic group—bromeliads, philodendrons, birds, mammals, and a plethora of plants. The highlights included an edible red fruit (you suck on the seeds but don’t eat them, looks like gunk, tastes like papaya), toucans, a coati and a blue crowned mot-mot.
Sadly there were not any amphibians around for me to identify. The area was much too dry to be a suitable habitat. Amphibians require a damp habitat because they experience high evaporative water loss through their skin. Most also require water for reproduction. Caracal was in the forest but it was not dense enough to retain the moisture necessary for most amphibians. Here in the forest surrounding Las Cuevas should be a much more habitable medium and we can expect to see a variety of species in the next few days.

Caracol

Sophia Streeter

5-18

The beginning

Travel was smooth and breezy. It’s amazing to have everything all planned out for you so you don’t have to worry about transportation or lodging or food, I almost feel spoiled. Now I can worry about more important things- like tropical field biology.

We are staying at a beautiful lodge called Crystal Paradise and already have seem a surprising amount of flora and fauna, considering we’re not even in the jungle yet! In terms of amphibians there have been two cane toad sightings. I will try to get some pictures to share with you as we go on. There have been insects, arachnids, a large boa (I get to check that off my Belize wishlist now), and a plethora of trees and flora. The scenery was beautiful driving across the country, but I admit it mostly just looked like a bunch of trees and green stuff to me. I was glad for Sam’s lecture on the rainforest canopy, which was very helpful in starting to separate out the different kinds of plants and their relationship to one another.

Cane Toad

Sophia Streeter

5-17

Pre-departure fugue

The night before a big trip never phases me the way it should. I pack, I sleep, and the next day I find myself somewhere else and just roll with it. I always feel like I lack the appropriate level of enthusiasm (whatever that it), but it beats travel anxiety so I don’t worry about it too much. The enthusiasm returns once I’ve settled in, and all is well. I worry and pick over everything else but travel is like “well, I guess I’ll get there somehow.” Perhaps this is some kind of physiological adaptive response to environmental stressors…

I look forward to returning to Central America in biological pursuits once again. During my 5 week conservation trip in Panama I really only worked with two species– Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata)–so the breadth of my experience is limited (a generous way of putting it). I feel like I’ve barely skimmed the surface of all there is to know tropical field biology. I’ve read all kinds of books and primary literature, looked at pictures and diagrams, even experienced it first-hand in some of my trips abroad but it still feels like I know squat. There is just too much cool stuff!

Speaking of too much stuff, fingers crossed that we don’t encounter anything I don’t have on my taxonomic ID cards. Annelids and hydroid identification is fairly simple, but amphibians are a whole other story. There is clearly one very good way to avoid detection by predators because there are some pretty similar-looking frogs out there. Also I worry that some of my sources may have been a bit dated (2000 isn’t that long ago, right?). I tried to mentally absorb as much information as I could from a bunch of sources in the hope that some of it will be useful. Despite all this I genuinely enjoyed reading about amphibians even though I’ve never had any particular interest in them before. I look forward to developing even more new interests during this trip.

Sophia Streeter

5-16

Day 7: Collecting Camera Traps

Today we spent the day collecting the 12 camera traps that we placed on day 3. We got a much earlier start than we got when we were putting the traps up, which meant that we were able to collect them all before it got dark. We were done at 3:30pm and made it back before dark, unlike last time.

After we got back, we looked through all of the pictures that our cameras had gathered. Unfortunately one of our camera’s battery died soon after we placed it, and seven of our cameras didn’t get any pictures of wildlife (unless you count very tired and dirty humans). As we scrolled through picture after picture of leaves moving and humans crossing the camera, our hopes dwindled. Luckily we were able to catch some animals. Two of our cameras caught what seemed to be the same bird species, and maybe even the same individual. Another camera caught a curassow, which is a very large black bird. But by far our most exciting sights were a tapir, ocelot, and agouti. Knowing that these animals were so close to where we had walked and spent time is almost unreal. It is strange to think about how many animals are roaming the area right by where we are but always just out of sight.

