Los Cedros (Jan-Feb 2010)

So……….
Got a little behind on the writing front….
Got back from los cedros and then headed directly to the coast for a week
Somehow sitting in an internet café seemed like it would violate the rules of vacation!!!
Trying to catch up just now

Los cedros was amazing as usual…..it feels a little odd to be getting used to being there
I can actually think and work and not be overwhelmed by the lushness and diversity
Need to be conscious about not losing the sense of awe……

At any rate…….
Waiting for the mules to come down the path and fetch us, I befriended a butterfly that would not leave me alone!


The wonder of the moment was somewhat shattered by the mule trains of lumber that preceded the mules that were to fetch us…….
A good reminder that all is not well in paradise……..


There is a road that we have been watching extend towards the reserve for the last three years……
And it is a good example of the needs of people pitted against the needs of the forest
The folks that live in the pueblito are stoked to have access to the larger town,
But of course there is a cost
Easier access in part means easier exploitation
Much of the wood coming out is ‘cedro’ (Cedrela odorata (Meliaceae)) a beautiful red color,
But they are also starting to cut ‘copal’ (Protium sp (Burseraceae)) a lighter-colored wood that is not as valuable, perhaps indicating that the easily accessible regions are beginning to be a bit cut-over……

Then our mules arrived to transport us up to the magic of the clouds
Easy to forget the troubles of the outside world once there…….
Dozens of species of orchids
Hundreds of species of birds
Monkeys in the trees above the trail……
6 inch long millipedes
waterfalls
tree falls
mind-blowing diversity of moths

as the plants become more familiar, it gets easier to focus
to decipher the tangled swarm of vegetation

and a good thing too, as we had our hands full with things to accomplish……

first though, I spent a day helping the folks form the reserve rebuild the bamboo bridges that had been washed out by high water.
Yet another level of remoteness surmounted by a day playing in the river!


over 500 fungal collections
over 500 insects caught and stashed in alcool
I collected fragrance from more than 175 different flowers, mushrooms, and insects!

Trying to tease apart a mimetic pollination strategy necessitates an interest in everything!
We want to know about the orchids
We want to know about the mushrooms they are mimicking
And we want to know about the flies that visit both!

As far as fragrances, we have pretty well established that the same compounds are made by the orchids and the mushrooms,
what we want to get at is the particular amounts and ratios……
Are the flowers mimicking particular fungi or just taking advantage of a general ‘mushroomy-ness’?
And then I starting working a secret side hypothesis that is that the flowers are also emitting fly pheromones! Hence the fly extracts……

We have also found good populations of some new (to us) Masdevallia populations and ran into a Poroglussum to boot!!!


Poroglossum cf. hoeijeri

Well, if we are studying Dracula, why all the fuss about other species……one might ask?

Well it it turns out that there are a bunch of genera that at one time were included in Masdevallia.
Dracula, Poroglossum, Scaphosepalum, Trisetella and maybe others…….
Recent phylogenetic work has supported the prior morphological clumping and suggests that these other genera are the closest relatives of Dracula.
Dracula however is the only group that has evolved the strange mushroom forms and fragrances.
Therefore, by studying the rate of pollination in these sister taxa, we hope to get a handle on the adaptive nature of fungal mimicry, in a fungal rich background……..

Now if that wasn’t a bit heady,
I have also been trying to wrap my head around Dipteran taxonomy and behaviour…..
Which is to say:
Who are these flies and what are they doing?

So far we seem to be getting different visitors to the different species we are watching, and equally as interesting, the same flies going back and forth between the flowers and nearby mushrooms!

What is it that attracts these things anyways?
By manipulating the display of fragrance and color we are trying to find out what aspect of the signaling motif is most important here.
So far, our methods seem a little crude.
The wonders of interspecies communication seem to outweigh, bagged flowers and colored modeling clay……
think using a chainsaw to cut butter……

That said, what we have learned is that either visual or fragrance cues are sufficient to attract the flies, but in order to actual land, both aspects are required.
A bit like ‘fly psych 303’ as Jesse noted……

In the mean time I am getting a good reminder that ECOLGY IS COMLICATED!
Easy enough to sit in my office in Eugene and devise schemes to tease apart the fabric of life, but when yer actually out in it, feeling the web and weft, tug and pull…….
well…..another thing entirely………..

But that is part of the process, no?
To let our actions inform our understanding and then modify our future actions to gain the understanding we seek……….

Alright, maybe that is enough science for now.

In other news
The screaming flocks of parrots overhead,
Swimming in the river in January!
Salsa dance parties


Water-fights for Carnaval
And a steady stream of tourists and volunteers
Serve to add to the excitement……

On the later note, a group of somewhat new-agey folks
Showed up for a couple of nights…….
Jesse (dreadlocks past his butt!) and I found ourselves in the unusual position of being pegged as ‘squares,’
I mean we ARE scientists afterall……
Discussion of botanical diversity turned to ‘secret life of plants,’ Rudolf Steiner, and spiritual evolution…….
Communing with divas and the like.
A fine discussion to have, but what we laughed about afterwards was the way we were perceived to represent the reductionist mechanistic world view of “SCIENCE.”
And in a somewhat argumentative tone that was entirely lost on us.
A good reminder of the power of stereotypes……

I’ll sign off for now
There will be another post about lounging on the beach, exploring the dry forests of the coast and getting the runs from coconut juice soon!

besos
t

Los Cedros 1 2010

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