GRATEFUL FOR GRADIENTS

By Erin Weisman
(October 2017)

While our Peru adventure allowed us to explore independently, some portion of the trip was spent in the comfortable seat of our bus or boat. It is quite an interesting experience to view your travel out the window as opposed to walking through the woods. Nature walks are a commonality in my home life, they allow me to zoom into the finite details that exist within a natural environment. In contrast, the whizzing of the bus past friendly ferns, forced me to focus on the landscape level differences that makes each of these systems fascinating. I am a strong believer that physical space can affect your mental space. During my month of travel throughout Peru I experienced a large spectrum of emotions, thoughts, and physical feelings that were partially dictated by the environment in which I dwelled.This vast diversity of locations helped me to cultivate new ways of thinking that I have yet to explore.  Each of which had ecological and physical characteristics that were unique to that particular space.

Our true adventure begun once we arrived to the glorious kingdom that is Cocha Cashu Biological Station. Located deep within the the lowland floodplain of the Amazon rainforest. Accessible only by three long days of travel to a select amount of lucky researches. Our class was among the luckiest, for we had the opportunity to live here, in this fantastic forest for ten whole days. At first I was overwhelmed with the sheer abundance of flora, fauna, and fungi that existed in such a dense area. However as time went on I began to build a deeper appreciation for the infinite subtleties that make this place even more magnificent. Touched by few human hands, Cosha Cashu is near pristine. It caters to all of the human senses upon walking into the woods. The forest buzzes constantly with the sounds of all walks of life; birds, insects, monkeys, reptiles, and the faint sound of my own overly excited breath. My favorite golden light peaks through between the many layers of woody vegetation that tower above me.  The trees here are no mere mortals, they tower high and wide above all of the understory vegetation, making my native trees seem small in comparision. Competition for space and light in the rainforest is fierce, forcing plant life to spread out and up immediately to fight for a spot within the forest canopy. In addition to high competition, species must adapt to the nutrient deficient soils and frequent flood regimes. Some compensate for low nutrients with shallow and wide spreading buttress roots that increase nutrient uptake Meanwhile others, such as palm trees utilize prop roots to help stabilize themselves in the event of flooding. Herbaceous plants have adaptations to deal with the immense amounts of precipitation that passes through this area; such as drip tips, thin cuticles and widespread rooting system. Similar to the plant life around me, I too had learned to adapt to the harsh conditions that exist in the amazon. I grew comfortable with the ever present sweat coating on my body and got used to being awakened by loud howler monkeys. I flourished like a blooming flower. I fell in love with the environment, weather, organisms, and all that existed in our humble jungle home.  My time at Cosha Cashu reminded me of my ability to adapt to a gradient of environments and conditions, something that is vital for survival in the amazon and the concrete jungle of Seattle.

Here we see an example of the widespread buttress roots that tropical trees often use to increase nutrient uptake and help with stabilization! 

As  we traveled up and away from the amazon basin, the views out of the window began to change.  What once was large dense foliage,  was now shifting towards smaller, low lying vegetation. Weather conditions are moody up here, it can go from being splendidly sunny to a rip roaring rainstorm in a matter of minutes. Orographic lift provides the condensed, cool air clouds to the high mountain region of the Wayqecha valley, where clouds roll seamlessly in and out of the mountains, paying passage to the forest down below with sufficient rainfall.1 Here at 3,700 m, plant life has adapted to high altitude, moisture and  radiation conditions with thick cuticles, small leaves and drip tips. The soil here is a rich chocolate brown,  littered with large rocks from the surrounding mountains and often covered in a multitude of mosses, lichen and happy fungi that enjoy these ideal moisture conditions. The sweet, thin, cool, air filled my lungs in a way that only mountain air knows how. The chilly climate reminded me of home, reminding me that I truly am home whenever in nature. 

Epiphytes and bromeliads utilize trees for habitat, light, and resources

View of the Kosnipata valley from Wayqecha Biological 
Station as the afternoon clouds roll into the evening. 

Upon returning to Cusco I spent time looking out the window admiring the rocky, mountainous land that exists up in the high andes. This landscape is littered with introduced  Pine and Eucalyptus trees as well as large fallen boulders form the surrounding mountains. As we come back to civilization I notice the increased abundance of farming operations, terracing and agricultural growth all around. It is interesting to think back to our time in Cosha Cashu, where we were the only people for miles, surrounded by nothing but flora, fauna, and fungi, and now there are people everywhere I look. Without experiencing the solitude that existed deep in the jungle, I would not be able to appreciate the presence of other humans.  It is essential to appreciate the beauty of diversity, and value the gradients that make our world today so unique.Life is full of gradients. Gradients of weather conditions. Gradients of population. Gradients of plant life.  Gradients of soil conditions. My time in Peru not only showed me the vast diversity that exists in this beautiful country, but also formed a framework of understanding that everything within our life is built upon diverse gradients.

One of many photos taken out the window of the bus. Here we see the powerful Andean mountains towering over the Urubamba valley. These mountains are around 13,000 feet, however some of the tallest in the Andes can get over 18,000 feet! 

Resources:

1 NOAA's National Weather Service - Glossary, forecast.weather.gov/glossary.php?word=OROGRAPHIC UPLIFT.

2.) “Ecological Succession in Grassland and Tropical Rainforest.” Scribd, Scribd, www.scribd.com/document/310473203/Ecological-Succession-in-Grassland-and-Tropical-Rainforest.

Hello there. My name is Erin Weisman. I am a born wanderer, fascinated by every and anything that traveling entails. This program appealed to my curiosity for mysterious deep amazon and potential for discovery of the unknown. I am a senior this year at the University of Washington, studying Environmental Science and Marine Biology.