Thursday, January 14, 2010

PostHeaderIcon Testing the Waters

8:04 AM | Posted by NRES 285/ 499, Fall 2010, UIUC | Edit Post
In my young more vulnerable years (um, three months ago) I went on a trip to Mexico; the events, of which, I have been turning over in my mind ever since. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times (sounding familiar?); it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope (in January), it was the winter of despair (at least it was warm); we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.

It was day 14 and trip had come to its inevitable conclusion. For some reason I was chosen to ride with Stephanie's worker, who did not speak, instead of going in the van with the rest of the group. Our conversation lasted no more than 30 seconds, and my attempts to speak were offensive to the Spanish language.


We arrived at Navajoa and immediately boarded a bus that was traveling to the Sea of Cortez. When we exited the bus at the shipping docks, we were greeted with the pungent smell of dead fish. As the group prepared to board the boats, I was entertained by a group of pelicans that were feeding off the scraps of the local fishermen.


The ship port was littered with wrecked boats that had been ravaged by a recent storm.



We sailed further out to sea and observed the plethora of birds that inhabited the area.



The group decided a bathroom break was in order, and we docked on a near-by beach. The beach was covered with the severed heads of fish and hammer head sharks.

We headed back to the docks and were greeted by some curious dolphins. We gave our best attempts to coerce the dolphins to swim beside us but to no avail, so we beat on, boats agains the current, borne back ceaselessly from the past.




We got back on the bus and went to our seaside lunch. The lunch consisted of a variety of shrimp and was absolutely delicious.

We stopped briefly at a museum that had some odd pornographic displays of the devil (for which the owner forbid us to photograph).

Back in Navajoa we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local taco stand. After our nightly routine of consuming spirits, the group retired to bed. --Arun P.

photos from Nathan S., Julie D., Stephanie L., and Lenna O.

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About the Class

My photo
Alamos, Sonora, Mexico
This course combines pre-trip classroom instruction with field study in the Sierra de Alamos in Southeastern Sonora, Mexico. Its purpose is to introduce both undergraduate and graduate students to biodiversity and conservation of a diverse and significantly threatened ecosystem.

Readings

  • Alvarez-Yepiz, J. C., A. Martinez-Yrizar, et al. (2008). "Variation in vegetation structure and soil properties related to land use history of old-growth and secondary tropical dry forests in northwestern Mexico." Forest Ecology and Management 256(3): 355-366.
  • Anten, N. P. R., M. Martinez-Ramos, et al. (2003). "Defoliation and growth in an understory palm: Quantifying the contributions of compensatory responses." Ecology 84(11): 2905-2918.
  • Dacosta, J. M. and J. Klicka (2008). "The Great American Interchange in birds: a phylogenetic perspective with the genus Trogon." Molecular Ecology 17(5): 1328-1343.
  • Endress, B. A., D. L. Gorchov, et al. (2004). "Harvest of the palm Chamaedorea radicalis, its effects on leaf production, and implications for sustainable management." Conservation Biology 18(3): 822-830.
  • Endress, B. A., D. L. Gorchov, et al. (2004). "Non-timber forest product extraction: Effects of harvest and browsing on an understory palm." Ecological Applications 14(4): 1139-1153.
  • Felger, R. S. and E. Joyal (1999). "The palms (Areacaceae) of Sonora, Mexico." Aliso 18(1): 1-18.
  • Joyal, E. (1996). "The palm has its time: An ethnoecology of Sabal uresana in Sonora, Mexico." Economic Botany 50(4): 446-462.
  • Joyal, E. (1996). "The use of Sabal uresana (Arecaceae) and other palms in Sonora, Mexico." Economic Botany 50(4): 429-445.
  • O' Brien, C., A. D. Flesch, et al. (2006). Biological inventory of the Rio Aros, Sonora, Mexico: A river unknown. C. O'Brien. Tucson, University of Arizona.
  • Rendon-Carmona, H., A. Martinez-Yrizar, et al. (2009). "Selective cutting of woody species in a Mexican tropical dry forest: Incompatibility between use and conservation." Forest Ecology and Management 257(2): 567-579.
  • Ticktin, T. (2004). "The ecological implications of harvesting non-timber forest products." Journal of Applied Ecology 41(1): 11-21.
  • Vasquez-Leon, M. and D. Liverman (2004). "The political ecology of land-use change: Affluent ranchers and destitute farmers in the Mexican municipio of Alamos." Human Organization 63(1): 21-33.

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