Sunday, June 3, 2012

Week's end in Gede


Shamba adjacent to Gede National Monument (forest visible in background)


We've wrapped up another week in the field, and are heading to Nairobi tomorrow to meet with colleagues at the National Museums of Kenya before heading out on an overnight flight to Amsterdam. Our second week of sampling was a great success - we finished arthropod samples in the regeneration plots as well as nearby secondary forest and farmland (shamba) adjacent to the Gede forest. We're looking forward to putting our results together with our colleagues here at the Mwamba Bird Observatory & Field Centre - they are finishing up more bird surveys this coming week, along with more measurements of forest density and growth...together we'll be able to do a nice analysis, comparing levels of biodiversity we've found in the older growth forest with that found in the (newer) regeneration plots - which will help guide plans to restore more degraded land around the Gede Ruins.
Meeting with the mzee before sampling on the shamba
Scarab beetles from the Gede forest