{"id":5411,"date":"2019-07-30T19:01:21","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T19:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/international-programs\/?p=5411"},"modified":"2023-03-03T20:41:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T20:41:32","slug":"destination-madagascar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/international-programs\/news\/destination-madagascar\/","title":{"rendered":"Destination: Madagascar"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of participant posts from the monthlong Ants and the Canopy Bootcamp in Madagascar (see the other entries below). The bootcamp, which wrapped up recently, is led by NC State University\u2019s Bonnie Blaimer and the California Academy of Sciences\u2019 Brian Fisher. The undergraduate and graduate students involved in the program come from across the country.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

By Camille DeSisto<\/strong> (Harvard College), Jacob Idec<\/strong>\u00a0(Hendrix College), Ben Schwartz<\/strong> (Montana State University) and Anoop Karunakaran<\/strong> (India)<\/p>\n

Lessons Learned in the Canopy<\/h2>\n

\"InAfter drinking our last evening cup of ranon\u2019apango<\/em> (Malagasy rice tea) at Ankarafantsika National Park, we bid a bittersweet goodbye to the members of Ezaka<\/em>. Fittingly translated into \u201cbravery\u201d in Malagasy, this local women\u2019s association does more than just take care of eager biologists during their fieldwork. Filling the blessedly cool night with song, the women relayed their appreciation for the forest.<\/p>\n

Though the park is protected, it does not exist in isolation from the local people of Antranofasaka. Rice fields, crucial for the health and livelihoods of the local people, extend into margins of the park and zebu, Malagasy cattle with great horns and large humps on their backs, are frequently escorted through the park on well-trod trails.<\/p>\n

\"Man
Jacob Idec from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, recently graduated with a biology major from Hendrix College in Kansas. Graduate school is among his plans. He hopes to become a college professor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the performance, one song and dance stood out – one celebrating the local fossa in its lyrics. Fossa are among the most fascinating denizens of Ankarafantsika, catlike carnivores closely related to the mongoose and found only on Madagascar.<\/p>\n

Solo, our skilled guide from the village, translated the message of the song to compensate for our beginner Malagasy language skills. He explained the importance of the fossa, which eat rats harmful to the rice fields. In protecting the forest, the charismatic fossa, too, are protected.<\/p>\n

The women of Ezaka <\/em>also championed the local lake for the life it gives to the rice fields.\u00a0 They cited this relationship as a key motivator for protecting the forest.<\/p>\n

\"Photograph
Anoop Karunakaran, from Kerala, India, studies animal behavior. He wishes to travel around the world and work as a disaster response volunteer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was not passing the lake on our walk to view chameleons and lemurs, nor even when the lake shone from our canopy view when we climbed the baobab, that sparked within us an authentic appreciation for its importance. Listening to the songs, bellies full of rice, helped us begin to understand the crucial connections that link the lake to human livelihoods.<\/p>\n

Although our trip to Ankarafantsika was short-lived, there are many people who call this park home and have a deep understanding of the forest. We are increasingly inspired by the lessons lying within the folds of the canopy, many waiting to be discovered and many already understood by the local people.<\/p>\n

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Ben Schwartz studies history at Montana State University. He is from Sandpoint, Idaho.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We hope that our research on canopy ants will contribute to conservation discourses in Madagascar and continue the collaborative effort of protecting the island\u2019s unique biodiversity.<\/p>\n

We came to study ants. Although there was certainly no shortage in this regard, our learning far transcended one taxa.<\/p>\n

Misaotra betsaka, Madagasikara.<\/em><\/p>\n

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July 31, 2019<\/p>\n

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Baobabs and Biodiversity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By Claire Williams<\/strong> (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Miles Maxcer<\/strong> (Montana State University in Bozeman) and Peter Willadsen<\/strong> (NC State University)<\/em><\/p>\n

After our 12-hour bus ride through rural Madagascar, we stepped out into the darkness and dust of Ankarafantsika National Park. Anxious to explore, we flicked on our headlamps to illuminate the forest edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got an alate over here!\u201d We had found a flying ant — a queen — attracted to our lights. In the first few minutes in our camp at Ambodimanga, we had already discovered a genus of ants (Parvaponera<\/em>) not known to be in this region of Madagascar. Before we had time to celebrate, another discovery came to light. A chameleon, brilliantly-colored, was clinging to a branch at the edge of the clearing. The Malagasy classic brought the whole team together, collectively fascinated by its bizarre movement and disconcerting gaze.<\/p>\n

Daily Discoveries<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Photograph
A Coquerel’s sifaka lemur holds a young one in a tree.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Peter Willadsen is from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and begins his work toward a master\u2019s degree in entomology at NC State University in the fall. He wants to continue studying insect phylogenetics to better understand and preserve their astounding diversity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next few days were marked with similarly exciting discoveries. After digging in the soil for hours, the world\u2019s fastest animal plopped out of a chunk of dirt. A snap-jaw ant had emerged, its scythe-like jaws extended in a display that would have been intimidating, had the ant not been only a few millimeters long. We identified it as the genus Mystrium,<\/em> known best for its incredible jaws, which can snap together in the fastest motion known from the animal kingdom.<\/p>\n

