Research Experience For Teachers
Costa Rica - Summer 2002
This just in: I will try and update
this page each week while i am here in Costa Rica - more to come
- 7/6/02
Eleutherodactylus, bransfordii, an elusive leaf litter frog believed to be the most
prevalent species at La Selva Biological Station - there is some
evidence of decline although much is not known about this keystone
species
one way to ID this frog, if you
can find it in the forest, is the red coloration in the thigh,
although there is great variation in adults and one must identify
several characteristic morphological features such as a rough
back, bands on the legs and prominent tubercles on the toes.
on the fly Megacephalis, also in the
genus Eleutherodactylus, looks like Bransfordii until you
see the white specks on the belly
toe pads, shown on Dendrobates, pumilio (Strawberry
Poison Dart Frog) are much smaller on E. bransfordii
Dendrobates pumilio is very common and easy to spot in the leaf litter
- not so with the others
checking our transect line
distance sampling: measure the lateral
distance of the frog local from the transect line - data generated
is entered into a computer to estimate population density
in the thick of it
Super Dave - he works for food
John Loves those plants
the dark and mysterious swamp thing
- Miles out collecting soil samples
more to come soon
Photo Gallery 2: More Critters Photo
Gallery 3: Friends of the forest
Special Thanks: National Science Foundation and Organizacion
para Estudios Tropicales for providing this learning experience.
Writings from the tropics
summer 2001 Costa Rica
summer 2001 pics
Back to CAS Main
