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| Malaise traps in Gede regeneration plot |
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| Jake and Brenda measuring ground cover characteristics in Gede |
Fieldwork is in full swing here on the Kenyan coast! We have spent this week deploying traps for ground-dwelling and flying insects in several different types of plots established on former farmland inside the Gede Ruins monument. These plots received several different kinds of treatment back in the mid-1990s, including seed enrichment and direct tree planting - and we are now in the process of comparing the arthropod and bird diversity (collaborating with Colin Jackson's ornithology team at A Rocha Kenya). We're also doing some sampling in both old-growth and secondary-growth tropical forest in Gede Ruins to be used as reference sites. This coming week we'll continue to sample in this regeneration plot, sorting insects back at A Rocha in preparation for donating them to colleagues/collaborators at National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi, who are conducting a DNA barcoding project.
The long-rains are definitely here - several impressive downpours during fieldwork this week - alternated with the usual heat and humidity - couldn't be a better time to be sampling for arthropods!
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| Sorting specimens at A Rocha |
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| Narina trogon (related to the famous Resplendent Quetzal of Costa Rica!) captured in mist nets in Gede |
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