Pirate researching trip

Believe it or not, every day it's better than the last. This is just the USA! 

Today it's 30th March and I am going to write about 26th March and 27th March. All this began as usual: Prof. L. K. told me about a research trip with her fire lab crew and I, obviusly, said YES!

Mike picked me up on Tuesday 26th March (first day) at 0530AM. We picked up Michelle and then Mike drove us to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office near Savannah, Georgia. There we met with Prof. L. K. and other researcher. We were speaking with USFWS crew and then one of them drove us by boat to BlackBeard Island.

BlackBeard Island is a wildlife research station. It was a reservation until 1940, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed its designation to National Wildlife Refuge. Later, in 1972, President Richard Nixon designated 1214ha of BBI as Wilderness area. Even though BBI became very protected, other President orderer (or maybe also Richard Nixon) to build a couple of dams for having a new fishing place. Only two years ago one of these dams was destroyed in order to try to recover the previous ecosystem state. This is a little introduction to BBI, in order to show you how special is the Island and how lucky I was for being allowed to be there.

The Island is called "BlackBeard" because was used many years ago by the pirate BlarckBeard, who supposedly hid there his treasure. Also BBI was used as a yellow fever quarantine spot. If you want to know more about BBI, please: use wikipedia.

We arrived, we leave our stuff in the refuge (very nice building) and started to work. Mike, the Official Safari Guide, drove us (by UTV or mule) into the Island, right to the research places. 

We were in four stations. The job was basically to measure the electric conductivity and the temperature of the water in the top and in the botton of a PVC cylinder, holding datalogers. Also doing maintenance on this logers. We also helped Mike in colecting pine cores (and had a good time guessing about the pine's age).

GPS data from my Garmin:

I will add some other photos as soon as I collect them.

At the end of the first day and also the morning of the second one, we enjoyed probably one of the prettiest places in all the USA. We visited some places in BBI absolutely wildland, incredible. The greatest landscape I've seen since I am here. As we say in Spain: "vale más una imagen, que mil palabras":

That seems taken from Google:

GPS data from my Garmin:

We also had a great dinner cooked by Prof. L. K and played that game about guessing movies and all that stuff (I can't remember de name). There is no doubt: if was a perfect two-day-trip, I enjoyed a lot and learning many things. Also, very important: I did science.

Thank you all guys!

Stuffing weekend

Let me show you why this is being a stuffing weekend. Just follow me!

Four days ago Prof. L. K. told me: "we have some plans for you this weekend. Two friends of mine are going to go to the Everglades and dome some field work for the PhD of one of them. Would you like to go with them?". It's an easy question with an obvious answer: yeah! But I didn't know the perfect that the weekend will going to be...

Last Friday Dr. Fire picked up me from Prof L. K.'s house on the morning, at 0930AM, we picked up Danielle (in a few days Dra. Hatchet, maybe in several days, maybe in any-other-of-these-undefined-time-English-expressions days), we changed the car for a truck (a unconfortable but usefull one) and all of that started. Here we go!

We were going to the Everglades National Park for doing some cuasi-Dra. Hatchet's field work and then to Big Cypress National Preserves for taking some samples of soil from the Dr. Fire's field area. So, we were in Gainesville, FL and we were going to Naples, FL. But we also had to go to Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge for taking some amazing stuff. It is near to seven hundred kilometers.

Dr. Fire drove for many hours to Arthur R. Marshall Loxahactchee National Wildlife Regufe. As you can see in the photo, it was a full american driving time. Really great skills.

During this time I was taught in Florida State's history. Both, Dr. F. and cuasi-Dra. H. are very intelligent people, with a high knowledge about their country, their States of origin and about everything related with their job -I am really impressed with them. Cuasi-Dra. H. told me about spanish settlers in Florida, the conflicts with Seminoles, the development of the present society and lots of other interesting things like agriculture and geology. I think I was listening her four hours -also to Dr. F.- and they were the more learning hours in many time. Obiously all of that was great for my English: I'm very happy with my progress in writing and also in the fluenze of my speaking.

