2 September 2014
5:30 AM
My tent-mate’s alarm went off. She woke up immediately and
hurried to the shower… I stayed in.
6:00 AM
My own alarm went off, but I continued snoozing.
6:30 AM
I finally decide to get up, excited by the sounds of the
howler monkeys above.
7:30 AM –
Break Fast –
After getting ready, I head straight for the dinning/kitchen
house. A hardy selection awaited us again today: boiled eggs, potatoes, and
ketchup. Perfect. Just Perfect! I could live off these every meal.
8:00 AM
As expected, we had a quick orientation about the coming
weeks, field work, field protocols, what to do if you encounter a jaguar, how
to do laundry (we have to do our own by hand the old fashioned way) and how to
respect other researchers and peers’ space. It was a good reminder that we are
among a community and we have to pull our own weight.
9:15 AM
We were split up into groups of 2 and sent off to EXPLORE.
Boy, was I excited. Our first day in the JUNGLE! My group went with Ursula, and
we headed straight for adventure. Our official first day in Cocha Cashu begins.
The forest was overwhelming on so many levels. Fantastic
sounds, smells and sights waited our every turn. We stopped after walking
approximately 20 meters to talk about oxbow lakes. Then ADD ( yes “Attention
Deficient Disorder”, as we call it every time we get distracted with something
else) hit our group hard and we turned
to see macaws flying overhead. They were magnificent… Wait, what were we
talking about originally? Right, oxbow lakes – we continued talking about the
pinching off motion of the meandering river during a period of large water flow
and how a new lake like Cocha Cashu was formed! We also talked about how the river
deposits sediments in one side of the shore and how the flooding will collapse
the other side. As a big proponent of
water quality assessment, this portion really interested me. I began thinking a
lot about this effect and how new ecosystems may or may not have formed. How are these water ecosystems different in
function, diversity and quality? After hearing Ursula’s short lecture on this,
I felt convicted to dedicate the rest of my time in Cocha Cashu to this topic. I
love a chance to truly explore the water ecosystems a bit more … maybe explore
the different fish in their habitats (+ their morphologies/ differences &
similarities etc.) Yeah, it’s amazing how one discussion can spark new passions
and research ideas so easily and so quickly. We’re only just a couple of meters
away from our starting point too!
We walked for another few minutes and 50 meters in, we
stopped again to notice our surroundings – namely the thorned/ spiky tree trunks
that hung above our heads. Ursula made things interesting by asking us why we
thought the trees have those big thorns. I think this interactive teaching
technique is the perfect way for us students to learn a new topic – allowing us
to connect the ideas/knowledge that we learned before, and apply it to this new
problem. Everyone responded with their ideas and we all had a piece of the answer
“Protection?... growth?...defense?...” In the end, we found out that the thorns
may be a mechanism for a young tree to make sure it’s protected and that it is
able to save its energy for something else later! When some trees are older,
they actually lose their spikes for purposes unknown. I wish we talked more
about these adaptations… it was pretty interesting. But we had to move on. I’m sure we’ll revisit
these adaptations later in this class!
Another few steps into the rainforest, and our talented
photographers noticed a large spider with bright colors on its back and of
course, we settled in for a mini lesson! We talked about mimicry and how this spider
species may be faking a poisonous coloration (to protect itself from potential
predators) by mimicking the colors often found in poisonous species.
 |
| Our Peruvian TA David Chang standing on a fig tree buttress and pointing at some birds (most likely) f (Photo by U. Valdez) |
One of the main attractions in our expedition today was the different
palms and trees of the forest. We went by many giant tree trunks and
stopped by them all. We talked about how the giant fig trees are
supported by large roots called buttresses! Are these roots
an adaptation of tall trees to shallow and nutrient-poor tropical topsoils? How
about the stilts roots of a tall palm tree, is this a possible adaptation to
conditions found at the Varzea (aka seasonal flooded rainforest)? We also learned that “Ponas” or “Belly palms” (Iriartea sp) have a hollow belly-like enlargement up on the trunks, which can be used as nests by macaws, parrots and nocturnal monkeys!
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| Chocolate (Theobroma) fruit (Photo by U. Valdez) |
Afterwards, we also had a crash course on plant ecology and
different terminologies associated with them. And I find it funny how one
conversation leads to another so quickly and so smoothly – the discussion about
trees quickly turned into Macaw morphology and habits – we talked about their
diets, feeding habits, and even skills. After much discussion, our group has learned
that parrots and macaws’ strong and curved beaks allow them to crack unripe and
hard fruits and nuts. These traits are an advantage because most birds can’t do
this. But also most birds don’t have the means to digest raw or less ripe fruit
without getting very sick. But get this: macaws and other parrots that feed
similarly can eat clay that they found in nearby hills. The salts and minerals
found in the clay allow these birds to break down the secondary compounds
(toxins) found on those unripe fruits so they don’t get sick. I though this was
so cool!
