Fieldwork
SULAWESI, INDONESIA
I have spent 8 months (3 field seasons) over the past couple of years in Soroako, Sulawesi, Indonesia performing fieldwork for my doctoral degree. I loved the experience and have included both a description of the area and my work below.
The Malili Lakes: The Malili Lakes are found in South Sulawesi and are comprised of five major lakes, Matano and Towuti being the largest. Lake Matano is the eighth deepest lake in the world. The system is home to at least 15 endemic species of sailfin silverside fishes of the family Telmatherinidae, and at least 7 of these are found only in Lake Matano. Most other organisms found in the the lakes, such as crabs, plankton. snails and other fishes, are also endemic, making this system ripe for exploration by evolutionary ecologists! Most of my work has been in Lake Matano although I have made several snorkeling ventures into crocodile-infested Towuti. The village of Soroako is situated in a pituresque setting on the south shore of Lake Matano. A nickel mine, operated by Pt. INCO Ltd., is also found near the shores of Matano and is responsible for almost all of the infrastructure in the community. The waters of Matano are currently clear and clean and provide an ideal setting for studying the maintenance of colour diversity in a group of relatively unknown fishes.
Lake Towuti at mid-day
Lake Matano, "The Islands"
Endemic plants, crabs and snails of Lake Matano
Tominanga sp. in Lake Towuti (below) have at least 14 male colour morphs. Like Telmatherina sarasinorum, they are found in both beach and root spawning habitats.
Fieldwork in Lake Matano: Most of my research in the Malili Lakes involves direct observations of the fish in their natural habitat was done by snorkelling. I performed transect counts of male fish at five time intervals each day, in multiple habitats and over both wet and dry seasons. I also performed hundreds of male and female focal follows, the latter using an underwater digital camcorder and the former using plastic paper and a good ol' pencil (Fig.1), all with the help of several wonderful field assistants. These data provide the basis of much of my research which describes reproductive success of male colour morphs in variable lighting environments.
Another large component of my work involved the collection of light and colour data, both of the fish and the background against which they are viewed. I collected irradiance data using a spectrophotometer which provides a measure of the ambient lighting data at the depth where the fish spawn (Fig.2). I also measured the radiance of light reflected off the fish in their natural habitat and the background providing some measure of the colour of the fish under ambient conditions (Fig.3)
Fig.1: Me performing a female follow at South Point, a roots site.
Fig.2: The irradadiance "contraption" hanging off the side of our boat at Petea Island, a roots site.
a) b)
Fig.3: Contraption ("the rack") used to hold the fish and spectrometer while measuring colour under ambient light in the natural habitat: a) taking a measurement in the deeper, roots sites; b) measurement at a beach site.
BOCAS DEL TORO, PANAMA
I spent four months at the Bocas del Toro Marine Station, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama studying the spatial distribution of two closely related species of sea urchin, Echinometra lucunter and E. viridis. I performed a full reciprocal transplant experiment between rocky reef flat habitat and coral reef habitat. This involved the placement and maintenance of wire mesh cages both at the surface (<1.0m depth) and at 10m depth using SCUBA. Cages and controls were inspected daily for three months. The results of the study (which are very preliminary and require replication) suggest that differential predation regimes between the two habitats may be partially responsible for segregation of the adult forms of these species on the reef. Living on Bocas was truly a life-altering experience
ONTARIO, CANADA
Fieldwork for my Masters degree included sampling of many lakes in a large region in Northern Ontario near Kirkland Lake over three field seasons (May to September 1999 to 2001). Travel to the lakes was often via old logging roads in remote areas and there was a lot of camping involved as well (although the Esker Lakes Provincial Park made living in the area oh, so comfortable!). Sampling of sticklebacks was done with standard "G" minnow traps from a canoe
Competition experiment in Rozon Lake, Ontario
Removing sticklebacks from their cages after a one month in situ competition experiment was an arduous task to say the least!
Rozon Lake contains both brook and ninespine sticklebacks, living sympatrically.
Bea lake contains an allopatric population of brook sticklebacks (i.e. no ninespines present).
LIZARD ISLAND, NORTHERN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
I visited Northern Queensland as part of the Tropical Ecology Field Course offered by the Department of Zoology, University of Guelph (instructors Drs. Paul Hebert and James Ballantyne). We spent two weeks at the Lizard Island Research Station and a week in the rainforest at the Warawee Research Station near Atherton. Most of our time on Lizard Island was spent snorkelling and exploring the reef. As part of the coursework I conducted a small experiment examining diffferences in shell-choice between reef and intertidal hermit crabs.
Driving the boat back to the Field Station
Gould's Goanna in front of our cabin at Lizard Island Research Station
My butterfly catching adventure in the rainforset
Lake Eacham
Strangler fig in the rainforest
