Hello! We just returned from a field trip to yet another amazing National Park called Carara and a boat trip on the Tarcoles River to the delta where it drains into the Nicoya Bay on the Pacific side of the country.
First, the Tarcoles River delta. SFS hired a river tourism boat to take us to our destination. It would stand to reason that tourism in this area would be really successful considering the natural resources. However, because of the massive amounts of pollution, opportunities are actually really limited. Despite the problems, the area is host to an amazing array of wildlife. Amongst the garbage, we saw a variety of birds, crocodiles, and cayman. The river is so polluted because the watershed originates in the densely populated Central Valley region of Costa Rica (this is also where Atenas is located). Only 25% of solid waste in the entirety of CR is disposed of properly in managed landfills. The majority is sent to illegal dumping sites or just tossed out; almost all of this unproperly disposed of waste ends travelling down the watershed to the bay and out to the ocean. During the rainy season, the situation is so bad that the massive garbage dams can cause flooding of municipalities. Costa Rica is still a developing country but many of the citizens have adopted 1st world consumption habits without the infrastructure to support them.
So, the beach on which we had our lecture about the watershed was littered with bottles, tires, dead birds etc. It also had crocodiles, living birds, and crabs scuttling around. Definitely a pretty stark contrast. On a local scale, for the people living here, the land has become almost entirely useless. The fisheries which were once the livelihood of these people are too contaminated to be legal for the market, the area has become undesireable for tourism, and the river can no longer safely be used for irrigation of crops. These facts rule out any kind of commercial investment but the citizens are still stuck living on this land, eating contaminated fish, and watering their gardens from the toxic river.
The effects are felt elsewhere as well. Across the bay, the beaches of the Nicoya Peninsula are often littered with garbage and much of the trash makes it out to sea. The pollution causes red tides, levels of heavy metals are extremely high, and the biodiversity of this area is decreasing.
After the first lecture with Achim, our Natural Resources Management professor, we got back on the boat to go to the mangrove forest for a lecture with Edgardo, professor of Tropical Ecology. We learned about the physiology of the mangrove trees growing in the forests here. I didn't know this but mangroves are not actually a taxonomic family. Instead, the name mangrove refers to species in 16 families which all share the ability to grow in extremely high-saline environments. In a case of convergent evolution, these species have adapted independently of one another. Normally, high saline content is fatal to plant life hence the lifeless salt flats found around the world. However, mangroves are able to either filter out salt, excrete it through their leaves, or send it to aging leaves which are close to dying. These are the three mechanisms by which they are able to survive the high salinity and they are specific to mangroves. I could go on and on about these incredible trees but I'll spare you. I would love to learn more about them and do research on them at some point.
After the lecture it was back to the boat and then off to Parque Nacional Carara by bus for a hike. Carara is where Edgardo has been working on a 'directed research' project with SFS students for a few semesters. Directed research is the portion of the semester at the end when our time is devoted to one of a few ongoing research projects at the center. Edgardo has been working on the effects of anthropogenic noise (i.e. roadnoise in Carara) on bird populations. We hiked in two groups and were able to see some really great wildlife and experience this new forest environment. Every forest I step into here is so unique since there are so many microclimates in this country due to the dramatic topography.
I had my first snake siting on this trip. I'm not sure of the name but he was a non-poisonous snake probably about three meters long which feeds on the fer-de-lance, a highly poisonous variety also found here. With some prompting, Edgardo grabbed him by the tail to show us. We were able to see his defensive mechanisms; he puffed up his head and mouth and excreted a bad smell from his skin. Later, I spotted a pair of Keel Billed Toucans. They were high up in the trees but really neat to look at through binoculars and I managed to get some pictures as well. We saw hundreds of leaf-cutter ants, one of the most fascinating animals I've ever come accross. They actually cultivate a mushroom in their nests as a food source. Using leaves which they gather from trees (they can carry up to 50 x's their weight!), saliva, and feces, they create a substrate on which the funghi grow. Pretty incredible. We also saw lots of termite nests, tons of interesting plants, too many things to name.
Being in these forests is so great especially with Edgardo as guide and teacher. He knows so much about the rain forest and is really excited to share his knowledge. It's funny, I thought I was doing a pretty good job of learning the plant species in north american forests but then I come down here; nearly everything's new and the number of species is amazing. I have to start learning from the beginning again but it's great.
Pictures soon to come!
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