and some things just dont change.
Today is my last day left at La Selva (well, I will be returning to collect my grear in 3 weeks but it is essentially my last day). After all the time that I have spent here, it seems fitting to end with an email that i sent out after my first 2 weeks of prelim sampling out in the swamps and forest:
"...the entire forest in la selva has a grid system: marked posts every 50m along lines at 100m intervals in axis that is 32 degrees off magnetic north. you might (incorrectly) assume that its practically impossible to get lost. until factoring in tree falls, tree falls on posts, sunken posts, posts that have mysteriously disappeared, the INCREDIBLY dense vegetation. I can stand within 5 meters of a 1.5m high post covered in fluorescent orange tape and NOT find it. I have cleverly desinged my research with 40 0.5 ha plots that have been randomly selected by grid location across the different soils in La Selva. in theory, all i have to do to find my sites is find the grid markers that coincide with trails running through la selva, from these markers walk 32 degrees for a certain number of posts, then 122 degrees for another certian number of posts, and BAM! there i am. right at my desired marker. I have a map, i have a compass, how hard can it be? riiiiight....
so, its 7:30 in the morning and my assistant Mauricio and i are standing on Sendero Holdridge-700 next to the 1300 line marker. we're ready to start our morning of sampling in La Selva's largest swamp, 'el swampo.' i am standing behind the steel marker siting where the next marker SHOULD be out in the swamp (we have 3 to go til we hit our plot). as soon as i point the direction to mau, he is off like a gun into the forest, scrambling over trees, through palms. and i realize: "hmmm.... thats strange, when i move away from the steel post, the direction of magnetic north changes by 10 degrees... hmmm... damn." and mauricio is gone. off in the wrong direction. we're off to a FANTASTIC start. after my miss-directing and a few more miss-communications (mau doesnt think that i am capable of finding the markers even with compass, and also thinks he doesnt really need a compass) we find our site. we now need to set up 2 sides of the plot with string. just a 50 by 100m corner, in straight lines between markers. it takes us 2 hours. dont even ask... but navigational challenges aside, it was a fun 'morning' of sampling in the swamp (morning= over 7 hours). i definitely got to see part of the forest most people dont. and it was fun scambling around and sliding through mud. it was also a learning experience for both mau and i. he learned i CAN navigate in the forest without getting too lost, i dont mind mud, and i have an irrational fear that spiders are going to launch into my hair and down my shirt. i learned that he CAN walk for 50 m in a straight line without a compass, knows a crazy amount of inforamtion on plants and birds, and the distance from the ground to his belly button is exactly one meter. exactly.
and upon returning to the lab, my pants were muddy up past my thighs and i somehow got mud INSIDE my boots. hmmmmm. so first thing i did after emptying out my boots was shower and laundry. apparently i decided to wash my compass as well. and put it through the drier. it still works though, so that is good. you can put a compass through the wash, right? and i must have had fun because i have spiny palm stratches, tons of bruises--i thought they were mud in my dimly lit shower "damn mud is awful hard to wash off..and it hurts too...hmmm..."-- AND some bug got into my pants and shirt and bit me. i have a sneaking suspicion its the chiggers. i'll be spending the next 2 weeks trying not to inappropriately scratch myself. but i really really did have fun. besides, you never REALLY have fun unless you end up hurt (at least a little).
besos,
erin"
surprisingly, after 7 months things havent changed much. i did manage to do almost a whole 60 sites in oldgrowth forest. and have been down just about every gridline in la selva. have IDed all the cylanth species in La Selva. am about 80% on the aroids. but i still occasionally get lost. i still get mud inside my boots, and still have no idea how. mauricio still likes to throw sticks at the snakes. especially the very large and very venemous ones. and mauricio still takes care of me in the forest, or tries to because i wont let anyone take care of me.
its been quite an experience. i am wondering how my next trip down in 3 1/2 months will compare. i'm returning to do 2 additional studies to round out my dataset. we'll be adding surveys in secondary forest and a comparison of growth forms across environmental gradients. it is great having my professor back down because his enthusiasm is quite infectious. we have a huge amount of data to analyze before then, but it ought to be really fun to look at.
