Day 5: 8/30/09

After a fun night visiting with the locals in David, we set off for Boquete bright and early. One of the things Boquete is known for is its great coffee, so the first stop we made was at a cafe. Sipping our drinks, we discussed a paper called Ecological Consequences of Recent Climate Change by John P. McCarty. Prof. Hubbell wanted us to express our opinions on the piece and questions that came up while reading the paper. We all agreed that review papers, like the paper we discussed, can be informative, but more data and concrete evidence would be needed in order to feel secure about the results.

Once we had finished we checked in to our new home for 4 days: Isla Verde. Each room is its own little villa, and the vibe of the area is very serene. Once we settled in, the students ventured into town in search of lunch. This time we chose another hole-in-the-wall with an African Safari theme. The food was similar to the place we chose in El Valle. When lunch was finished we met with Prof. Markow back at the hotel and prepared more baits to set out around Boquete.

Volcan Baru National Park, located in the Provence of Chiriqui, is at an elevation of approximately 1800 to 3474 meters, and can be described as a highland tropical rainforest habitat that contains a high degree of biodiversity. This is due to the tropical climate and the remains from the previous volcanic eruption that occurred millions of years ago. Seven banana baits were placed within and around Volcan Baru National Park, specifically around pine trees, coffee plants, and one on an oak tree. Upon returning from Volcan Baru National Park, four more baits were placed around the premises of our hotel. We decided to place the baits in a banana tree, citrus tree, and trees containing flowers already swarming with unidentified Drosophila species. We plan on returning to collect the baits tomorrow and the day after to examine the variety of flies from the various locations.

Tonight we re-read and discussed four papers assigned to us written by Sarah Pipkin. Sarah Pipkin studied a range of aspects of Drosophila ecology within various parts of Panama. Our goal was to become familiar with her work in order to gain perspective on what was already known about Panamanian Drosophila. Our discussions consisted of trying to understand how and why Dr. Pipkin did her work in order to better prepare for our discussion with the professors the next morning.