224
member hugged a few trees, shot lasers, and collected sediment cores. After a few
hours of measurements, questions, discussions, and laughs, the crew was ready to
begin collecting data.
Now the Rufiji Delta presented us with some interesting challenges. The first, I
mentioned, was that nearly every site we measured had some human impact. This
can create issues when trying to estimate the volume of wood stored in the forest
because from space an intact forest can look a lot like a degraded forest (one with
localized damage) as long as most of the canopy remains. Researchers are working
on improving the detection capabilities to distinguish between these two cases to
help identify early warning signs of degradation. However, at the time we were collecting data, that distinction could not be made. Because some of the trees had been
removed, our normal measurements of the amount of woody mass in the forest
would overestimate what was actually there. With some innovative modifications to
the data collection plan, we “hugged” all the remaining cut stumps in the field plots
in addition to the planned measurements. This allowed us to calculate harvesting
metrics, using the ratio of stumps to intact trees, and helped correct our estimates of
wood volume.
The second challenge was bees - mangrove bees. I cannot say exactly what type
of bees they were, just that they had a much stronger stings than bees in the US. We
were told by the locals to watch out for them. Vigilance was key when walking
through the forest. In order to locate our field sites, a small crew of three members
was sent to find the location with the GPS and flag the path on the way back to the
boat. On one of our scouting trips we walked through an area of downed trees.
While stepping over the fallen trucks, we were swarmed by bees. The scouting crew
instantly ran in all directions, hurdling mangrove roots, pushing away at branches
and swatting bees at the same time. Luckily, we were all wearing bug suits which
kept most of the bees off us. But some stingers still made it through, and left welts
on our bodies for several days. It is for reasons like this that we keep a list of GPS
points for backup field sites. If the bees put in a strong claim for their forest, then we
would find another plot to measure. As a side note, mangrove honey is a great treat
to add to your coffee or tea.
Philippines
There’s hot coffee in my hand and a bit of lagaña (eye boogers) still in my eyes
while waiting for the first flight out in the morning at 6 am. This time I am headed
to the Philippines, my first time in the Pacific Islands. I am part of a research team
that is working alongside Filipino scientists and practitioners to improve the design
of coastal management strategies that deal with changes of coastal habitats. My part
in the project is to map the spatial distribution of the different types of habitats
found on both the aquatic and terrestrial sides of the coastal margins (Fig. 13.9).
It will take four flights for me to get to our first site on the island of Southern
Negros where I will be meeting up with a colleague, J.P. Walsh, from the University
D. Lagomasino
member hugged a few trees, shot lasers, and collected sediment cores. After a few
hours of measurements, questions, discussions, and laughs, the crew was ready to
begin collecting data.
Now the Rufiji Delta presented us with some interesting challenges. The first, I
mentioned, was that nearly every site we measured had some human impact. This
can create issues when trying to estimate the volume of wood stored in the forest
because from space an intact forest can look a lot like a degraded forest (one with
localized damage) as long as most of the canopy remains. Researchers are working
on improving the detection capabilities to distinguish between these two cases to
help identify early warning signs of degradation. However, at the time we were collecting data, that distinction could not be made. Because some of the trees had been
removed, our normal measurements of the amount of woody mass in the forest
would overestimate what was actually there. With some innovative modifications to
the data collection plan, we “hugged” all the remaining cut stumps in the field plots
in addition to the planned measurements. This allowed us to calculate harvesting
metrics, using the ratio of stumps to intact trees, and helped correct our estimates of
wood volume.
The second challenge was bees - mangrove bees. I cannot say exactly what type
of bees they were, just that they had a much stronger stings than bees in the US. We
were told by the locals to watch out for them. Vigilance was key when walking
through the forest. In order to locate our field sites, a small crew of three members
was sent to find the location with the GPS and flag the path on the way back to the
boat. On one of our scouting trips we walked through an area of downed trees.
While stepping over the fallen trucks, we were swarmed by bees. The scouting crew
instantly ran in all directions, hurdling mangrove roots, pushing away at branches
and swatting bees at the same time. Luckily, we were all wearing bug suits which
kept most of the bees off us. But some stingers still made it through, and left welts
on our bodies for several days. It is for reasons like this that we keep a list of GPS
points for backup field sites. If the bees put in a strong claim for their forest, then we
would find another plot to measure. As a side note, mangrove honey is a great treat
to add to your coffee or tea.
Philippines
There’s hot coffee in my hand and a bit of lagaña (eye boogers) still in my eyes
while waiting for the first flight out in the morning at 6 am. This time I am headed
to the Philippines, my first time in the Pacific Islands. I am part of a research team
that is working alongside Filipino scientists and practitioners to improve the design
of coastal management strategies that deal with changes of coastal habitats. My part
in the project is to map the spatial distribution of the different types of habitats
found on both the aquatic and terrestrial sides of the coastal margins (Fig. 13.9).
It will take four flights for me to get to our first site on the island of Southern
Negros where I will be meeting up with a colleague, J.P. Walsh, from the University
D. Lagomasino