While conducting our survey of the canopy, we heard rustling in the undergrowth. A few moments later, we were stunned to see a breathtaking ground boa (Acrantophis madagascariensis<\/em>) slithering over a climbing bag below. Her cryptic coloration seamlessly blended into the leaves but was exposed on the white bag.<\/p>\n

\"Man
Miles Maxcer is from Moscow, Idaho, and studies environmental science, science communication, political science, and entomology in the Directed Interdisciplinary Studies program at Montana State University in Bozeman. As an ant biologist, his goal is to share his passion for the natural world with a wider audience, with the mission of impacting public policy and improving global conservation efforts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After exhausting old-growth trees in our initial study area, we expanded into the forest on the other side of camp. Our journey included a walk along the rice paddy, where a specialized predator could be found: We encountered nearly a dozen distinct species of insects known as praying mantises. These were adapted to the dry habitat, concealed by green and brown leaf-like patterns. One particularly fascinating specimen, its body long and pale, mimicked the dry blades of grass covering the clearing.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a dig was underway in the forest. We unearthed another specialized predator, a living fossil — a spider once known only from the fossil record but later discovered extant in Madagascar. The pelican spider, with its namesake combination of a pelican\u2019s head on a spider\u2019s body, stumbled awkwardly around in the collection tray. It was not difficult to see why it\u2019s once-extensive range is now limited to small, isolated regions of the world.<\/p>\n

Up, Up and Away<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Photo
Claire Williams is from Libertyville, Illinois, and studies integrative biology and geology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her goal is to research the intersection of the past and the present and how that can be used to predict what may happen later, especially in the context of conservation. Here, she holds a Mimophis occultus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our tree climbing culminated with the ascent of the imposing baobabs, the tallest trees in the region. The enormous bare trunk rose over 100 feet tall, giving us an unparalleled climbing experience. Upon reaching the apex we took some time to enjoy the view while being buffeted by wind in our harnesses. After descending, we were greeted by the guardians of the dry forest \u2014 the Sifaka lemurs. A mother, its baby clutching her tummy, leaped from tree to tree, occasionally giving us a strikingly human-like stare.<\/p>\n

Baobabs stand as a majestic symbol of Madagascar\u2019s unique biodiversity \u2014 not only as hosts to many species, but as examples themselves of speciation caused by Madagascar\u2019s varied habitats and isolation.<\/p>\n

Having been separated from Africa and India for millions of years, its wildlife has diversified, producing some of the most specialized flora and fauna on Earth. This specialization, which drew biologists like us to Madagascar in the first place, is also what makes these species vulnerable to extinction.<\/p>\n

An example of this interdependence is the lemurs\u2019 reliance on specific fruiting trees, the loss of which would inevitably doom them to extinction. We work not only to catalog and understand the life in Madagascar for the sake of exploration and discover but also to provide the information critical to protecting it in the future.<\/p>\n

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And, of course, ants — Mystrium mirror,<\/em> to be exact<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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July 23, 2019<\/p>\n

Tree-Search: Ant Edition<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Chloe Jelley <\/strong>(New Jersey Institute of Technology), Michelle Kirchner <\/strong>(NC State) and Jen Schlauch <\/strong>(University of Texas at Austin)<\/p>\n

It’s 100\u1d52 F. 9 a.m. A forest in Madagascar. You’re 60 feet up in a tree with a bag of peanuts in one pocket and a bag of ants in the other. They’re alive. Your fanny pack is full of tiny bottles of ethanol, also full of ants. They’re dead. Your friends are below you, hitting trees with sticks. You toss them the bag of ants in exchange for more peanuts.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the Ants & Canopy Bootcamp.<\/p>\n

What’s Going On<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"In
Chloe Jelley collects ants from the arboreal sardine baits. She’s an undergrad at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where she works on ant morphology in the Barden Lab. This is her first time in Madagascar and her first fieldwork experience. She hopes to pursue a career in myrmecology, and her favorite ant is Cataulacus<\/em><\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Madagascar’s diverse island biogeography provides a unique opportunity to study endemism and biodiversity. While interest in Malagasy wildlife often focuses on charismatic megafauna, our group of scientists has a much smaller focus (literally): ants.\u00a0 Of all animals, ants dominate the terrestrial biomass, and, unlike other more obscure insect groups, are relatively easy to identify. This family of insects can be found in a variety of microhabitats such as in leaf litter, underground, and in the bark and canopy of trees.<\/p>\n

While several studies of leaf litter ants have been conducted in Madagascar, sampling ants from the tree canopy can be challenging or expensive and is therefore largely understudied. Our research focused on the canopy ants in Ankarafantsika National Park in the Northwestern dry forest of Madagascar. This is the first canopy expedition to ever happen in this area. A team of two dozen, composed of researchers, tree climbers and Malagasy guides spent eight days in the field collecting and observing ants.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Having studied ground-dwelling ants, Michelle Kirchner said she is excited to be “branching out” (pun intended) as a new graduate student in Blaimer’s lab at NC State University. Her previous research focused on ground-dwelling harvester ants and invasive fire ants, and she hopes to continue canopy ant research in her home state. She identifies as a Crematogaster<\/a> <\/em>ant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What We’re Doing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ants can be collected in several ways.<\/p>\n