NEOTROPICAL RAINFOREST FIELD ECOLOGY COURSE

Transcription

1 ITINERARY & PRIMER: NEOTROPICAL RAINFOREST FIELD ECOLOGY COURSE by Marc G. M. van Roosmalen This course is a personalized introduction to the Amazon rainforest realm that will be offered by David and Marc while we are following some of the footsteps of the great naturalists of the 19th century on the path of evolution (e.g., Von Humboldt, Wallace, Spix, Martius, Bates and Spruce). Through the study of the intricate web of plant-animal relations in the dynamics of pristine, over more than 70 million years evolved ancient forest and testing Alfred Wallace's river barrier hypothesis, we will unveil the long standing academic question why the Amazon harbors the by far highest biodiversity of all terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, we have to look up-close at the continent's geomorphology going back in time at least to the Miocene. Which major vicariant events have taken place and what role the over one thousand major tributaries of

2 the Amazon proper have played and still play, together with their floodplains, in the genetic isolation of plant and animal populations, radiation of species and speciation. This is best demonstrated through the distribution of extant primates (i.e., Neotropical monkeys) which, at least in non-volant mammals, strongly supports the phylogenetic species concept. On our boat voyage through part of the Rio Negro Basin we will further look into each exclusive all- Amazonian phenomenon and issues such as the different types of water, the annual tide, the major floodplain and terra firme (never inundating) forest types linked to water type and soil conditions, their phyto-sociological composition, physiognomy, phyto-chemistry, animal guilds, ecological niches, seed dispersal syndromes, seed/seedling predation, co-evolution, and seasonal lateral migration of the entire frugivorous community from nearby terra firme (upland) hinterland into the black- and clear-water floodplain called igapo to feed on its bounty of fruits during the peak of the flood season (in the Rio Negro Basin taking place in the period June- August). At the end of the course we will discuss in what ways the Amazon rainforest could best be preserved and, if successful, be used to effectively combat global climate change. COURSE TEXT Kricher, J A Neotropical Companion, 2 nd ed., Princeton University Press. PREPARATORY READING BATES, H.W & The Naturalist on the River Amazons. John Murray, Albemarle Street, London. VAN ROOSMALEN, M.G.M Barefoot through the Amazon: On the Path of Evolution Chapter 3: Coevolution and Plant-Animal Relationships in Neotropical Rain Forest (PDF); Chapter 4: Geology, Geo- Morphology, and Hydrology of the Amazon Basin; Chapter 5: In the Footsteps of the Great Naturalists of the 19 th Century; Chapter 7: How to Save the Amazon WALLACE, A.R On the Monkeys of the Amazon. Proc. Zool. Soc. London. 1852: p WALLACE, A.R A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro. London: Macmillan WALLACE, A.R The Geographical Distribution of Animals. Vol. I. London: Macmillan.

3 Praia Grande ITINERARY Figure 1. Map indicating the main riverine barriers in the Amazon - blue rivers divide primate distributions up to the generic level; brown rivers divide primates up to species level. Our boat itinerary is marked purple taking us

4 from Manaus (day 1 - meeting of the waters via Lago Janauarí to Praia Grande where the Anavilhanas Archipel starts), via Novo Airão, Carvoeiro (opposite mouth of clear-water Rio Branco), Barcelos (opposite black-water Rio Aracá) to the clear-water Padauarí River. Depending on time and water level, on the way back we may enter the mouth of the Rio Aracá, and then that of the clear-water Rio Branco. This way we will sail rivers of all the major water types and hike on land/water in the following major habitat types: terra firme primary rainforest, blackwater and clear-water seasonally inundated (igapó) floodplain forest, open and closed canopy caatinga-do-rio- Negro (a type of highly impoverished wet savannah and thin savannah forest that occurs nowhere else than in the middle and upper Rio Negro Basin), and white-water seasonally inundated floodplain forest called várzea at Lago Janauarí opposite the city of Manaus and close to the meeting of the waters. Figure 2. Google images together mapping the entire summer 2012 jungletrip sailing the black-water Rio Negro from Manaus up to the poorly known clear-water Rio PadauarÍ that drains the table-mountain/tepuí Serra do Aracá. Way upriver the Padauarí are still rather authentic Yanomami Indians living from hunting spider monkeys (of a still to describe taxon I provisorily named Ateles yanomamuensis in the Ateles belzebuth Clade), black bearded sakis Chiropotes chiropotes, and black-headed red-backed black uakaris (Cacajao melanocephalus ayresi that was recently described as a new taxon by a former student of MvR - Philippe Boubli).

5 Figure 3. Distribution of Amazonian spider monkeys genus Ateles. Figure 4. Distribution of Amazonian uakaris genus Cacajao.

6 Figure 5. Distribution of Amazonian saki monkeys genus Pithecia. Figure 6. Distribution of Amazonian bearded saki monkeys genus Chiropotes.

7 Figure 7. Distribution of Amazonian squirrel monkeys genus Saimiri. Figure 8. Distribution of Amazonian Calltrichidae - tamarin monkeys genus Saguinus.