We had another nice discussion about real life. And what was
our topic after walking another 25 meters? A native cocoa tree! (aka the
chocolate tree! ) An authentic one! Theobroma,
which is the genus of this tree, means “Food of the Gods”. We learned that this
species grows in a bunch of trunks and also that the flowers and fruits grow
directly from those main trunks. We also
talked about how Hershey’s chocolate and white chocolate did not actually
contain a high amount of real cocoa seeds– maybe just the oil or cocoa butter –
all not that real chocolate! This was a punch in the face to me! I always
thought eating Hershey’s dark chocolate was fine for me but no, it’s not
actually chocolate. Mind blown + Heart broken!
On our way to the swamps, we saw a couple of cool lizards
camouflaged nicely into its host plant. This was the first reptile species I
have seen all day – maybe they are just really good at hiding… We also saw some
really stellar mushrooms lying on the ground. And we were asked what huge role
they play in the ecosystem, being one of the most abundant species in Cocha
Cashu. Decomposers, naturally! They keep this ecosystem in check. They are also
my favorite foods and I’m happy we’ll be getting to see more very soon.
We finally made it to the fig swamp Ursula had planned for
us – she called it her favorite area in CC and I was excited to see why. I’ll
admit when I first entered the swamp, I was pretty scared! The water was knee
deep at times. I’m just really glad I had brought rain boots because the water
was freaky deep and yucky! I did feel like a real explorer though, tramping
through the mud and avoiding bottomless pits that would cause my boots to stick
into the mud! We had a few problems with falls, lost items, and hilarious
happenings with peers getting stuck in the mud, but overall, it was a pretty
awesome hike!
 |
| UW explorers at the fig swamp (Photo by U. Valdez) |
12:30 –Lunch
-
It was a nice break; we had yummy native tuber (Olluco)
curried rice… of which I needed seconds! Then we had free time to do laundry by
hand. This was my first time doing this and I think I did a mighty fine job!
3:00- 5:30 PM – Exploration with Tim!
Tim truly has a way with words and making our backyard seem
like the coolest place in the world. We looked at Ant Lion traps – which
consists of a sand trap that lures unwary critters in and then collapses its sand
structure, causing the unfortunate visitor to fall into the trap! So cool, Just
like a scene out of Star Wars! We didn’t need to walk out too far from the
station to see monkeys climbing around in the trees and eating fruit. Due to
physiological adaptations monkeys can eat fruits that humans can’t.
What Tim said really struck me: We can find and name all the
trees we see using a field book in Seattle, but not here at Cocha Cashu – no
field book can help us identify easily the +300 different tree species out
here! I liked how we could make so many connections between Washington and Peru
with almost any topic – like the mere dirt that we stood on. Tim also made
connections with the nature of soils: For example, how are Washington’s soils
different from the soils here in the tropics of Peru? Apparently the topsoil of
the tropic forest is much shallower and less nutrient rich than the temperate
forests back home. With more latitudinal comparisons in mind, we began
discussing about the alternative ways that plans had to disperse seeds. In the
temperate regions there are more plants that dispersed seeds/pollen through the
air, and in the tropics we found more plants that use other dispersal agents
such as bees, birds, mammals. I think these are really cool adaptations to the
environments organisms live in!
One of the coolest things that happened today (yeah, I’ve
talked about a lot of cool things already) was when Tim started to aggravate
some sort of Spiting Bugs perched high on the tree next to us. They started to
spew out some kind of liquid. It was gross but pretty awesome. Just seeing the
reaction of everyone in the group was pretty awesome too. Although we didn’t
know how those bugs did that, this is what makes science so cool: seeing these
bugs’ behavior unravel in front of our eyes and wanting to understanding why and
how it happens!
I still can’t believe I am here right now. Cocha Cashu Biological station is just filled
with surprises and I have yet to be bored. The rest of the night was filled
with fun, a delicious dinner, and time chatting about our experiences in just
one day’s time! I am so grateful to have a chance to be here right now and as I
lay here writing in my journal, I can hear the sounds of the jungle lulling me
into sleep… What a day today was! I cannot wait to see what amazing creatures
and discoveries we will unravel tomorrow.
Vy Tran is currently a happy UW junior majoring in Environmental Health and Biology. One day, she hopes to merge her pre-health ambitions with her vision of creating sustainable communities and change in and around her communities. She just had the time of her life in Peru this summer and hopes to share all of her adventures and newfound knowledge with her friends and peers!
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