The Beat Method

Today we collected caterpillars a little differently than just looking for them on plants.  We used what is called the “Beat Method”.  We were broken into 4 groups of 3 and were handed a 1 meter square piece of canvas that looked very much like a kite and a large stick.  The object was to place the square underneath Chusquea (Bamboo) and use the provided stick to beat the plant.  It’s pretty simple; the beating caused vegetation, sticks and caterpillars to fall into the canvas.  We then sorted through the material that fell onto the square and collected any caterpillars that fell.  For the morning my group was able to do 15 beats, with an average of 5 caterpillars per beat.  Our largest haul was 16 caterpillars in one beat, not too shabby.  The beat method was much more efficient for collecting caterpillars then just searching different host plants, like we did yesterday. 

With each beat the scientists are able to gather a bunch of different data: number of caterpillars in a 1 meter square plot, species diversity in a square meter and species that depend on Chusquea as a food source. 

 After lunch we needed to process all of the caterpillars we collected.  Much like yesterday everyone took a job and went to work.  My job was to help wash and sanitize all of the containers the caterpillars would live in.  I helped wash nearly a 1,000 little cups, lids, old peanut butter jars, fruit cups and mayo jars.  Pretty much anything with a lid you could use to house a caterpillar in.  Luckily, we washed everything that we needed for the rest of the week.   

 We finished up working about 3:30 and headed down to the town of Cosanga to play a little soccer.  Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and the indoor field was locked.  So, with a little hesitation, we decided to play in the rain (after all it was Dr. Dyer’s birthday).  That hesitation quickly went away and we ended up having a ton of fun and a few of the locals even stopped by to watch us crazy people playing in the rain.  At some point during the soccer game it hit me.  We are in South America, collecting caterpillars in the middle of a cloud forest and playing soccer in the pouring rain. THIS IS AWESOME!

Step 1 – Beat the Bamboo

Step 2 – Sort through the mess

Step 3 – Place caterpillars into thier new home

A few different caterpillars we found

Caterpillar Pupa

Check this guy out!

He’s devouring the Bamboo

Our haul for the day

Into the field

After a filling breakfast of mixed fruit and yogurt we headed into the field to learn how to collect caterpillars.  The two scientists that were in charge, Harold and Lee, started the morning by showing us a few of the different host plants that we would be searching for caterpillars on.  They also showed us a few different things to look for on the leaves of the plants to help narrow down our search. If the middle or edge of a leaf was eaten, that was a good plant to search or if the leaves were rolled up together, that was another good plant to look over. 

Armed with a little knowledge and a lot of confidence we were let loose into the field to gather as many caterpillars as we could.  It was pretty exciting that we finally were able to start looking for the little buggers that we were sent to Ecuador to collect.  It didn’t take long to realize that looking for caterpillars is a lot harder that one might think.  I think part of that was because most of the caterpillars were less than a 1” long and camouflaged.  We also quickly learned that not only do caterpillars like to hide in rolled up leaves, but so spiders. The worst part was (at least if you don’t like spiders) that the spiders would jump on you when we unrolled the leaves. 

For the morning I found 3 caterpillars in 3.5 hours, a little slower than I thought.  I compared it to new volunteers looking for Sweet Clover back home at Lake Forest Open Lands.  It takes a few times out before you are able to pick out the weeds amongst all of the native plants.  All in all, as a group we collected 63 caterpillars for the morning.

We were back at Yanayacu for the afternoon to process all of the caterpillars we harvested.  Each caterpillar needed to be placed into its own container with food, numbered, photographed and placed on the line.  The first caterpillar we documented was the 50,000th for the Biological Station. 

   

Learning a few host plants

My notes… nerd

Score, my first caterpillar.

Rolled up leaf

I guess he wasn’t expecting company

He’s a dandy, too bad I didn’t find it

Processing

50,000th caterpillar

Over the Mountains and through the woods

 The drive from Quito to Yanayacu was amazing.  We drove through the “Valle De Los Chillos” which is east of Quito and was full of all kinds of businesses, mostly construction yards: lumber (which was hardwood from the Rainforest), concrete and bricks.  We saw smoke rising from a few of the kilns that were busy baking new bricks. 

Once we made it through the valley and into the mountains the scenery changed to awesome mountain views and small farms that dotted the mountainous landscape.  From what I could tell, it looked like most of the farmers were growing potatoes as well as other cool season crops.   I was surprised to see how steep the land was that they were farming and that it’s all farmed by hand.    

After about an hour and a half we hit the highest point of the drive, about 12,000 ft in elevation, and what we consider in America ”The Great Divide”.  All of the water on the west side of the Andes Mountains drains to the Pacific Ocean and everything east eventually makes it to the Atlantic.  It’s pretty cool if you think about it, all rivers in this region, east of the divide, are the headwaters to the Amazon River and have about 2,500 – 3,500 miles of mountains and rainforest to meander through before ever hitting the ocean.