Later we arrived to Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, where Dr. F. let some fire related articles (in the Visitor's Center, where they were ver cozy and king U. S. Wildlife and Fish Service's crew, which were very happy for meeting me -and also me for meeting them). We also take some stuff from there. Just, take a look:

Yes. It is an airboat. We were going to the Everglades, so that's the way you move in Everglades. It is cool, usefull, nice,... It's called "Big blue", because it is big, and it is blue (it make sense, no?). Then Dr. F. drove untill we arrived to our Hotel in Naples. Good one:

The room has a full american equipment: big television, highly-dissolved-by-water-typical-american coffee, microwave, fridge, two telephones, hughe air conditioning system and, of course, a Holy Bible book near a hughe telephone directory in a drawer. Also an ice machine. Amazing.

 After that they drove me to Walmart. Walmart is like the Never-Never-World or something similar. There's all the stuff you need for all the things you're going to do in all your life. Actually I realized that you can live in Walmart. You have EVERYTHING: food, clothes, tools, weapons, fishing items and many other stuff. If it isn't in Walmart, just it doesn't exists. Look at that:

Of course, everything with the american size. Put your eyes on that can of beer:

And sugar, lots of sugar:

In Walmart I was taught in one of the most importants things -sorry, the more important- you can be taught (related to the English language): the word STUFF. Stuff is the Holy Word. You can, sorry, you must use it for everything you need. Stuff are houses, people, cakes, books, cars, emotions,... Stuff is all. Is like God: it's everywhere and knows everythings. Then we took dinner in a very nice place (Cracklin Jacks, were I tried Alligator, of course, fried and some other american food. Very good one, not healthy but tasty) and went to sleep.

Next day, yesterday, we went to the Everglades National Park.

It is a hughe area with a very superficial limestone (one meter to one point two meter deep) and saturated of water. Level of water depends on the seasson. Historicaly this water flowed very slowly (two centimeters per second) through the ocean. Years ago humans found that place a good area for farming (agricultural uses) and built some cannals for drainning water and other stuffs. Cuasi-Dra. H. told me many things hard to write, but very interesting. I ask you to learn about in Wikipedia and also in a book called "The Everglades. An Environmental History". Cannals are related with some phenomena and there are many things to analyze. The main vegetation you can find in Everglades is sawgrass (I think is the genus Cladium) in maybe the eighty per cent of the vegetation areas, some Nymphaea odorata and other weeds. There are some islands with solid soil in the surface where you will find some trees and thousands of mosquitos (the more you breathe, the more you eat), it's close a two per cent of the area.

Here we done cuasi-Dra. H.'s field work. We have some timing problems, but we did it. Even though it was a not much activity work, we finished so tired. Many hours doing science, many hours in a very hard place in therms of meteoroly and other stuff (very high humidity, very high temperatures, alligators,...).

I think it is really necesary to have strong mental skills to do there. Finally we had the better reward: one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen:

 GPS data from my Garmin:

Today we have been in Big Cypress National Preserve, were Dr. F. used to have his field area. We have being taking samples of soil. We also have been in some recently burned (from prescribed fire burns) swamp cypress (Taxodium distichum) areas, also in the U. S. National Park Service Headquarters (good guys), and in many other beautiful-nice-lovely-excelent places, always in a swamp cypress context. It's so late and I'm really tired so, let me show you some photos, and judge for yourself.

Very nice pine forest, mixed with ferns and in the wet seasson with fishes swimming right there.Very different to spanish pine forest. Easier to manage, of course with fire.

 

Nice mix between pine, palmetto, fern and some Bursera simaruba (tourist tree).

GPS data from my Garmin:

I only can say: thank you very much Dr. F and cuasi-Dra. H., for being great people, better scientists and good spanish speakers. I have had a really great, funny, full-learning trip and now I can say that I have two new american friends.

See you soon.

Nice day with Mike!

Hi again guys,

Today has been a really funny day. I have been all the day learning, learning and learning. I've learnt about USA's way-of-live, USA's way-of-thinking and about USA's Forest Service. The more I know about USA, the more I like USA. I think in Europe, we have a wrong idea about american people. I feel here like a King. It's impresive as people treat me. They are the cozier people I've ever met! No doubt: they're great guys.

I've been all the day with Mike. Mike is a Leda's fire labe mate. It is really a great guy, which has made me feel like at home. At the first time I have had some problems for understanding its accent (it's southern one, so hard, like Griegos' one in Spanish language), but in a few minutes all was right. I want to say that it is imposible for me to remember everything we have done, every explaning he has made to me and every curiosity I've seen and learnt. So, I apologize for not being abble to write as well as Mike speaks. I'm really happy with this guy.

