We have just completed presenting our Independent projects for Palo
Verde and Professor Mauricio revealed something extraordinary to us afterwards
unintentionally. He was showing us photos from his trap camera at a nearby
artificial watering hole. Each photo presented an animal, air temperature, date
and time of day. What I noticed was that during our study period, was that from
February 24-27 the temperature recorded on the camera by 9am was between 38-40
degrees Celsius, or 100 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that we were all
conducting research in these temperatures! Additionally, we completed our
projects without anyone suffering from heat exhaustion. This is the greatest
success I could ask for to conclude our first half of the field experience.
Bridgett and I
conducted a study of plant-ant interactions and if agricultural development was
influencing the ecology of those interactions at the border. Over three days I
stared at vachellia trees and counted
two common species of ant that were active on the tree, while Bridgett took
measurements of herbivory and fruiting bodies such as beltian bodies, which the
tree supply ants for nutrients, and flowers. I was interested in learning about
how we are unintentionally developing the ecology of forests with our activity
and this study was an excellent point of view from which to explore these
ecological questions.
We discovered that the
ants Pseudomyrmex spinicola were less
active at the rice fields, but trees at both sites had similar levels of
herbivory. There should have been a relationship between ant activity and
herbivory, but the trees were doing fine without good defenders! The edge of a
forest is a very important part of the forest. It is the buffer between
protected conservation areas and human development. However, forest edges are
subject to human interaction with wildlife, damage from abiotic factors like
strong winds, and affects of agrochemicals from neighboring farmland. I believe
our research, as well as others’ support the idea that the border is a fragile
piece of land that deserves to be identified as an important piece of land to
conserve, or as a biological Demilitarized Zone that needs to be identified as
a part of the forest or fragment that is going to be affected on the edge.
It has been a
stressful, difficult week for all of us, and sometimes I was not interested in
being outside all day. I have had very little experience in this kind of work,
perhaps five days worth of field biology research now if we include this last
week, which was three days worth. I have only written two other scientifically
formatted papers so far in college and one of them was for freshman chemistry.
These are my only experiences with using statistics to interpret data and
telling a story of my results. I know after 30 years of writing papers I will
feel more comfortable with it, but today I am grateful to know that I am doing
the best I can with where I am.
I need to give credit
to the structure of this program. I was initially very concerned that I was not
learning language and culture first, but after our first three sites, I think
we will all be grateful to have this break from science in March. I will
enjoying seeing some of my classmates in a different element, an urban social
setting now that we have gotten to know each other here, in Palo Verde and also
in Las Cruces.
Ace Spitzer
University of Northern Colorado
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