Category Archives: Jeff

The Effects of Tourism on a Poison Dart Frog

March 21, 2015 rchock

For the past 11 weeks we have been participating in a Field Biology Quarter for UCLA. We have planned two projects, travelled to a private section of rainforest in Nicaragua, hiked and collected data daily for three weeks, and came back to UCLA to analyze the data and sum up our projects in two papers. We have learned an immense amount, mostly on how challenging the complete process of carrying out a research study from start to finish can be. We are here now to tell you a little bit about one of our projects, in which we spent hours on end listening for the calls of strawberry poison dart frogs.

Ecotourism is growing in popularity and bringing with it anthropogenic effects to areas previously not exposed to human noises. These noises come from motorboats passing by edges of rainforests, airplanes flying by, and hikers hiking through trails of rainforests. We were interested in studying the species Oophaga pumilio, otherwise known as the strawberry poison dart frog. This frog is very recognizable with its red body and blue legs, while the males also have a very distinguishable call. The males of this species call to advertise their territories and to attract females to mate. We looked into multiple aspects of human interference with the calls in this species.

We conducted two experiments during our time in Nicaragua. In the first, we hypothesized that larger groups of hikers will have more of an effect on the call characteristics of a frog in comparison to small groups. In the second, we hypothesized that frogs residing near to a human settlement will respond differently to hikers passing by than frogs residing farther from human presence.

We found that hiker group size and distance to human settlement did not have a main effect on different aspects of frog calls. This is positive news for the frogs, as the presence of humans walking and talking along trails does not seem to have negative impacts. An aspect that we were not able to study with the calls of the strawberry frogs is the fundamental frequency of call, which has been shown to change in response to urban noise in other species.

Blog, Final Thoughts, Jeff

Memories of the Rain Forest

March 1, 2015 rchock

A week has passed since arriving back in Los Angeles, and my time in the rainforest is nothing more than a memory (one that is constantly reinforced by the analysis of the data we have collected). Since the time I have been back, I have recited my elevator pitch to almost everyone I have spoken to, including during an interview for a graduate school program. I am consistently asked how my time in Nicaragua was, and the most appropriate answer I can think of is “amazing”.

I had so many expectations going into the trip. It was my first time outside of the United States, so I was expecting to be essentially placed into a whole new world. In some cases it did feel like I was in an entirely unfamiliar place, especially during the night hike we took during our first night in Refugio Bartola. It was honestly a little overwhelming in the beginning, but as time progressed, I soon became adjusted to my surroundings. My childhood dream of traveling to the rainforest, something I had long given up on, was realized.

Like I mentioned in my previous blog post, one of the things I did not anticipate fully was the amount of hard work we would be doing. I was so used to the classroom setting that I did not consider that hiking miles through the rainforest is also a very valid teaching tool. That’s not to say that I did not expect to be working hard at all. I was fully prepared for what was thrown at me.

What made this trip so amazing is that I was able to devote my entire being to the experience. Without the distraction of cell phones and computers, there was no excuse not to take an opportunity to see something cool, such as a sloth or a cool insect that was brought back into camp. I knew that I would see a large variety of wildlife, but knowing you would see something and actually seeing it are two very different things. Looking back at my photos, I realize that nothing will ever be as good as actually being there. The excitement of seeing an animal in its natural habitat is something that will always stick with me.

In the future, if I am given the opportunity to travel to a rainforest setting (or anywhere else, to be honest), I would gladly say yes. This first traveling experience showed me that I really do love nature and that I want to experience more of it.

from the field, Jeff, Week 3

One Last Adventure

February 23, 2015 rchock

It has just about reached the three-week mark for the FBQ, and my stay in the field is now coming to an end. My experience here has been an amazing one, and I have learned many things, especially about animals.

One of the most important lessons I learned is that it is very important to balance hard work and fun (not to say that hard work can’t be fun. The two definitely are not mutually exclusive). It is fairly safe to say that I have never worked this hard in my life. Nearly my entire day consisted of doing the same, compartmentalized routine in order to complete my projects. I am so used to my daily activities that it actually feels a bit strange that I am going home in a few days. All of this hard work does have its benefits, such as learning important life skills and learning how to conduct field research. I am so used to what I do everyday that I sometimes feel slightly guilty for not working on something at all times of the day. I have come to realize, however, that it is perfectly fine to relax a little to offset the stress that often results from attempting to create an acceptable, and hopefully more than adequate, product.

Since today was the final day we are at Refugio Bartola, two friends and I decided that it would be exceedingly beneficial to go on one final hike, and we wanted to make it memorable. What we came across definitely can be classified as memorable, because we stumbled across one of the most beautiful series of waterfalls I have ever seen. All of the stress that built up over the past three weeks melted away immediately as we gazed in awe of the majestic scenery. After an hour of silent meditation, I wondered why I hadn’t done anything similar to that before, and I realized that most of my time was spent working. I do not mean to say that all the time in the field was keeping me from sanity, but if I devoted an hour a day to destressing, I feel that my whole being would be reinvigorated and ready for the next day. After experiencing nature the way I did today, I wish that I had more time to indulge my craving for more, but it is time to leave and go back to my normal life, which I must say was going extremely well just prior to leaving.

from the field, Jeff, Week 2

So this is science?

February 12, 2015 rchock

The past few weeks have been a very unique experience. This has been the first time I have ever had to design an experiment from scratch, and to make things more challenging, we have been assigned two projects to do. Even before leaving for Nicaragua, I always had a nervous feeling in my stomach whenever I thought about finding a project to do, and when I finally arrived, the feeling only got stronger. There were so many different animals that we saw, but the ones I found particularly interesting were very difficult to find.