Early on the morning we have gone to a Forest Service owned forest (it means public forest, such as C. U. P. ones in Spain) and University of Florida School of Forest Resources & Conservation managed. They use it both for reseraching and experiencing may things. Both, F. S. and UF use it mainly for aplying treatments on the vegetation. It's the Osceola National Forest, and the area is called "Osceola Wildlife Management Area". It sounds great!

They have different plots for different treatments. Mainly they apply "burn only" (prescribed fire), "mow only" (with tractors and mowing machines), "mow + burn" (mixed one), and "control" (no treatment). Some control plots are now "burn only", do you know why? Fire has scaped, hahaha. Florida State is fully plate, so it's earlier to control a prescribed fire than in other States with many mountains, changes in topography. In those ones there are many changes in wind, meteorology, slope,.. and many other things which complicates the execution of a prescribed burning. I have noticed that in "burn only" plots it grows many Serenoa repens (Saw palmetto) and few of other species.

In "mow only" it grows major variety of species (Serenoa repens, some shrubs and some grasses). It may be related to the effects of tractors (thery're heavy and they  compress the soil and remove the sands). Moreover, almost eighty per cent of the vegetation near to the trees isn't mowed, because tractors can't approach to them). There are also some injuries in the bark of the trees.

In "mow + burn" it grows major variety of species than in "burn only" but with less grasses than in "mow only".

As I said before, there are also control plots. These plots have not treatment and they are usefull to determinate how fire and mow (how treatments) manage the ecosystem. So you can compare between unmanaged plots and managed ones. And when we say "unmanaged" not necessarily we are saying "natural", because in Florida fire is part of the ecosystems, and the more effectively we are in fire supression, the more we are "detanuralizing" the ecosystems. So we can find that fire managed plots are the more natural than non managed ones (because non managed may be "fire exluded" ones, and therefore "non naturale" ones).

We have also visited a recently burned area and some other areas burned with different timelags. I've noticed that annual burning areas are greater than others. There is less vegetation and therefore you can better walk into the forest, animals also can better life, and fire is prevented. 

I've forgotten to say that the main fire cause in Florida is lightnings: it's not possible to predict where it will strike but the more area managed (the less fuel avalaible to burn), the less possibilities to ignition.

We have also visited the Forest Service Headquarters in the area. It's great, full of information, full of interesting things, not like in Spain. One of the better things I've realized it's that here there are many information for people, everywhere.

When you're in a public forest, surely you'll find a trail kiosk with some plains, some photos and many information. 

For example, if you're in a recently or frequently burned area (by prescribed fire) you'll find one of those kiosk which will explain why prescribed fire, what are its improvements to the ecosystems, how do they execute and how long are they doing that. It's only an example, but I think you'll understand what I'm trying to say.

Before that we've gone to Austin Carey Memorial Forest. It's another think which makes differences between Spain and USA. Here, every University has at least 2,5acres of forest for both teaching and reseraching. It may not be University owned, but it is always University managed. So many classes are directly in those forest. Austin Carey is the University of Florida's both teaching and researching forest. I love this idea. There are many identified plants everywhere, there are also many trail kiosk plenty of info, and of course, many plots with different experiments.

I have also time for remember one of the better Profesors, Dr. Oliver (University of Valencia). I have seen a sawmill, older one. It still has its saw and its pulley system. Really interesting. Also they was an original american indian's canoa (obviously handmade, and  also using fire in the building process). You should keep in mind that there are many uses for fire (moreover than creating and sustaining ecosystems, it is great for walking, hunting, for animals, for renewing nutrients and much more things).

 Finaly, we have gone to the Prairie a really nice place. So beautiful! There I saw aligators (which are very popular animals here, in Gainesville). There amazing! Also saw many different types of birds. It's hard for me to explain everything I saw in this place, so let me show you some photos:

Just for concluding, one more photo. This one remembers me a John Denver's song called "County roads" (Mike has teached me also in USA roads: there are inter-state ones, county ones, highways,... And then, there's the Highway to Hell):

 GPS data from my Garmin:

Have a good day and see you soon!