We stayed on site to explore the rainforest at La Cusinga. First, we discussed rainforest patterns. Then we talked about interspecies relationships and Life’s Principles before finding an organism to observe.
We broke up into small groups to find organisms. I’m still unsure as to what my organism was, but I spent about 15-20 minutes observing it. (See above.) Was it a fern or moss? It was part of the understory, maybe a foot tall, that grew on a down sloping area. I wondered how water played a role in its location. Also, the closer I got to the actual organism the more I noticed the leaves were actually made of small overlapping leaves. Even the vein was covered with these overlapping leaves. I figured it was to help direct water down to the roots. I had my water bottle so I poured a tiny drop onto the surface with the expectation that it would flow along those leaves down to the ground. To my surprise the water beaded and sat on a leaf. The leaf was a bit waxy and hydrophobic. So, if the design wasn’t for water could it be to maximize the surface area for energy capture from the sun?
We came back together and everyone in the group presented their organism. It was fun to see what caught the attention of my group. No one chose the same thing even though we were in an area about the size of a basketball half court. But, like I mentioned, I was on the down slope and my organism was not found above and some of the organisms on higher ground were not located where I was. So much diversity in such a small area!
We reconvened with the whole group, had a short class, then spent some time individually perfecting our strategies for the organism before coming back into small groups to present. I’m still processing function versus strategy, but it was good to practice.
We had dinner and then a session about coral reefs to prepare us for snorkeling the next day.
There are 6 Operating Conditions for reef-building corals:
Temperature- limited range 23˚C-25˚C or 73˚F-74˚F
Depth- down to 150ft
Light
Salinity
Sedimentation- from mouth of rivers which can clog polyps
Emergence
Some fish we may see are parrotfish, angel fish, trigger fish, damselfish, and butterfly fish. Shapes are distinct, but my drawings are too embarrassing to share.