This is essential work as reforesting creates habitat for wildlife and helps increase overall species biodiversity (more trees = more forests = more animals).
During my second week, I was approached by a local Costa Rican University student Daniela, who is writing her thesis on the importance of wildlife and their association and dependence on the Costa Rican oak trees as seed dispersers. She wanted my help setting camera traps (hidden cameras that are triggered by movement to take pictures or videos) in two key spots where an oak tree was dropping acorns. We set the traps up in the hopes of capturing mammal activity and how they interact with the acorns. I let the cameras sit for a week and decided to check them during my third week. So far, we have documented proof that Central American agoutis (Dasyprocta punctata) and Variegated squirrels (Sciurus variegatoides) are eating the acorns. The agoutis are even carrying the acorns off to other locations, and we captured documented proof of agoutis burying the acorns. I will leave the trap cameras out for another week or so to document more evidence. Daniela is excited about our findings thus far and is planning on creating a presentation we will give together at the Institute.
My third and fourth weeks in Costa Rica have been more wildlife centered as I have been setting wildlife camera traps to help catalog the movement of mammals in two wildlife reserves (The Rachel and Dwight Crandell Reserve and La Calandria). The goal is to document what species use these reserves during this time of year. This helps to create a new conservation plan for this reserve and for other reserves as well.