8 Figure 9. Distribution of Amazonian titi monkeys genus Callicebus.

9 Please see separate handout for details about arrival in Manaus and transfer to the boat DAY 1: After embarking at Manaus-Moderna port on the riverboat Queiroz Souz, our captain Antonio Queiroz takes us to the meeting of the waters opposite Manaus at the confluence of the black-water Rio Negro and white-water Rio Solimões (as the Amazon is called upstream from Manaus); then we will visit Lago Janauarí, a lake located opposite the city of Manaus where the várzeas (nutrient-rich white-water floodplain forest) of the Amazon River mix in with the igapós (poor-nutrient black-water inundated floodplain forest) of the Rio Negro; early August both rivers should still be rather full; if so, we will sail a short-cut (furo) that connects Lago Janauari with the south bank of the Rio Negro somewhat upstream good for birding in the afternoon spotting wildlife from the top deck; then, on the Rio Negro again, we will continue the trip upriver; late afternoon we will reach Praia Grande; we dock along a large stretch of never inundating white-sand beach fringed with fruiting cashew trees; if there is time enough left we conduct a fruit survey along the waterline picking up a variety of stranded fruits and seeds that we will try to identify later on the boat; if you like you can have a refreshing swim (watch out for stingray that forage in shallow waters); with some luck you will swim next to a few river dolphins that like your company the tucuxí (Sotalia fluviatilis) or the pink river dolphin boto-cor-de-rosa (Inia geoffrensis); watching a stunningly beautiful typical Rio Negro sunset we then have dinner with beer and caipirinha (a Brazilian-style daikiri made of sugarcane rum/ cachaça mixed with lemon, sugar and ice). Depending on the height of the Rio Negro waters, we sail up river at night.

10 DAY 2: Sailing upriver all-day long we will pass the little town of Novo Airão on the south bank and not less than one-thousand islands covered by black-water flooded forest (igapó) that make Anavilhanas the largest freshwater archipelago in the world. If flooding allows, we will make some canoe trips paddling a while in the speedboat(s) through the igapó to spot squirrel monkeys, howling monkeys and all sorts of birds that this time of the year feast on a bounty of ripe fruits that are available only during the very peak of the flood season. To break the voyage, we will stop at some small communities of caboclos or ribeirinhos, that live on both banks of the Rio Negro, to give you an idea how these people made (and sometimes still make) a sustainable living of natural resources, and interview them about the local fauna which monkeys are out there, which other mammals, birds, terrapin freshwater turtles, big cats, et cetera.

11 DAY 3: Sailing another day passing along more than a thousand islands covered with igapó forest we may reach the village of Carvoeiro built in colonial times as an outpost sitting on the south bank of the Rio Negro opposite the mouth of the clear-water Rio Branco. After a hike through the village we may have time to enter the mouth of the clear-water Rio Branco and sail a bit upriver. There, we might decide to stay overnight as sailing from now on is dangerous because of the many rocky islands and outcroppings in the middle of the river. DAY 4: If some sandy and rock islands arise we can look for Eupera mollusks and some species of shell fish that occur abundantly in this more nutrient-rich clear-water environment. Also, we can look into the riverbank forest that is higher and much more productive than igapós along black water, being fringed with munguba (Pseudobombax munguba) cotton trees, Cecropia peltata trees and some scattered giant kapok trees (Ceiba pentandra sumauma ), some of them being also typical components of várzea (seasonally white-water flooded forest). This is linked to a similar ph = 7-8 of the waters of clearwater and white-water rivers in the Amazon, in contrast to the ph of the black-water Rio Negro ranging from 3-5. If there are people living on the shore, we could do some interviewing asking the locals about the fauna that occurs along each bank of the Rio Branco; Fig. 1 shows that the Rio Branco is a strong riverine barrier for non-volant mammals that do not know how to swim, in particular primates/monkeys (see Figs. 3-9). DAY 5: Sailing upriver from Carvoeiro and mouth of Rio Branco to the town of Barcelos, the center of the far from sustainable exotic fish trade. Nice little town to have a beer, call your parents and friends, maybe the internet is working, or you may prefer a nocturnal walk through the center. We stay overnight in the port, so you have to be on board early morning as we leave at dawn.

12 DAY 6: Barcelos-Rio Padauarí sailing as far as possible upriver; in case there are a few small communities of ribeirinhos living there (there was when MvR did a biodiversity survey back in 2002) we will do interviews and hike with local guides in the terra firme forest nearby. DAY 7: Surveying the different vegetation types and habitats along the Rio Padauarí.

13 DAY 8: Survey on and along the Rio Padauarí DAY 9: Sailing back to Carvoeiro, Rio Branco or farther downstream the Rio Negro on our way back to Manaus DAY 10: Walking and swimming at Praia Grande; if time allows we might as well pay a visit to Ariaú Jungle Towers, a commercial Amazonian tourist attraction with its walkways through or above a mixture of igapó and várzea forests inhabited by re-introduced and wild squirrel, brown capuchin and red howling monkeys; late afternoon we will sail back to Manaus. DAY 11: Manaus-AM Please see separate handout for details about our time in Manaus and departure

14 Terrapin freshwater turtle Podocnemis erythrocephala, common in Rio Negro. Podocnemis expansa, tartaruga - the biggest growing side-neck freshwater turtle from the Amazon, rare in black-water rivers, common in white-water (e.g., Rio Amazonas, Rio Madeira) and clear-water rivers (e.g., Rio Aripanã, Rio Tapajós, Rio Branco, Rio Padauarí). Podocnemis unifilis, tracajá, common in black-water rivers such as the Rio Negro and Rio Aracá; also common in clear-water rivers such as the Rio Branco.

15 Podocnemis vogleri, a very rare side-neck terrapin freshwater turtle. Figure 10. Lecythis rorida tree only known from the igapós floodplain of lower Rio Negro, its indehiscent pyxidium buoyant, water-dispersed; b. Eschweilera paduariensis sp. nov., new member of Brazil-nut family of Lecythidaceae that MvR collected back in 2002 on a boat survey of the clear-water Rio Padauarí; c. Eschweilera aracaensis sp. nov., a new species of Lecythidaceae that MvR collected on a boat survey of the black-water Rio Aracá, probably dispersed by uakaris, short-tailed monkeys that are highly specialized seed predators. Except for MvR, nobody before visited or collected the flora and fauna from this clear-water river, a leftbank tributary of the black-water Rio Negro.