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preying mantis on a notebook!

This evening we started our faculty led projects.  Our group is going to work on acacia trees.   Acacia trees often have ant colonies that live in them.   There is a neat mutualism between the ants and the trees.  The trees provide food and shelter for the ants and in turn the ants protect the tree from predators and maybe from competitors too.   Always the ground below the ant acacia trees is clear and free of any other living plants.  There is no data to show that it is the ants keeping the space below the trees free from other plants.   Our experiment will be to plant seedlings under acacia trees in the cleared areas and nearby in uncleared areas.   We have several different sites and will check for seedling survival under the two conditions (with ants and without).    It may be that it isn't ants, but allelopathy (a chemical poison from the tree) that is killing things below the trees.  To test this hypothesis we will be growing seedlings in dirt collected from all of our sites.   

It is a neat experiment and I'm excited for it.   Sarah says that when you fly sometimes it takes a while for your spirit to catch up.  I think that is true because I have felt my enthusiasm for this experience grow and grow over the last few days.   It is a really well designed program and I'm filling up my field notebook faster than ever.  I love being a biologist!

Spending time here with other focused biologists is really neat.   Also I'm enjoying the idea of agroecology.  I keep talking to Katja about what it is - agroecology.   It is what you are if you are a farmer with a ph.d. in ecology.   

Tomorrow will be a long day dodging biting ants and planting little seedlings in the hot dry sun!  It is going to be  a blast.  But not the part about the biting ants!

It is hot and dry at Palo Verde National Park.  Tonight I sat at the dinner table and spoke spanish (or tried my best).  I really enjoy the experience so far.  The schedule is a little intense and there isn't much down time.  I find myself wanting for a little bit of time to process some of what I'm learning.    It is the nature of an OTS course, I guess, to be intense and give time for reflection at the end of the course.   

I'm thinking of doing a project on the foraging behavior of snails in the palo verde wetland.  The wetland is a defining characteristic of the palo verde national park.  It is a 350 ha marsh and supports an amazing diversity of wetland birds.  We've seen spoonbills, jacanas, storks, and lots of others.   During the course we get to do  independent projects.  I think this is a good place to do one because if it doesn't work out there are two other opportunities.  

a howler monkey hanging out in a mango tree