OK, i am off to enjoy my last rainy hour at la selva.
besitos amores
"...the entire forest in la selva has a grid system: marked posts every 50m along lines at 100m intervals in axis that is 32 degrees off magnetic north. you might (incorrectly) assume that its practically impossible to get lost. until factoring in tree falls, tree falls on posts, sunken posts, posts that have mysteriously disappeared, the INCREDIBLY dense vegetation. I can stand within 5 meters of a 1.5m high post covered in fluorescent orange tape and NOT find it. I have cleverly desinged my research with 40 0.5 ha plots that have been randomly selected by grid location across the different soils in La Selva. in theory, all i have to do to find my sites is find the grid markers that coincide with trails running through la selva, from these markers walk 32 degrees for a certain number of posts, then 122 degrees for another certian number of posts, and BAM! there i am. right at my desired marker. I have a map, i have a compass, how hard can it be? riiiiight....
so, its 7:30 in the morning and my assistant Mauricio and i are standing on Sendero Holdridge-700 next to the 1300 line marker. we're ready to start our morning of sampling in La Selva's largest swamp, 'el swampo.' i am standing behind the steel marker siting where the next marker SHOULD be out in the swamp (we have 3 to go til we hit our plot). as soon as i point the direction to mau, he is off like a gun into the forest, scrambling over trees, through palms. and i realize: "hmmm.... thats strange, when i move away from the steel post, the direction of magnetic north changes by 10 degrees... hmmm... damn." and mauricio is gone. off in the wrong direction. we're off to a FANTASTIC start. after my miss-directing and a few more miss-communications (mau doesnt think that i am capable of finding the markers even with compass, and also thinks he doesnt really need a compass) we find our site. we now need to set up 2 sides of the plot with string. just a 50 by 100m corner, in straight lines between markers. it takes us 2 hours. dont even ask... but navigational challenges aside, it was a fun 'morning' of sampling in the swamp (morning= over 7 hours). i definitely got to see part of the forest most people dont. and it was fun scambling around and sliding through mud. it was also a learning experience for both mau and i. he learned i CAN navigate in the forest without getting too lost, i dont mind mud, and i have an irrational fear that spiders are going to launch into my hair and down my shirt. i learned that he CAN walk for 50 m in a straight line without a compass, knows a crazy amount of inforamtion on plants and birds, and the distance from the ground to his belly button is exactly one meter. exactly.
and upon returning to the lab, my pants were muddy up past my thighs and i somehow got mud INSIDE my boots. hmmmmm. so first thing i did after emptying out my boots was shower and laundry. apparently i decided to wash my compass as well. and put it through the drier. it still works though, so that is good. you can put a compass through the wash, right? and i must have had fun because i have spiny palm stratches, tons of bruises--i thought they were mud in my dimly lit shower "damn mud is awful hard to wash off..and it hurts too...hmmm..."-- AND some bug got into my pants and shirt and bit me. i have a sneaking suspicion its the chiggers. i'll be spending the next 2 weeks trying not to inappropriately scratch myself. but i really really did have fun. besides, you never REALLY have fun unless you end up hurt (at least a little).
besos,
erin"
surprisingly, after 7 months things havent changed much. i did manage to do almost a whole 60 sites in oldgrowth forest. and have been down just about every gridline in la selva. have IDed all the cylanth species in La Selva. am about 80% on the aroids. but i still occasionally get lost. i still get mud inside my boots, and still have no idea how. mauricio still likes to throw sticks at the snakes. especially the very large and very venemous ones. and mauricio still takes care of me in the forest, or tries to because i wont let anyone take care of me.
its been quite an experience. i am wondering how my next trip down in 3 1/2 months will compare. i'm returning to do 2 additional studies to round out my dataset. we'll be adding surveys in secondary forest and a comparison of growth forms across environmental gradients. it is great having my professor back down because his enthusiasm is quite infectious. we have a huge amount of data to analyze before then, but it ought to be really fun to look at.
OK, i am off to enjoy my last rainy hour at la selva.
besitos amores
posted by erin at 2:46 PM
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