We are now wrapping up our third site. I think we are about half-way through the field season? It is hard to tell as we have lost all sense of time and knowledge of the day. We live by our sampling schedule: travel day, plot set-up day, survey day 1, 2, 3, and then a day of final data collection. At the end of those 6 days there is an extra day (“rain days”) in case something has gone wrong and we need another day of data collection. If everything has proceeded according to plan, that last day is (in theory) a day off. So far, we have had no days off and everything has gone according to schedule.
Last week we moved from sea level to the highest elevations that Puerto Rico has to offer (still not that high). Our sites this week are at about 800m and 1200m above sea level. This means that we are working in (almost) cloud forest type habitats, particularly at 1200m where the trees are shorter and there are many epiphytes (bromeliads, mosses, lichens). It is also very rainy (yay!) and much cooler. Today while catching lizards, I wore a rain jacket and wool hat! We’ve now also seen all the species of Anolis on Puerto Rico (there are seven species, some of which are very hard to find).
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