Smut fungi

On my way to the 3rd street promenade, I happened upon a Kusamaki tree (Podocarpus macrophyllus) that had its leaves covered with a dark soot-like material.  The sooty debris is actually a multicelular fungus in the taxonomic class Ustilaginomycetes, better known as "smut" fungi.  This particular smut has a fantastic backstory; do you see the white-covered "dots" along the bottom of the leaves?  These are female mealybugs (Pseudococcidae), which are phloem-feeding scale insects.  Male Pseudococcids are very short-lived and sexually dimorphic (so they look more like tiny little wasps with a single pair of wings!).  Due to their all-liquid diet, female mealybugs excrete large amounts of fluid rich in carbohydrates called "honeydew", which then attracts a diverse assemblage of ant species.  In exchange for the honeydew services, the ants defend mealybugs from predatory insects, like parasitoid wasps.  However, when ants are absent, the untended mealybugs will continue to drip honeydew leaving a sweet glassy film that then elicits the growth of the smut fungi!  The smut is antagonistic, eventually precipitating harm to both the mealybugs and host plant.  Here's a great paper by Johnson et al. 2001, which details that these symbiotic ant-tending interactions are at least 20 million years old!

Atmospheric chemistry

The image above is a ground- and satellite-level perspective of the first day of the Colby Fire.  Atmospheric particulates, from both anthropogenic and natural processes, are especially relevant for fire & drought adapted ecological landscapes like southern California.  From the satellite image you can see smoke plumes being carried by Santa Ana winds from the interior basin through mountain passes in a "downhill" fashion toward the Pacific ocean.  Biological systems actively interact with the atmosphere, and these interactions vary with respect to both the chemistry and the composition of gasses (e.g. volatile organic compounds), particulates (e.g. partial combustion), and emissions (natural & anthropogenic contributions).  In fact, many native plant species are singularly adapted to respond to atmospheric "cues" (e.g. to initiate seed-germination post-fire).  Here's a great paper on the impact of atmospheric deposition on plant chlorophyll content by Prajapati & Tripathi (2008).

Homogenization of Mediterranean flora

The name ascribed to the sclerophyllous shrublands typical of the Mediterranean biome varies tremendously: "kwongan" and "mallee" in Australia, "chaparral" in California, "matorral" in Chile, "fynbos" in South Africa, and varies more so throughout the Mediterranean basin: "mato" in Portugal, "maquis" or "garrigue" in France, "macchia" in Italy, "phrygana" in Greece, and the list goes on!  Just like the local names; the forests, woodlands, and scrub associated with Mediterranean climate zones are incredibly diverse and endemic-rich.  Since this vegetation-type is broadly adapted to summer drought and winter rains, it's also easily transferable anthropogenically across vast geographic distances and floristic regions.  For example; at the Santa Barbara Mission (pictured above) you can observe: [front of lavanderia] the Aloe tree (Aloe barberae) native to South African fynbos, [front of Mission] the Peruvian peppertree (Schinus molle) native to South American matorral, [hills in back] the coastal sage scrub vegetation native to Californian coastal chaparral, and [frame right] the Gum tree (Eucalyptus spp.) native to Australian mallee.  Here's an interesting paper on the "Homogeocene" epoch by Putz 1998.

Hoverfly Batesian mimicry

At first glance, the insect visiting this Chrysanthemum flower looks just like a honeybee - but on closer inspection you can see the insect has a lot of the characteristics you'd expect to see on a fly: a single pair of wings, short antenna, and sucking mouth parts.  This insect is in fact a hoverfly! Also known as a flower fly or a syrphid fly, this European species of hoverfly (Eristalis arbustorum) is incapable of stinging, but is definitely converging on the morphology (shape, color, etc.) of a honeybee.  This form of mimicry is also known as Batesian mimicry - when a non-toxic palatable species looks like a toxic non-palatable species.  What is even more amazing is that the hoverfly, honeybee, and Chrysanthemum are all exotic (or non-native) species here in the central valley of California!  Here's a cool paper by Pfenning et al. 2001.

Chicken of the woods

Believe it or not, this sulfur shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus) is an edible bracket fungus that is touted for tasting like chicken! While it's native to both North America & Europe, this beautiful specimen was growing on a Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) that is actually native to the Mediterranean & a common element in Santa Monica residential areas.  The sulfur shelf is a saprophyte (detritivore) and causes internal rot on the trees it infects.  What's fascinating is that it's also possible for the sulfur shelf to absorb some of the toxic properties of its host tree; which sometimes can lead to gastrointestinal problems for folks that eat the fungus growing on trees like eucalyptus & some conifers.  Here's a great paper by Turkoglu et al. 2007.

Acridid grasshopper color polymorphisms

This is the nymph of an Acridid grasshopper, a paurometabolous insect that derives its family name from the Greek term akris, meaning locust or swarming grasshopper (which are also members of the Acrididae!). The color variation in Acridid grasshoppers is just spectacular, as is the role of coloration in this group: thermal regulation, crypsis, aposematism, sexual dimorphisms, and even as a means to promote (negative) frequency-dependent selection - wherein rare phenotypes are missed by predators that prefer common prey phenotypes.  Here's a great review paper by Bond 2007.

