We have wrapped up our Costa Rican field course, and I have to say it was a great experience. Kelsey Emmons and I were teamed up to try and answer some questions out in the field at Las Cruces Biological Field Station. We tried to investigate a potential relationship between Cecropia and anteaters. We fell a little short. More time is needed for this part of the research. On a positive note, we managed to capture some fun critters on the camera traps. One of the coolest animals was the endangered paca hanging out near a stream. The picture we got at the very end of the study is what it made everything worth while. Wait for it…it was an …OCELOT! (drops the mic) Yes I said ocelot. It was the first one that have caught on camera at the station in over a year. Most of our cohort shared the same excitement we did after they heard the news. The other part of our research was to look into relationships of the Cecropia/Azteca and distance to nearest neighboring Cecropia as well as forest types. We found that distance to nearest neighbor was significant when looking a trees with ants compared to trees without ants. We also found distance to nearest neighbor and varying levels of herbivory were significant between certain forest types. The point is that we asked some questions and found some answers within a few short weeks. If that does say success then yeah…you’re a negative nancy. Not only was our research a success but our field course was huge success. Memories and experiences like these will never be forgotten.
