2016 is the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club's 125th anniversary! As the Secretary of this organization, I am acutely aware that I am helping continue a legacy started by the club's founders back in 1891. Ever since, the club has been a means for like-minded people to meet, to study and enjoy nature, and to educate others about T&T's natural history. The numerous ways in which we celebrated this occasion are documented in a special issue of our Quarterly Bulletin: http://ttfnc.org/photojournals/2016-3.pdf Kris Sookdeo also produced the video below to show members of the public what the club is all about. |
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Last week I was interviewed by local journalist Shereen Ali about our work on recreational disturbance of T&T's rivers. I think she did a great job at getting the central messages of the research across and raising awareness of the potential impact we can have on aquatic biodiversity (see bottom of post for downloadable pdf of article).
This post originally appeared on my research group's website.
Every year, the El Socorro Centre for Wildlife Conservation design and present an outreach exhibit at a science fair in Point Fortin, near the south-westerly tip of Trinidad. This year the theme was to be the wildlife of Matura, with an emphasis on the freshwater fish, so the Centre’s founder, Ricardo Meade, asked me to assist. I was more than happy to get involved, and while Ricardo and his team had the hard task of constructing tanks and catching fish, I set to work illustrating and researching the various species to compile a set of educational posters and labels to accompany the display. This wasn’t hard as most of the species were those that we commonly come across on our BioTIME surveys. This post originally appeared on my research group's website.
On Sunday 21st September, 166 countries around the world held ‘People’s Climate’ Marches to coincide with the international climate summit in New York City. I am based in Trinidad and Tobago, where I study patterns of biodiversity – including the effect that humans can have on this biodiversity. As one of the greatest threats facing biodiversity is climate change, it is an issue I feel passionately about. So, I was delighted to hear that T&T would also be hosting their very own People’s Climate March on the same day as the events in NYC, London and all over the world. This week Professor Anne Magurran attended the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) in Copenhagen, accompanied by a film that was produced by Steve Smart of the School of Biology to explain what the BioTIME project is all about. The video features some great presenting skills from Dr Iain Matthews, and some rather shaky amateur camera work from me! I think it gives a nice impression of what my fieldwork in Trinidad's Northern Range is really like, and what the project is all about... The BioTIME fieldwork team were asked to feature in promotional film for The University of the West Indies, Faculty of Science and Technology. We were happy to oblige and spent an hour or so in the rain re-enacting collecting a data logger several times over. The results can be seen below (we feature in the first minute of the video). More than just guppies: Arima Valley’s freshwater fauna A report originally published in the TTFNC Quarterly Bulletin, by Amy Deacon and Ryan Mohammed. The picturesque freshwater streams of the Arima valley are internationally famous as the subject of hundreds of scientific papers about guppy behaviour and evolution. However, the Freshwater Group for the 2013 BioBlitz was more interested in the huge variety of species which share the habitat – from larger guppy-eating fish like the sardines (Characins), to the microscopic rock-bound diatoms on which guppies graze. Led by Amy Deacon, Ryan Mohammed and Erin Mangal, a full and enthusiastic team sampled seven sites all the way from Verdant Vale, including Simla, Temple Village and sites within the grounds of the AWNC itself. These sites included some deep pools as well as shallow riffles. Using two-person hand seine nets we recorded a total of six species of fish, including the spectacular zangee (Synbranchus marmoratus) and an unusually large sardine (Astyanax bimaculatus). Fish pots were also used overnight with limited success due to the shallow depth of the river, but nonetheless yielded Trinidad’s two species of teta – ‘normal’, and ‘jumbie’ or ‘doctor’ teta (Hypostomus robini and Ancistrus maracasae). Despite doubling the total of last year’s Tucker valley snapshot, six species is certainly an underestimate of what are actually there. Notable absences included the cichlids, Crenicichla sp. and Andinoacara pulcher. Thanks to help from afar from Odonata expert John Michalski in the form of an illustrated list, we were able to identify several species of dragonflies and damselflies relatively easily – some of the prettiest were spotted at the Simla cement ponds, including the beautiful turquoise Micrathyria atra. Our efforts to sample Odonata extended to capturing some of the aquatic larvae as well, using a surber sampler. This piece of equipment also allowed us to catch and identify