A magnificent tree towers above yet another cow-infested wetland.
Another Wetland
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I have yet to see a wetland that wasn’t directly impacted by cows. If there are any in Guanacaste or another part of the dry forest, it would be interesting to see plant and animal community differences.
Wetland Hacienda Jerico
One of the wetlands sampled during my trip with Rubén.
Azolla microphylla
A floating, aquatic fern, Azolla microphylla is in Palo Verde, but not very common. It seems to like open water habitats, since the only time I’ve seen it here was in open water, and it was very abundant at this lagoon.
Ludwigia
Centipede and Eggs
I found her wrapped around her eggs and eating another centipede, presumably the male.
Millipede
Guayacan over-look
Rubén (España)
| Rubén, an ornithologist from Valencia, Spain, helped me collect Neptunia one day. He’s currently here to characterize dry forest wetlands using a variety of limnological techniques; consequently, I got to travel around with him on my birthday to a few local wetlands – beautiful wetlands at higher elevation, with cooler temperatures and without mosquitoes. Pictures will come.
When we play soccer, Rubén is usually on my team, along with any other gringos at the station, so the contest is Ticos contra El Resto del Mundo (Costa Rica versus the rest of the world). We lost the other day 5 –15. Sad. |
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Guanacaste Tree
A vertical panorama. This tree is enormous, but I couldn’t find a tag from Oscar Rocha and Jim Hemrick’s genetic diversity and seed dispersal studies. I have exact GPS coordinates though… just in case.