February 2012

Long time since I added to this blog but it has been a long year filled with many changes.   These termites in the Rain Forest (2011) tend to do a good job of modulating the temperature in their nest but  quite often I had to stop and check my temp.

All said, it was an amazing year and finished with a fantastic program in the Ecuadorian Rain Forest with a group from a local private school - great sights, science, and fun.   And there is another 3-D quadrat set up at a school in Bangor Maine, one in Boston, MA, one in Waterville Valley NH at the academy,  a couple in Nebraska, and another set in Ecuador.  Though the concept is spreading slowly it is spreading.  Hopefully this year through The Last Environment's travel program we will reestablish 3-D quadrats in the US VI and add them in Costa Rica and Iceland.

Back in the US

Well I made it back from Ecuador in one piece and do not think that I brought any unwelcome guests with me - parasites, etc etc. Ecuador is an amazing place with glaciated volcanoes over 18,000', crystal clear jungle streams, deadly insects, bio diversity almost beyond compare, and wonderful people. As I mentioned previously I was the guest of Giovanni Onore and the Otonga Foundation and worked with them in the Otonga preserve. While i was in Ecuador I visited rain forest, cloud forest, high desert plateaus, glaciers, and some spectacular natural springs. From the images I have posted it is easy to see why Ecuador is such an amazing valuable resource and worth preserving with the Otonga Foundation and others. The most amazing observations I made were how cold it gets in the cloud forest at night (~55oF) but still supports tropical type flora and fauna, and how tough the people of Ecuador are with children traveling hours each way to school as well as doing chores and often working. I met 9 years old shoeshine boys in Quito that worked all morning and attended school all afternoon.

Overall, the rain and cloud forests are must see locations and no one can imagine what diversity exists there without experiencing them first hand.

MondayJanuary25th

Hola todos esta bien in Quito,
It has been a bit of fast travel as I have been to Otongachi, Cotopaxi, Kilatoa, and back to Quito. I rested up today and took time to work on editting photos (about 5 gigd already)and talk with Giovanni. Since I have been at the Otonga FOundation n Quito there have been researchers from the USA , Italy, the UK, Ecuador, and others that have pasted through these doors. Many are entomologists but all interested in saving the rain and cloud forest and the work of the Otonga Foundation. Much of the work here is bot local and global education on practical matters of preservation and a systems understanding of the interaction betwen people, climate, and the environment.

The other good nws is that after a day or two of high altitude lithergy - Quito is about 10,000 feet - I have feel great having climbed to the glacier terminus at Cotopaxzi yesterday - about 15,000 feet. My walk around Quito today was brisk and enjoyable and never felt the altitude.

Tomorrow I may be back in Otongachi or maybe still here in Quito understanding how my efforts can help support this foundation.

My biggest find so far- a flock (4) of Tucans and Capuchian monkeys (eatting passion fruit).

Hasta luego

PS My spanish has improved another dozen or so words and I had the most delicious meal from a street cart today. Basically pork bits, toasted maize, and boiled beans - followed by pan de yucca and cafe americano.

PSS Almost all of the students I meet here walk over an hour each way to school and study until midnight. I have met many,originally from rural areas,that walked 2+ hours to school, each way.

Hola mi amigos,

Today Quito was the sunny kind of day that you hope for but was too much sun and heat after shoveling 10¨of snow th eday before. This morning I went to the Casa de la Cultura to see the Inca exhibit. My host Giovani Onore suggested the best way to start a study of Ecuador was to start with the historical start. I walked through Quito to the museum with a new colleague, world traveler, and excellent photographer from Virgina. After a tour of some of the best Inca artifacts we went to the tourist gifts type shops and then on to a lovely four course lunch for only $3.00. Then back to the fondation to meet a few local guides and plan for the trip to the volcano Cotopaxi, back to Quito and then on to Otonga. I will not be climbing Cotopaxi at almost 20,000´ but just a lowland tour. Maybe even a view of the volcano Chimborazo at 5020 meters. The top of Chimborazo is the furhtest point form the center of the Earth. I am not sure if that includes glacial ice or not? An interesting calculation to do for your location?