Tree species that I noticed today were the bayleaf palm (Sabal mauritiiformis) and the bay cedar (Guazuma ulmifolia). I also noticed a branch and a seedpod on the ground that were covered in dense brown spines. Each spine was about half an inch long. Based on the resources that I have, my best guess is that the species was Bactris major, but I am not sure that my analysis of the species is correct.

Day 1: Houston to Belize

At 10:30 this morning our adventure began. We met up at Rice before going to Hobby Airport and then flying to Belize City. As we descended into the city, it was already clear that we were entering a different country. The houses here are painted every bright shade imaginable, which makes everything seem more festive and exciting.

The number of trees is amazing. Wherever wasn’t developed was being lost to the forest. We noticed lots of small fires as we traveled from Belize City to San Ignacio. The current theories are that they are for burning trash and for slash-and-burn agriculture. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a better idea of these fires when it is light out in the future.

A stand of bamboo at Crystal Paradise
A stand of bamboo at Crystal Paradise

We saw many species of trees. The most common were palms, which seem to be able to rise above other trees to take full advantage of the light, and Cecropia species, which have large palmate leaves. The leaves look somewhat like hands, with multiple lobes originating from the center. I haven’t seen any algae yet because we haven’t been by water, and I’ll give an update on more trees that we find tomorrow!

The Night Before

After a year and a half of wanting to travel to Belize on this trip, it’s finally almost here. With the past week of frantic packing and last-minute assignment completions, I’ve barely had time to contemplate what it has all been for. Belize will be my first real field experience, and will hopefully start me on the path to becoming a competent field biologist and conservationist.
I’ve visited the true tropics only once, on a family trip to Guatemala in middle school. Perhaps my most unique animal experience comes from that trip: a group of Mexican black howler monkeys hanging feet from our faces, hooting with incredible volume. On this trip, I’m hoping that I’ll get to see this species again, along with as many other species as possible. While I know seeing wild cats is extremely rare, I sincerely hope we can at least catch some with the camera traps that we will be using. A jaguar would be incredible, but any of the other felid species would be amazing to see as well!
I am really looking forward to learning more about how coral reefs function, and I expect that my very limited knowledge will increase greatly in the second week of this trip. I am a little nervous about swimming in fins for such long periods of time (especially since my feet tend to cramp), but I am looking forward to learning how to deal with any sort of mishap in the field!
After getting all my gear, packing tons of bug spray, and doing hours of research, I expect to be tired, dirty, and unbelievably happy on this trip!

It’s finally here!

When I was a sophomore in high school, a friend told me about a summer course at Rice University. Students had the chance to spend two weeks in Belize, hiking, snorkeling, and learning about the tropics. I couldn’t imagine anything that sounded more amazing. At that moment, I knew I needed to go to Rice.

Tomorrow, we will be in Belize. I can’t believe it. This will be my first field research experience, and I am so excited to learn more about tropical ecology! I am doing research in a lab that studies tropical ecology, and my work is currently all data analysis on the computer. I’m looking forward to seeing the other side of my project learning about how all the data I’ve been working with was collected!

I have visited several tropical countries, and I drag my parents hiking wherever we go, so I’m not too nervous about the animals we’ll encounter. I do hope to avoid getting sick, and I’ve gotten quite a few immunizations in the last couple of months. In preparation for the trip, I’ve been doing lots of reading, and I have learned a lot about the incredible diversity of plants and animals that call Belize home. It will be awesome to put faces to all of the names I’ve been reading about. I recently realized how little I know about individual bird species, and on this trip I hope to learn more about the birds of Belize and be able to identify some of them. I know I will learn a lot about the ecology of Belize from this course. Even more than that, however, I hope to learn about ecology research and get a tiny glimpse into the life of a field ecologist.

The Calm Before the Storm: <24 Hours Until Departure!

Hi everyone! Welcome to my very first blog post (disclaimer: I’ve never written a blog before but I’ll do my best) about my soon-to-be tropical field biology adventures in Belize! I, along with thirteen other students and two professors from Rice University, fly out tomorrow (!!!), and I am both excited and nervous.