The first of the projects my partner Lindsey and I decided on was the strawberry poison frog. We saw many along the trails, and it is honestly very fun to watch and hold. We wanted to design an experiment involving the capture and release of an individual to examine its stress, but despite seeing many frogs the first few days, we could not for the life of us spot any when we specifically looked for them. We turned our attention to hiker noise, which still proved to be difficult because we have to wait for the frogs call. We have gotten very skilled at recognizing its call. Whenever I hear the frog make its sort of quacking call, I just smile and think to myself, “Yup, that’s my frog!” This has been a test of patience so far, but we are getting some good data!

The second project is a bit more… tedious. We are studying the directionality of leaf cutter ants while they are walking on their trails, and in order to test this we are setting blockades to clear a path, moving an ant into that cleared trail, and watching what direction it moves. The setup is actually very fun. We basically spend ten minutes picking up ants and throwing them over a wall. I have never felt more powerful in my life! The actual experiment is very long and tedious, and involves a lot of yelling at ants to run a certain direction. I never thought I would spend an afternoon throwing and yelling at ants, but this is all in the name of science!

When I think of science, I imagine a man in a lab coat looking through a microscope. This experience has shown me so far that science can actually be a very gritty experience. It takes a little getting used to, but I am now fully engulfed in the routine. The data collection phase is in full swing, and I am excited to see our results when we get there!

from the field, Jeff, Week 1

Battle Scars

February 3, 2015 rchock

Alright, I am finally here! The first few days of my experience in Nicaragua have met my expectations in some regards, and have been different in a few others. One thing that I was very surprised about is that being in another country does not feel as different as I thought it was going to be. This is the first time I have traveled outside of the United States, so I thought it would be like entering some kind of different world. So far, however, I have to think to actually realize that I am outside of California. If it were not for all the monkeys that I have been seeing, everything isn’t too different. My expectations were definitely exceeded by the amount of wildlife I have both seen and heard. I love waking up to the sound of howler monkeys, even though they were a bit frightening at first.

As for some specific experiences that I have had, I’ll start with something positive that really made this trip special. I had a really cool interaction with a howler monkey on February 1^st. The monkey and I had a “conversation” that lasted about five minutes. Other people I was with tried yelling at some howlers in the tree that we were standing by in the attempt to get a response from them, but they kept silent. I thought it would be a good idea to throat sing (it’s a little hard to explain what that is…) at them, and it worked very well! The monkey did not start howling at me, but he made inquisitive hoots at me and responded to different calls that I made. That little interaction was the first time in a long time when I felt like I was truly in nature, and that is something that I will always consider as a great experience.

The bad experience was an injury involving a slippery slope, a very pointy stick, and a clumsy me. I hiked down a trail after a very long afternoon of observing strawberry poison frogs, and since it had recently rained, the slope was extremely muddy and slick. I slid down neck-first into a branch that was recently cut by a knife. The injury was not that bad, but it is a bit annoying. I am fairly certain that this will not affect my project, which involves listening to the calls of strawberry frogs.

All in all, my experience has been amazing so far. The injury was not that bad and will give me stories, and the animals and plants I have seen more than make up for the pain. I am looking forward to finalizing my projects and collecting data!

Jeff, Starting Out

Contemplating Careers: Medical School or Ecology?

January 18, 2015 rchock

Hello! I am Jeff Wood, and I am a fourth year ecology, behavior, and evolution major at UCLA. My main goal for my trip to Nicaragua is very simple. I want to be able to go to nature to be able to explore nature and fulfill my lifelong dream of traveling to a rainforest. I grew up watching people such as Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin on the television and always wanted to do what hey do, but having grown up in Southern California, I never had the opportunity to do so. I did take the occasional trip to national parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite, but I never really was able to experience nature to the level that I wanted to. While in Nicaragua, I hope that I will be able to have some moments where I will just be able to sit by myself and just contemplate about life. I know this may sound a bit cliché, but it is something that I have always wanted to do. I have also never been out of the country before, so this will also be a good opportunity for me to get some much needed traveling experience. My mom is terrified of me going, but if I accomplish this goal and the two others that I am going to describe, I think that she will think that this whole experience will have been worthwhile. However, if I get malaria or something, she will definitely never forgive me, but my stories about having the disease will still be pretty cool!

A second goal that I have been thinking of is that I want to be able to conduct research on something that I am very interested in. There are so many different kinds of plants and animals that live in the rainforest, so I am bound to find something that I am passionate about studying. I do not have a very clear idea of exactly what I want to do research on while I am in Nicaragua, but from what I have researched on my own and learned in classes, I am leaning towards something with hummingbirds. At my family home in Chino Hills, California, my family has recently installed hummingbird feeders that attract many individuals daily. My family and I derive great joy from watching the birds’ interactions, which are mostly aggressive. There are many different species of hummingbirds in Nicaragua, so I am hoping that I will be able to view enough to be able to get some good data.

This trip will also allow me to have a clearer idea of what I want to do with my career. I am currently a premed, and since it is my fourth year I will be applying to medical school very soon. The thing is, my childhood passion for ecology has not diminished at all. This has left me with a bit of a dilemma. There are so many routes that I will be able to take in my career for both of these routes, but the time to officially decide what I am going to do is rapidly approaching. I hope to use this quarter as a way to help me make this extremely important decision. While my parents are set on me becoming a physician, I really want to explore all of my options while I still have the opportunity to do so. The future is very important to me, and I want to do something I know I will enjoy.