No more monkeying around

Sampling for arthropods near the outer wall of the ancient city of Gede

After a successful monkey-free sampling round in the forest on the far side of the Gede ruins, we decided to take a more practical approach at re-sampling the site where our traps were under siege a few days ago. After much discussion, our field assistant Simon volunteered to hang out at the site all day yesterday in order to deter any monkey mischief. Our primate friends were in full evidence as we arrived at the site in the morning to put up traps; we also saw a few duikers (who apparently have a strong affinity for soapy water - hence posing a continuing threat to our pan and pitfall traps) running about. We set up our traps to the sounds of Hadada Ibis and the near constant (and seemingly mocking) call of the  Trumpeter Hornbill (check out its mournful if somewhat annoying call here), and then Simon settled in for the day - with provisions for food & water, of course!


Simon preparing to hunker down for the day on monkey patrol!

At the end of the day, our scheme paid off - Simon did indeed have to chase off monkey troupes a few times - but our traps held fast and we got some great data this morning! We travelled to a nearby shamba (farmstead) and set up traps there - the first of three days of farm sampling to round out our comparisons (diversity in the regenerated forest vs. established forest vs. farmland). Back on track, we're busy sorting insects this afternoon - and hoping to take in some Saturday night rugby on tv at a local bar this evening!

Jake hoisting malaise with Stanley at the shamba



Meg helping with set-up at the shamba

Monkey trouble



Malaise downed by monkeys!

Duiker prints by empty pitfall

Today marks the end of our first week of fieldwork this expedition - to commemorate this milestone, we arrived to the field site this morning to find that monkeys apparently enjoyed themselves last night deconstructing our experimental set up! Malaise traps were knocked over, and pitfall and yellow pan traps were flung about - basically undoing our last 24 hours of sampling work. This comes a day after we found some of our pitfalls and pan traps licked clean by what appeared to be a forest duiker (small antelope in the genus Cephalophus) with a taste for soapy water. This morning we collected what we could, and reset traps in a nearby forest site on the other side of the Gede Ruins archealogical site. We're hoping that this round will go smoothly - it's in the same reference forest, but far enough away that it is ruled by a different (and hopefully less mischievous) monkey troupe (which we saw moving through the trees upon our arrival). Tomorrow we'll know if this incident was a one-off - or if we need to get serious about guarding our experimental set-up from marauding monkeys 24/7!

Don't be misled by that innocent look!

(and they can also pretty hazardous to scientific research as well!)

Setbacks in the field - get your Sisyphus on!

Apiary crops up in the forest

A house fit for bees...in the middle of regen plot!/!

Fully underway in the field at week's end - our second day in the regenerated forest we were surprised to see that an entire house was being constructed in one of our experimental plots!  Apparently this is to be an apiary to replace the managed honeybee colonies scattered about in the regen area - but in order to build it, some clearing of native trees planted 20+ years ago occurred. Luckily we were able to find a suitable replacement plot neraby for our diversity sampling - and fieldwork continues...
This sort of thing is unfortunately not too uncommon in conservation work - despite the best efforts of several local groups to establish and study plots such as the restoration area where we're working, there are constant tensions over land use. Furthermore, it seems that the group that decided to clear the area (without consultation of any of the team working on the restoration) could have easily set up the  apiary in a less sensitive area nearby - at best it seems poor communication and coordination were happening here. These types of miscommunications are happening in all conservation realms here on the coast - from the inland dry forest to the marine zone, where poaching continues unabated despite widespread education compaigns aimed at  highlighting the short-sightedness of overfishing/overharvesting for short-term gain in areas where many people's livelihoods depend on sustainable resources. Despite all, good work carries on - the spirit of Sisyphus (the Corinthian king from Greek mythology condemned to roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down - for eternity) is alive and well here on the coast - lots of people working together to tackle complex multi-faceted conservation issues!

Field crew in Gede, undeterred!

Dry season in Gede!

Jake and Simon collecting leaf litter data in restored forest

Back in Gede (Coast Province, Kenya) doing fieldwork in the dry season...I'm here for the next three weeks sampling for arthropod diversity in the Gede Ruins National Monument - a continuation of work started back in May/June of last year, this is a collaborative effort with local ornithologists from the Mwamba Field Station and Bird Observatory and the National Museums of Kenya to assess the recovery of a plot of land (formerly farmland) that was planted with indigenous trees over twenty years ago. Working with me is Jake Asplund, a recent UWT grad (headed to graduate school in the fall) and Simon Mahaga, a student at Moi University in Nairobi. We're conducting fieldowrk by day and analyzing data from our last expedition in the evenings - a comparison of the diversity in the rainy and dry seasons will help us better understand the annual dynamics of arthropods and birds in these coastal forests as well as document the progress of this restoration project. Because forests represent critical wildlife habitat and supply important supplemental resources for many of the Giriama inhabitats of the 50+ villages in the Watamu area, we're keen to understand how quickly and to what extent the restored areas return to normal ecosystem functioning. We'll be spending the next several weeks setting up traps and rough sorting insects here at Mwamba before heading back to Nairobi and the U.S. - more updates to follow!

Syke's monkeys desperate for a drink at Mwamba in the hot dry season!

Sunrise at Mwamba

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

Fieldwork in Gede Ruins

Malaise traps in Gede regeneration plot

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!

Sorting specimens at A Rocha

Narina trogon (related to the famous Resplendent Quetzal of Costa Rica!) captured in mist nets in Gede

Fieldwork in Watamu

Syke's monkey in Watamu

Back in Watamu, Kenya working in a restoration site in nearby Gede Ruins this month! I'm here on the Kenyan coast with two UW Tacoma students, doing fieldwork exploring arthropod and bird diversity in a 2 ha forest restoration site that was planted with indigenous tree species 20 years ago - we're collaborating with local ornithologists and forestry experts to try to determine the link between forest regeneration and biological diversity. To that end, we'll be spending the next few weeks capturing and classifying arthropods and birds in the restoration site and nearby old growth coastal forest - as well as some farmsteads adjacent to the forest. We're particularly interested in the broader impacts of how restoring degraded landscapes can contrbute to ecological services such as pollination and biological control, overall species diversity, and carbon sequestration. Given that many local villagers depend on a variety of forest products for their livelihoods (in a region where the mean monthly income is roughly equivalent to $40USD), this study may have far-reaching implications for the local community. More updates to come as we dig into the fieldwork!

View of Kilimanjaro from plane en route to Watamu