From the Field: Week Two

The sites are finally set up! After two long weeks of unpredictable rainy season weather and working through the weekend, we finally completed setting up the plots in each of the four forests that we will be monitoring. This means that for the next 6 weeks, I will be treating and recording the growth and death of the tree seedlings in each plot. I am also catching up on logging my field notes into my computer, a calming task that I can accomplish during the afternoon rain.

I also learned about some interesting trees that exist in the forests here, saw some really cool herbivory patterns (from a worm maybe?) and some more leaf cutter ant action! These ants have “highways” running all across the 100m (and probably further) that our plots run near, which was really cool to watch but also made setting up transects a pain (the ants DO NOT like when you interrupt the flow of their highway). I also learned about a fungus that infects coffee and forest plants which is called “ojo de gallo” around here. This fungus is problematic for a lot of coffee farmers here, and I have predictions that it may be causing some damage to some forest species as well (but the data will tell us for sure!).

“la gatorillo” tree, it’s name comes from its spiky trunk

Unique pattern by a worm(?) while the leaf was still furled

I was asked to give a presentation to some visiting students at Las Cruces, which was an awesome opportunity for me to share my research and talk about what it has been like to work on this project so far. I tried coffee grown and roasted locally, from my field assistant himself. He has continued to teach me about all of the things he grows on his family farm and I learned even more about how produce is grown in Costa Rica.

After two long weeks of non-stop field work, I was invited to visit Uvita, a beach town on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, with some friends I met at the station. We spent the weekend at a beautiful hostel and did some local shopping at a craft fair. We had some locally brewed beers and shared some really good food. We also visited Playa Hermosa and Parque Nacional Marino Ballena. The national park was incredible because it has tides coming in from two different sides that create a ‘whale tail’, that we were able to walk across during low tides! I also saw some stingrays in the water and was able to watch some crabs hard at work on the shore. On our way to dinner one night, I saw (and heard) my first howler monkeys here and then hung out with some iguanas near the pool at our hostel. The pool had a slide and you bet I went down it.

Over the last two weeks and on this trip I have made some unforgettable friendships with people from Germany, Netherlands, Canada, U.S. and Costa Rica– which has honestly been my favorite part about this experience so far. I have loved exploring this beautiful country and meeting some amazing people that I have been able to travel with and learn about different cultures from. I am excited to continue making connections, visiting new places, eating good food, and learning about all that Costa Rica has to offer! Check out more photos below!