the larval stages of mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies and various other bottom-dwelling macroinvertebrates. One crustacean species was confirmed - the manicou crab (Eudaniela garmani) and several aquatic gastropods including Pomacea glauca and Marisa cornuarietis. Back at base camp on Sunday morning, children enjoyed taking part in our ‘colour in the guppy’ competition, and visitors could view fish in the display tanks. There were also some wriggling aquatic invertebrates to look at under the microscope and posters all about some of the streams’ smallest inhabitants - the diatoms. These are tiny photosynthetic creatures encased in intricate glass shells and are normally invisible to the naked eye. However, under the microscope it is possible to admire their beauty and diversity at close range. We identified at least six different species of diatoms in the Arima Valley waterways. Once again, the Freshwater Group have revealed hidden secrets of Trinidad’s streams, opening peoples’ eyes to the weird and wonderful creatures that grow, swim and crawl alongside the fish… This article originally appeared on the BioTIME website. Earlier this year, I was invited to give a lecture at the monthly meeting of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club. This excellent organisation was founded in 1891, and organises weekly hikes and specialist field trips for its members, who encompass a wide range of ages and backgrounds, united by an interest in Trinidad’s abundant and unique natural history. Alongside steel pan, calypso and rum, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most famous exports – and, like carnival, birdlife and leatherback turtles, it is also one its most popular attractions, drawing in many international academics each year. However, despite being one of the most-studied fish in the world, surprisingly it tends to be dismissed as a lowly ‘drain fish’ in its native land, due to its great abundance and ability to survive in less-than-pristine habitats. I was delighted to take the opportunity to speak about our research into the remarkable reproductive ability of the guppy, and how this has allowed it to colonise habitats all over the globe, as well as discussing more generally why this species has been so keenly studied. Many in the audience appeared to be genuinely unaware of how fascinating this seemingly insignificant little fish is, and how important it has been to our knowledge of evolution and ecology, and were extremely interested to hear about it. The level of interest in the topic was confirmed by the deluge of insightful and pertinent questions at the end of the lecture, which touched upon many of the important areas of current research into Trinidad’s most famous fish. I am hopeful that with greater awareness of the importance of this species to science among the inhabitants of Trinidad and Tobago, we will both start to see more Trinidadians joining the international guppy research community, and also notice an increased public awareness of the urgent need for conservation of the guppy’s Northern Range habitat, which faces constant threat from agriculture, pollution and, most worryingly, expanding quarrying operations. During a BioBlitz, scientists, naturalists and volunteers take part in a 24hr period of intense surveying of a particular area with the aim of estimating the number of species present, while educating and enthusing the public about their local biodiversity. One weekend in November 2012, led by Mike Rutherford of the University of the West Indies Zoology museum, we set up a BioBlitz base camp in Trinidad’s Tucker Valley, in the North-West of the island. The valley comprises of a variety of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and volunteers were divided into groups according to their interests and expertise. As well as designing the event logo, I helped organise the Freshwater Group, which included Raj Mahabir, Dawn Phillip and several other scientists and helpers. We began on the Saturday by surveying several sites along the Cuesa river, ranging from small forest streams to the mangrove-dominated estuary area, and recorded every species we came across – from diatoms to spectacled caiman! Many specimens were identifiable to species level in the field, but others were brought back to base camp to be examined more closely with the help of microscopes and a library of taxonomic literature. On Sunday, emphasis shifted from science to outreach, and the base camp was opened to the public, who could watch the scientists at work, and also see a variety of animals in containers and glass tanks. The more adventurous were taken on spotters walks to see the biodiversity first hand! I led a group of 30 adults and children on a river walk to show them that it’s not only fish that live in and around streams and rivers – we found over 40 species, and everyone had a go at using a dip net or surber sampler to catch guppies or sample aquatic invertebrates. In total, we recorded nearly 700 species, and there are now plans to make Trinidad’s BioBlitz an annual event! More details can be found in the local press coverage: |
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