Monthly Archives: February 2012

Ghosts of the past appear when walking through the Luquillo forest. Take the cable bridge across the Quebrada Sonadora and hike uphill half a kilometer, and you will soon find the remains of a stout metal fence. It is decaying … Continue reading →

We woke up this morning to the sound of heavy rain and birds calling. A wonderful way to send us off after a month of hard work in the field. Before leaving we spent one last afternoon at the swimming … Continue reading →

The birds here can be very elusive, remaining high in the canopy away from the attentions of curious scientists. Here are images of several island species – you can tell they are shy because their heads are turned away in … Continue reading →

Plants come in more colors than just green. Here is a normal leaf of one of the common understorey fern species in the rainforest. And here is a different leaf of the same species – but this one is red! … Continue reading →

Wounded plants bleed, just like animals do. This is a common defense mechanism in tropical trees – secretion of compounds that either seal a wound or deter further attack. These ‘secondary compounds’ are only necessary in a world with enemies … Continue reading →

In the tropics, forests are home to more than just trees – a large fraction of the total biomass comes from lianas and hemiepiphytes. Lianas are woody vines that originate from the ground, while hemiepiphytes are plants that begin growing … Continue reading →

Ecologists often think of organisms in terms of their niche – the environment and resources used by an organism, or alternatively, the functional role an organism plays. A fish’s niche, for example, could be “underwater habitat”, or “algae consumer”. We … Continue reading →

There are not many dangerous organisms on Puerto Rico – very different from the continental tropics, where it can feel like everything has it in for you. Here is an exhaustive sample of all the unpleasant plants and and animals … Continue reading →

The weekend is coming, so let’s have another post about nightlife in the forest. Last time I focused on vertebrates – this time, arthropods. These organisms have evolved to have hard exoskeletons. There are many fireflies which light up the … Continue reading →

Today we took a holiday – doing fieldwork seven days each week blunts our enthusiasm for the forest. So we made a short journey to Culebra, a small island to the east of Puerto Rico. Culebra is a very dry … Continue reading →