Oddly enough, a part of both of those emotions come from not quite knowing what to expect. Though I have been speaking with other students who went on the trip last year to try to prepare myself and gain insight on what might be useful to bring/do, I feel like there is no way to completely know what is going to happen these next couple of weeks.

That aside, most of my excitement stems from being able to explore new ecosystems and learning firsthand about a variety of organisms that live in those ecosystems. I hope to learn a lot about the different aspects of the rainforest and the coral reef and be able to identify some species that live in each of them. On the other hand, I am slightly nervous because some of those organisms are definitely not things I would normally prefer to interact with (i.e. spiders and snakes) and because I have no previous experience conducting research in the tropics.

In an attempt to prepare myself for such an adventure, I have been doing some research on my assigned topic (marine debris!) and taxa (echinoderms and beetles!) to prepare for the presentations we will be giving, but I am sure that the actual experience of finding and identifying these species will be quite the learning experience in itself. I have also purchased all of the required equipment (and lots of other things we may or may not need) and practiced with the snorkel gear. Still, I know that despite any and all preparations I could make, there will undoubtedly be surprises once we arrive and are actually immersed in both the rainforest and coral reef.

For right now, my bags are packed, my presentation PowerPoints are finished, and by the time I make my next post, I will be in Belize amongst the rainforest creatures! See you all on the other side! 🙂

~Stephanie

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^Everything is clean at the airport on day 1. 🙂

Pumped for Belize

Tomorrow I will be fulfilling the promise I made to myself a little less than two years ago by going back to Belize. After my first experience in Belize, I am more than excited to return solely for the purpose of studying the country’s biodiversity, especially its coral reefs.

Experience is the greatest teacher and I am prepared to go into this trip with an enthusiastic mindset in order to come away with a greater understanding of the tropics. This lab course is the result of a culmination of many months of preparation and reading. I purposefully chose to take EBIO 213 and Coral Reef Ecosystems this past spring semester, and also chose stony corals and bleaching as my topics for lectures, in order to glean as much as I could this semester.

I have several goals: attract an orchid bee, find an Acropora palmata or Acropora cervicornis, and identify at least seven different species of stony corals correctly. The only thing that makes me nervous is the bugs. I know they are there, just waiting to bite me. That is one of the reasons I love the ocean. No bugs. I am most excited to stay at Glover’s Reef.

My experience in the tropics is minimal I would say. I’ve been to Hawaii, Belize, and the Bahamas. In every location I have sustained numerous, if not catastrophic, amounts of bug bites. This time I am armed with hydrocortisone. The good news is that I love humidity and can adapt fairly easily to hot and muggy conditions.

I am so excited for this trip and I hope to soak up information like a sponge! Get it 😉

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Photo by moi. Jun 9, 2014.

Here is the sea turtle I met from my first visit!

T minus 36 hours

I don’t think that I’ve fully processed the fact that I’ll be in a completely different country and culture in less than 48 hours. Going into this course, I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to explore a region that I have never experienced before. The closest I’ve been to the tropics is Hawaii, which is different from continental tropics because it is so isolated and the land mass cannot support the same level of biodiversity.

I am expecting Belize to have an amazing amount of biodiversity, which makes preparing the taxon identification cards very difficult. All I can hope for is that we’ll spot most of the trees and green algae that I included on the cards! I can’t wait to see what all of my classmates have been learning about for their taxa. I feel like I’ve learned so much from A Natural History of Belize but I’m sure that I’ll learn much more during our stay at Las Cuevas Research Station. I also was able to take a course on coral reefs this spring with Adrienne Correa. I am looking forward to using what I learned during our stay at Glover’s Reef.

One of the things that I am most excited for is staying at the Belize Zoo. It will be interesting staying in the midst of so many animals – and knowing that they’re there! I wonder if I’ll feel more or less surrounded by animals in the zoo than at Las Cuevas…

I have to admit, I am a little nervous about insects and spiders that we aren’t looking for. I should be protected from biting creatures, what with my new field pants, rubber boots, long shirts, and bug spray. I’m still expecting to get bites, but not serious ones.

I can’t wait to be immersed in the forests and reefs of Belize!