November 29th, 2002
Production of the Mission 2006 final project website graphics is complete. I gathered pictures from open-source galleries on the internet and used them to create collages and icons for the splash page and main navigation bar. I have also constructed a graphical site map. All of the final images I produced can be found at http://web.mit.edu/stephlee/www/12.000/final.
November 17th, 2002
I have written the section on bat monitoring for the final report of the fauna group, which characterizes bat species in general and then goes into depth on 3 different methods that can be used for monitoring the health of the Amazon rainforest by monitoring bat populations. Since this paper is so long, I will not put it here on this page. However, it can be accessed here.
November 15th, 2002
The teams have been rearranged and the fauna group has been dispersed among several others. Jessie and I are now part of the webpage group. Due to the nature of the webgroup, I will probably not be conducting any more new research. However, I will probably instead be doing the summarization and condensation of other peoples' research for publication on the website. I will also continue to do some work for fauna when it comes time to write a finalized report.

November 6th, 2002
Research was done on the cost of implementing our plan for monitoring bats. In order to determine how much it would cost to monitor the entire Amazon Basin, I researched how large the rainforest was, how much was being deforested per year, and from those numbers determined an approximate amount of rainforest area that can be considered "threatened." I also researched the approximate cost of each bat monitoring device, and picked arbitrary values for the approximate density of monitoring stations throughout the rainforest.

A ballpark estimate for the cost of implementation can be obtained by making the following assumptions:

-         Highly Threatened Zone Concentration: 1 detector per 15 miles2
-         Moderately Threatened Zone Concentration: 1 detector per 20 miles2
-         Pristine Zone Concentration: 1 detector per 200-250 miles2
-         Area of Highly Threatened Zone: 7000 miles2
-         Area of Moderately Threatened Zone: 36,000 miles2
-         Area of Pristine Zone: 1,300,000 miles2
-         Average Cost of Equipment per Station: $1000
-         Average Cost of Installation per Station: $100
-         Average Cost of Maintenance per Station per year: $20
-         Average Cost of Data Analysis per year: $1 million

Estimates on the land coverage of areas that are highly threatened and pristine are based on estimates that 1.89 million hectares of rainforest are cut down in the Amazon per year and that there is approximately 344 million hectares of remaining forest coverage left.[1] All costs stated above are educated guesses, and include the cost of labor to install and maintain the stations.

With the above assumptions, the estimated cost of installing the system comes out to be $8.2-9.6 million and subsequent maintenance and data analysis costs come out to be $1.1-1.2 million per year.

[1] William F. Laurence, “The Future of the Brazilian Amazon,” Science Magazine, 19 January 2001.

 

Oct 30, 2002
Read 2 chapters out of the book that I found in and checked out of Hayden Library, called Monitoring Plant and Animal Populations. This book has been passed around the group since I brought it to me to discussion on Friday. It's been unofficially deemed "the Bible." Almost all the members have read at chapters out of the book to divide up the research and give us a better idea of how to put together a monitoring project.

Chapter 14: Objectives

  • management objectives
    • provide a focus, determine type of management to implement, direction for appropriate monitoring type, measure of management success
  • 6 components:
    • species/ indicator
    • geographic area
    • attribute/aspect of indicator
      • example attributes for monitoring: age/sex, size, mass, condition, reproductive status, parasites, reproductive rates, area occupied, survival rate
    • action/verb of objective
      • example actions: maintain current condition, limit undesirable condition, increase an aspect, decrease a negative aspect
    • time frame
      • time frame considerations: management affected by species biology, intensity, and amount of change desired
    • 2 types of management objectives:
    • condition: assess success by comparing current state to desired or undesired state
      • use when current state is deemed less important than long-term trends
    • change: frame objective using undesirable thresholds if current condition is considered acceptable
    • resources and tools for setting objectives
      • ecological models: describe important ecological components and their relationships
        • provide a summary of knowledge for the species
        • identify the gaps in your knowledge and understanding of the species
        • help identify mechanisms and potential management options
      • reference sites: comparison areas to help set quantitative targets in objectives
        • - areas with minimal human impact
      • related or similar species: more"successful" related species that appear ecologically similar
        • allow for comparison
      • experts: ecologists, historians, guides, etc.
      • historical records/photos
        • look for past human activity, vegetation, species density, etc.
    • sampling objectives: companion objectivs that specify information such as target levels of precision, power, error-rate, magnitude of change, etc.
      • used to ensure that useful monitoring info is found
      • should be written during planning phase of study


Chapter 15: Communication and Monitoring Plans
  • initial communication:
    • those who make decisions but be included in the design of the project
    • without management commitment, other priorities take precedence over monitoring projects
  • purposes of monitoring plans:
    • provide full description of the ecological model
    • provide means to solicit input from many participants
    • consolidate information into a single document
    • documents the location and techniques of monitoring to continue doing so
  • evaluating monitoring plans
    • can the monitoring design be implemented?
    • are the costs within estimates?
    • are the assumptions of the ecological model valid?
    • were precision and power objectives met?
Oct 21, 2002
Research was done on methods of monitoring bats. Helen found information on listening devices that could detect the echolocation signals of bats to determine their presence and numbers and Brian found much-needed information from previously done studies on the effects of toxins and chemicals in the environment on amphibian development.

