Research, Maps, and Two Bribri Stories

Today we continued to work on our research projects at La Selva. Like Ryan, I'm on Team Termite. I can't speak for all of us, but my scientific chops are growing. I'm getting more practice on data analysis and working with other people. I hope to use these skills after I graduate from St. Olaf.

La Selva's location record system is remarkable. There are tubes in the ground separated by 50 m roughy east-west, and tubes separated by 100 m perpendicular to the east-west tubes. The tubes mark plots over the whole area of La Selva on a GIS system. Scientists with GIS can record the plots they experiment in, and people can record what they saw in what plot on what day, etc. It would be fun to come back here with GIS equipment and knowledge. With just the printed maps I've seen, I think it's neat that, anywhere in La Selva, I can know the kind of habitat, rough elevation, soil type, and trail distance from the station. A map in the classroom that shows habitat type, trails with distance from station, and waterways has been particularly helpful and fascinating.

Kathy led a field quiz to test our knowledge of some of the common rainforest species we've seen over the last few days.

I'll share two Bri-bri stories about rainforest species. The first story is about cacao (Theobroma cacao).

The five kinds of cacao were represented by five young, unmarried women. The five women were sisters, and they lived in different houses. One day the god Cibu came to the village the women lived in. He disguised himself as a wrinkly old man. Cibu went to each woman's house and asked each woman if she would give him food to eat and a place to sleep for the night. The four older sisters all turned Cibu away. Only the youngest sister gave him lodging for the night. After witnessing the young sister's kindness, Cibu transformed himself into a lusty young hunter. In his new form Cibu's divinity was apparent. Cibu and the young sister got married. The older sisters were curious about why their sister had married an old man. The older sisters went to the young sister's house and saw that the old man was actually the god Cibu in the form of a handsome hunter. As punishment for shunning him, Cibu transformed the four older sisters into the four varieties of cacao that are useless to humans. As repayment for showing him hospitality, Cibu transformed the young sister into the variety of cacao that humans grow and cherish. This story is a reminder to respect our elders.

The second story is about the motmot (any member of the bird family Momotidae). The motmot lives in a hole in the ground and has just two distinctly shaped tail feathers. Motmots are not rare in La Selva, but they are uncommon.

One day the god Cibu decided to create the world. He asked all the animals to help him. All of the animals obliged except the motmot, who hid in a hole in the ground. As punishment for shirking his work, Cibu plucked some of the motmot's tail feathers out, so he only had two. When the world was complete, the motmot bragged to the other animals about how hard he had worked in the effort. The other animals knew he was lying because he only had two tail feathers. Cibu punished the motmot for lying and bragging by forcing him to live in a hole in the ground instead of in the trees like other birds. This story is a reminder to not avoid work or lie.

John