Puerto Rico Update #1: First Impressions and First Days

The first thing I noticed after walking off the plane in Puerto Rico was the bilingual airport signs. The second thing was the diversity of people. As a person who seeks out diversity, I immediately felt more at ease. Unfortunately, rest was not to be. I work my way through the airport, feeling my lack of sleep from the night before (I woke up at 5:30am for flight).

After I collected my bag and was ready to leave the airport, I completed my travel declaration, an online form documenting details like purpose of travel, lodging location, vaccination status, etc. It took a while, but once I finished, I was free! I walked out into the hot and humid air where I was promptly picked up by the "Big Grid Boss" (explanation to come).

First thing, groceries were a must. The Big Grid Boss brought me to Ralph's, the grocery store nearest the research station. In the produce section, I saw quite a few viandas (root vegetables) that I wasn't used to seeing outside of international grocery stores in the continental U.S. Since I was tired, I bought groceries for easy-to-cook food. As I'm writing this post, though, I'm thinking about buying some viandas (root vegetables) during the next grocery trip. One of the other interns has ambitions only cook Puerto Rican food while here. I'm not that ambitious, but I am definitely planning to incorporate local ingredients into my cooking.

Anyway, after buying my much needed groceries, it was already 4pm and I hadn't eaten since 6am. However, there was still work to be done! I arrived at my place of lodging, so-called the "Stream House" because of the stream running behind it. Here would my place of abode with 7 other interns for the next three months. At the moment, all but one were out in the field. After putting away my groceries, the other intern and I met up with the Big Grid Boss again to be briefed about the field station, the research plot, and other logistics. She gave a 40-page packet about Tree Census protocol, which we would go over the next day. Time to rest.

First Day Part 1 - Protocol and Information Overload

Starting my first day, I learned about census protocol and the logistics of the Luquillo Experimental Forest Plot, which I previously mentioned in my first Puerto Rico post. In case you missed my last post, the Luquillo Site is a part of the Long-Term Ecological Research Program (LTER), which consists of 28 sites across the U.S. The Luquillo LTER work is done under the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. The Luquillo Site is located in El Yunque National Forest, which is also the only tropical rainforest in the entire U.S. Forest Service! The Forest Service works on the eastern part of El Yunque while we UPR people work on the western part.

I learned that the Luquillo Site is called the "Big Grid" because it consists of...a...big grid (hence the "Big Grid Boss"). The 16x25 grid consists of 400 quadrats (units) that are each 20m x 20m, and each quadrat is further divided into 16 5m x 5m subquads. All this means is, there is a lot of space to cover, and to accomplish this, we break it up into small pieces (each 5m x 5m subquad).

My work specifically, is joining part of a Tree Census that occurs every few years of the Luquillo Site. This census is the first one being done after 2017's Hurricane Maria, which caused significant disturbance in the forest. Things grow quickly in tropical forests, especially when there is an increase in resources, such as a suddenly opened canopy that lets sunlight penetrate the lower levels of the forest. Now that I've worked in a few subquads, I can say there is a definite increase of new trees.

After my eyes glazed over from learning about different procedures for data collecting and mapping, we took a lunch break with a promise for an excursion to the field in the afternoon!

First Day Part 2 - Into the Field!

And off we went! Upon arrival at the El Verde Field Station, we gathered all the required field materials (there was a long list that we went through). We met the unofficial field station mascot, Chaz AKA Morpheo, who enjoys being petted.

Once we have our equipment and Morpheo has received enough attention, we head to the forest. To get to the site, we walked about 15 minutes through the forest. We passed a branch shaped like an arch and a metal bridge on the way. It being the first day, of course the other intern and I had to take pictures of both.

Caption reads: "Not Yet Lost in the Woods." A woman stands surrounded by rainforest. She has her arm wrapped around a white PVC pipe while her hand is holding up her first two fingers like in a peace sign. She is looking directly at the camera and has her tongue slightly sticking out of her mouth while she smiles at the camera. She is wearing a toolbelt around her waist and a backpack on her back. — Not Yet Lost in the Woods

After a fast-paced and muddy walk, we suddenly turned off the path and walked uphill for a few minutes until we hit the Big Grid. We begin by being unable to find the corners of the subquad and ultimately determine that two of the four corner markers are underneath fallen trees. Not to worry! Instead of guesstimating where the corners were, we used the markers from other subquads to help triangulate them.

Then, we began looking at the trees already in the census. We remeasured them and checked they were mapped correctly during the last census. We got through all the old trees in the plots, found and marked a couple dead ones. By that time, it was already time to head out.

Day 2 - The Real Work Begins

The next day, I am able to join everyone else. Since I still do not know more than a couple tree species, I start by mapping the trees. What this means is, for each subquad, I point out to the others where the old trees in the quad should be. In addition, I make sure they are plotted correctly. Once the old trees are finished, the real work begins - plotting the new trees. While others measure trees, wrap tags around them, or jot down information, I draw where the trees are in the grid.

At this point, I begin to realize just how much new growth has happened since 2017 Hurricane Maria. One of our 5m x 5m plots has as many as maybe 15 new trees, outnumbering the 5 or so old trees that existed before! The rest of the group then tell me they've seen as many as 100 new trees in a single plot (I am unsure if that is an exaggeration or not, but maybe I will find out next week)!

In the afternoon, I switch to data input, writing down information given to me about the trees in the area as well as indicating what trees we should look for when they are not easily found. Depending what we do find, a different marking is written in the data sheet. Sometimes, the tree died (D for Dead). Sometimes, it broke and is regrowing at a height shorter than we are to measure (STSTM for Sprout Too Short to Measure). And sometimes, we just cannot find the tree (NF for Not Found).

Caption reads: "Terminal Buds of FAROCC. There is a green stem with two leaves. Between the two leaves are long and thin terminal buds that cross each other in the shape of an X. There is a red arrow pointing to these buds. — Terminal Buds of FAROCC

Both mapping and data input tasks have their own challenges. It's too early to tell what I prefer, and I'll be starting to do the other tasks next week as I learn more tree species. So far, I've learned a few. For convenience, we shorten the species names into 6-letter codes. Three letters from the genus and three from the species.

The species to the left here is FAROCC (Faramea occidentalis). I learned that this small tree has shiny leaves. In addition, the terminal buds (buds located at the tip of the stem) are crossed into an X pattern.

Well, that concludes my first few days in the field. I'm looking forward to learning more trees next week, but first, I have to process everything I've learned about protocol this week! I'll leave you with pictures of other things I saw in my first few days, including: a tiny air plant, some mushrooms, what may be a scorpion, and many more!