The roads on the ride down snaked along the mountain side, switching back and forth.  At this point farms were scarce as the terrain was too steep to grow anything.  I did see cattle grazing in the open areas where the primary forest had been logged.  Otherwise, the mountains were covered in cloud forest habitat.  I had no idea we were driving through cloud forest because there were no clouds in sight. Our guide mentioned it had been sunny the past few days, which is somewhat common for this time of year as it is the dry season.  Typically, the mountains are covered in a blanket of clouds and rain, even during the dry season.  

Eventually, after a stop for food, supplies and a bathroom break, we made it to Yanayacu.  It was great to finally get there.  After all of the forms and waivers I needed to sign – doctor’s appointments and approvals, pills and shots, – saying goodbye to my wife and little boy – traveling for 12 hours by plane and 3.5 hours by bus, I finally made it to my destination – Yanayacu Biological Station and Center for Creative Studies.            

The Biological Station was awesome.  It was nestled on a small hillside right in the middle of the cloud forest.  The accommodations were better then I expected, though my expectations weren’t that high.  I remember telling Earthwatch “the closer to Survivor the better.”  Our dorm rooms were on the second floor and had 4 walls, a roof over our heads and a bed to sleep in.  The porch just outside of the room had an amazing view of the mountains and cloud forest.  I couldn’t have asked for anything better.  The dinning room, which also served as the lecture hall and gathering room was open on three sides and had the same fantastic view as our bedrooms.  The dinning room table was a beautiful homemade 14’ long, 3.5” wide slab of Mahogany that had fallen across a trail at one point.

After a long day of traveling through the Andes Mountains and the excitement of arriving at Yanayacu, the other 11 volunteers and I called it a day soon after dinner.                 

 

When’s the last time you saw this price for gas?

I’ll stick with my garden back home

The whole ride was full of views like this.

And this

The views never got old

The view from my room

This is why it’s called the cloud forest

Yanayacu Biological Station from behind

Yanayacu from the road

Waiting for dinner around the table

 

 

 

Day 4

Just wanted to let you know that everything is going really well and I’m learning a ton! Collected 250 caterpillars today. They are a lot smaller than I thought they would be, about 1/2 inch. The first few days were really nice and sunny but now the clouds and rain have moved in. The forest is beautiful and full of all kinds of interesting things. I’ve been taking tons of pictures to show you when I get back.

The internet is extremly slow and usually doesn’t work, so I’m not going to be able to keep up my blog. I’m not even able to open the website. I have been keeping a journal and will post it online as soon as possible.

See you in a couple of weeks

Day 1

I finally made it to Quito and what a beautiful place it is!
I have a few first impressions of things I didn´t expect… T.G.I. Fridays, Dandelions, an amazing view of the mountains from my hotel room and loss of breath from being at an altitude of 10,000 ft., at least I have a few days to acclimate before we start hiking. I was short of breath just walking around my room last nite.

I´ll meet up with the rest of the team this evening, have dinner and head out to the Yanayacu Biological Station tomorrow morning.  Yanayacu is located in the Napo Province near the town of Cosanga, about 3 to 4 hours via dirt roads from Quito.

While at Yanayacu the other volunteers and myself will have several duties: Search for caterpillars, Collect host plants, Collect Material for lab or computer analyses and Maintain experiments.  The scientists have five primary goals with the data collected from the caterpillars: Document diversity of caterpillars and parasitoids in three species rich ecosystems and moisture gradients (Ecuador, Costa Rica and Arizona), Understand how different caterpillars defenses function against different types of natural enemies, Examine chemical defenses in caterpillars and their host plants, Construct models that predict success of biological control based on caterpillar defenses, and finally examine the effects of climate on caterpillar-parasitiods interactions. 

That´s all I have for now and will try to post again soon after we arrive at the research site with some pictures.

Mike

The view from Hotel Quito

Another view from my hotel room

All About Michael’s Ecuadorian Adventure

Michael Hahn, Restoration Ecologist and Volunteer Coordinator for Lake Forest Open Lands Association will join an Earthwatch research team for an 11 day expedition in Ecuador to help scientists understand climate change through caterpillars. This opportunity was funded by a grant from HSBC North America.

The Climate Change and Caterpillars study will use the Ecuadorian cloud forest to document the diversity of caterpillars and their enemies as well as examine how caterpillars defend themselves against natural enemies. In natural systems, caterpillars are one of the most important regulators of plant species diversity and an important source of food for other animals. The research team will be lead by Dr. Lee Dyer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno and will be headquartered at the Yanayacu Biological Station, Ecuador.