Jessica and I discussed possible ways of implementing the listening technology that Helen had found on the Internet. By placing multiple devices within a bat colony and recording their ambient noise levels over long periods of time, we would be able to determine their habits, population, and hibernation cycles. It would be over a long period of time because the average ambient noises of the bats will obviously change if they are sleeping or are hunting away from the colony. A sudden drop over a period of several days or weeks would indicate that the bats are hibernating, not just sleeping, and therefore are suffering from a lack of food. Relatively radual decreases or increases would indicate population decreases. To confirm whether or not these events are actually occurring, a heat sensor and/or video camera should be used as a back-up, since the bats' overall body temperature decreases when they hibernate and then dramatically increases when they reawaken.

The fluctuations in the bats' habits would indicate problems, however it wouldn't say exactly what is the problem. They may not have enough food, but what's the cause of that? Logging? Mining? We will have to discuss this plan more indepth to figure out how we would be able to refine this monitoring process to include such subtleties.
Oct 18, 2002
Potential indicator species were discussed in class with the group. The most potential candidates so far are amphibians and bats, so it was decided that these two animals should receive some more scrutiny. We should still look for for a mega-fauna to monitor and/or an endangered species.
Oct 17, 2002
Information on top-level predators is assigned to be research to determine toxicity levels in the environment of the rainforest. Information on various animals can be found here:

Jaguars:
http://www.123spot.com/AnimalDirectory/jaguars3.htm
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/panthera/p._onca$narrative.html

Caimans:
http://www.seaworld.org/AnimalBytes/caimans.htm
Oct 11, 2002
The team gave its presentation before the rest of the class today. Further discussions with mentors have assisted us in developing potential foci of research, such as indicator species, and given us ideas on how to monitor them, such as through tracking, electric fishing, and using stationary video cameras.
Oct 4, 2002
The team website was designed, built, tested, and uploaded in one single all-night spree caused by smoke-induce insomnia. Went to sleep at 8:15AM that morning and woke up again for class at 9:00AM the same day. We were not selected to present before the entire class.
Sept 30, 2002
Discussion about new courses of action were discussed in the individual group meeting. Two main ideas were brought up: looking into the technical aspect of monitoring fauna in the rainforest, and developing profile sheets to help us better characterize specific types of species. Group members were assigned various areas of research based on these two projects. I was given the task of researching monitoring techniques. Most searches online turned up unfruitful, since most scientific studies discussed the results of their work and not how the data was collected. Most details were extremely general, but what little could be found mentioned the use of nets, samplers, cameras, and screens.
Sept 30, 2002
Team members were assigned the project of developing ways to monitor fauna in the Amazon and what kinds of fauna can be monitored. The strategy that I came up with involves the enlistment of people who currently live in the Amazon, which includes natives and "outsiders." Scientists can teach these peoples how to perform different tests to determine the health of the environment and its wildlife and how to document their findings in a scientific manner. These tests could include habitually monitoring the pH, salinity, temperature, height etc. of the Amazon river. Also we could encourage the local people to document their fish/animal catches, having them record such characteristics as height/length, weight, approximate age, species, etc. The sheer amount of data that would be obtained by this method would be enough to far outweigh the cost of any "enticements" that may be required to encourage the people to monitor themselves. This is also far more feasible than sending in small teams one at a time at high cost (boating or flying them in) while only being able to examine small populations/areas of the Amazon. Also, the natives already actively monitor their surroundings. By having them do it according to international scientific methods, it would only help their own objectives of environment and land preservation. As for the outsider population such as farmers and fishermen, teaching them how to monitor their catches and environment will help increase awareness of conservation and the need to preserve the rainforest habitat.
Sept 26, 2002
Research objectives were changed to focus on different types of animals and layers in the food chain instead of physical "locations" within the rainforest. Current personal area of research is upper-level aquatic animals. Information was found on the internet on the following animals:

Amazon River Dolphin (also known as "boto" or "pink dolphins"):
http://www.tmmsn.org/mmgulf/inia_geoffrensis.html
http://www.isptr-pard.org/dolphin.html

Giant Anaconda
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/siren/552/souam_anaconda.html

Upper-Level Species in General
http://www.szgdocent.org/ff/f-wflood.htm
Sept 24, 2002
This website is uploaded to Athena and published for public viewing. Preliminary research on fauna of the Amazon river and its tributaries completed, with emphasis on aquatic invertebrate species and fish, including food sources, special adaptations to environmental characteristics, and migrational patterns.