Buenos Noches

Zach

January 15, 2010

I am off soon for Ecuador again and the Otonga Foundation cloud forest program about 2 hours west of Quito. I plan to spend about two weeks in Ecuador both in Quito and at the Otonga forest. There is a lot of work to do in the Otonga forest including hanging signs along the property line. The Foundation director, and my host in Ecuador, is Bro. Giovanni Onore, missionary and teacher at the Pontifical University of Quito, the funds collected to date made it possible to establish the Otonga Reserve, approximately 1,500 hectares of forest and all its biological wealth. In this portion of tropical forest, several new species are identified every year. The Otonga forest is quite large, but future acquisitions will enable us to merge it with a larger national park that will become an invaluable oasis for plants and animals.http://www.parks.it/world/EC/riserva.otonga/Epar.html, http://www.otonga.org/

It will be difficult for me to update this blog while I am in Ecuador but I will give it my best efforts. Potentially I will only be able to update once I return. This entire area of Ecuador is a treasure of biodiversity and the information I collect will help me connect information from many other areas. On this trip I am most interested to learn more about climate change effects in this locale as well as the reforestation efforts, especially those of economic value to locals instead of the unsustainable banana plantations. Bro. Giovanni is also a globally recognized entomologist and I look forward to some bug collecting with him. His foundation has helped countless numbers of local Otonga and Amazonian inhabitants and their assistance will be invaluable. Otonga will also be the next location to have a 3d quadrat installed to add to my continued systems look at compelling environments.

The Otonga Foresti s situated in the Province of Cotopaxi, at between 1300 and 2300 metres above sea level, about 100 km to the west of the capital city, Quito and at five km from the village of San Francisco de Las Pampas. It consists of 1500 hectares of primari mountain woodland, natural pastures and areas that have undergone reforestation with species coming from nurseries within the same forest.
Otonga includes an area called Otongachi, very near the village of La Uniòn del Toachi. In Otongachi there are about 20 hectares of piedmont evergreen woodland. The Otonga area has typically an irregular landscape with steep slopes and deeply cut valleys. Otonga lies on the boundary of a larger wooded region where there are areas of private property and a state controlled area called the Reserva Forestal del Rìo Lelia. These forests, including Otonga, cover a surface area of 5000 hectares; this in turn is connected to the Reserva Ecologica Los Ilinizas. The interaction between all these primary woodlands allows Otonga to maintain a high degree of biodiversity, thanks to great size of the whole area. However there are serious threats to the natural equilibrium such as poaching, illegal cutting of timber and mining as the region is rich in mineral resources (including gold). In the last 20 years the extension of the forest has been considerably reduced and Otonga region together with the Reserva Forestal del Rio Lelia and the Reserva ecologica Los Ilinizas have become the last refuge of importance for the fauna and flora of the entire region.
At a altitude of 2000 metres above sea level the mean annual rainfall is around 2500 mm and mean humidity about 90%. The average temperature is around 16 °C. The year is divided into two alternative periods: the rainy season, from December to June and the dry season from July to November. Precipitation is frequent and well distributed throughout the course of the year. The region is generally covered by thick cloud and the mist is a distinctive feature of the rain forest (hence the name bosque nublado. Since this area is near the Equator the days will be 12 hours of light and in the mid 70s degress F. Lots of time to work and lots of time to relax at night.

It will be nice to get out of the cold and snow of Maine for the warmth and humidity of Ecuador but I hope that I do not miss any great ski powder days while I am gone.

I am interested to hear from anyone that has experience with reforestation efforts in this area as well as local climate effects. The best read I have found so far is Amazon Expeditions: My Quest for the Ice-age Equator by Paul Colinvaux. If nothing else it is a good science adventure read.

Honduras

Another 3d quadrat has been placed, this time in San Francisco de la Paz, Olancho Honduras. I placed this 3d quadrat under a Enterolobium cyclocarpum "ear pod tree" which tend to dominate the area. Predominately this area is filled with scrubby vegetation, very dry hard "soil", leaf-cutter ants, with very low humidity dry dusty air. It is also home to some of the poorest, most friendly and generous people I have met.

In the image you can see the ear pod tree and the characteristic ear pod -seed pods on the ground in and around the 3d quadrat.

More on this 3d quadrat adventure later.

April2009

The 3-d quadrat on Humingbird Cay in the Bahamas was successfully revisitied adding new observations and data downlaoded form last year. It was removed from the water late last summer before a hurricane but survived and was reinstalled this March.

The most direct observations was the Montastrea (common star coral) and Porites (finger coral) have not changed much as might be expected with their relatively slow growth rates. But there was an "invasion" of algae not observed last year. The cause is unknown and probably not of any concern. The fun part of observing the same loaction over time is that you start to see things that you either might not been aware of before or over time more things simply happen in that space (time to observe them happening). My favorite observation was that this year there was a pair of juvenile French Angel fish inhabiting the area, and the rays seemed to be more abundant.

Water temperature, air temperature, pH, and density were also measured and very similar to last year's readings. If I get a chance to observe again next year it will be interesting if any short-term trends can be identified.

In the images you can see two rays swimming right by the 3-d quadrat, the yellow algae being gently moved away to take a picture of the star coral, the porites with some white disease growing on it, an Angel fish near the 3-d quadrat, and some tomato-shaped anemones I did not observe last year - but are probably not new.

This project is made possible by Dr George Elmore at Tufts Unvierstiy and Mr Van Bernhard. Thanks also to Forrest for his invaluable assistance.