The foot of a common house gecko

     While it can be found throughout Mesoamerica, the common house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) is a actually a native of southeast Asia.  The story is that the population started from escaped pets.  Here in El Salvador, the house geckos do exceptionally well in urban areas & suburban parks (where homes & 24hr street lights are abundant) and they seldom venture deep into the few remaining large natural areas.  How a gecko's feet work is simply spectacular: β-keratin spatula-shaped bristles arranged in plate-like footpads (white above) allow attractive intermolecular van-der-Waals forces (i.e. non-covalent bonds!) to form between the footpad & a given surface.  Here's a great paper by Herrera et al. 2005.

Turkey vulture

     Here in El Salvador, Turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) are generally referred to as "ave de rapiña"; which loosely translates to "raptor ".  What is really neat is that Old World vultures belong to the taxonomic order Falconiformes (where raptors/ birds of prey are also grouped).  However, New World vultures are not part of the Falconiformes & are evolutionarily unrelated to raptors.  It appears then that the term "ave de rapiña" is a remnant from Old World Spanish (Spain!) and a misnomer for a New World bird!  Here's a great paper by Gibb et al. 2007.

White-lined Sphinx moth

     My wife took this amazing picture of a White-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata) visiting the beautiful inflorescences of the Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans, syn. E. fastuosum), which have beautiful blue flowers with red stamens and are found all over Palisades Park in Santa Monica, CA.  The White-lined sphinx moth follows a bee-line foraging strategy; so the individuals we observed visiting these flowers stayed for about 15min and then left the park!  Here's a cool paper by Casey 1976.

Roya, the Coffee Fungus

The Roya fungus (Hemileia vastatrix) infects coffee leaves and the resulting leaf damage & discoloration gives it the common name of "coffee rust".  Roya hit El Salvador hard this season & it's estimated that half of the country's coffee plantations have been infected.  Climate change (wetter rainy seasons, dryer dry seasons) has exacerbated Roya across Central America.

Day of the Dead in Nahuizalco

     Got the chance to celebrate the Day of the Dead in beautiful Nahuizalco.  In the background you can see the Santa Ana Volcano (left), Cerro Verde (middle), and Izalco Volcano (right). The debri field from the collapse of the Santa Ana summit (in the late-Pleistocene) reached the Pacific Ocean (40Km away) to form the Acajutla Peninsula.  Here's a cool paper by Siebert et al. 2003.

Salvador worm salamander

     An amazing find; this Salvador worm salamander (Oedipina salvadorensis) is an endemic species - and was recently separated from the more widespread O. taylori. Here's a cool paper justifying the split using its distinctive ecology: Brodie et al. 2012.

Hardened lava flows of "El Playon"

     The San Salvador Volcano "Quetzaltepec" produced the eruption known as "El Playon" around 1658, which destroyed the town of Nexapa (later relocated & renamed Nejapa).  The picture above is an example of primary succession - the plants that colonized these hardened lava flows have to make do without any soil!  These early pioneer species will eventually prepare a soil matrix that will give way to other successional communities that can't thrive on bare rock - but the process is slooow, the flow picture above is just 354 yr old.  Here's a cool paper on successional "facilitation": Callaway 1995.

Variegated squirrel

     There are lots of subspecies of variegated squirrels (Sciurus variegatoides) in Central America, and the color morphs vary tremendously.  This little squirrel got zapped by a power line in Zaragoza (La Libertad, El Salvador) & I managed to get a quick picture while it was recovering in the crook of a Maquilishuat (Tabebuia rosea) tree.  Here's a great paper on that describes the geographical distribution of variegated squirrels in El Salvador: Owen & Girón 2012.

Achiote plant

     The fruit of Bixa orellana (Bixaceae), growing in the streets of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico! This is the source of Achiote - a colorant and condiment used in many popular dishes, such as yellow rice.

Western fence lizard (or Blue belly)

I caught this male blue belly (Sceloporus occidentalis) sunning on a rotting Oak log at the entrance to the Escondido Canyon Park trail.  The role of the blue coloration along the belly has long been believed to be for communication: (1) to tell females you're parasite-free, and/or (2) to recognize & contest other males of the same species!  Here's a great paper by Olsson et al. 2013.

Mirador/ Look-out at Deininger National Park

I finally got a chance to visit Walter Thilo Deininger National Park.  This is an important park (732ha), as its the only protected area in El Salvador assigned to the preservation of Tropical Dry Forest - which itself is a fascinating mosaic of two habitat types: deciduous forest (which is leafless during the dry season) & gallery forest (which retains its leaves all year round).

This video is a 360 degree panoramic of deciduous & gallery forest, juxtaposed against a massive landscape of cultivars (including plantains & sugar cane).  Also, if you look carefully, you can see the Pacific Ocean in the background!

Yellow-eared bat

I caught this amazing male yellow-eared bat (Vampyressa sp.) in my in-law's backyard!  It was a pretty exciting night, this was my time mist-netting in Zaragoza (La Libertad), El Salvador.  I couldn't ID the species; there are no field-keys for El Salvador - but that's also true for many other Central American countries.  Here's a great paper by Hernández-Dávila et al. 2012.

Botta's pocket gopher

We were just starting our hike at Solstice Canyon (Malibu, California), when we stopped to look at a couple of Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) & almost stepped on the home of this fantastic Botta's (or Valley) Pocket Gopher (Thomomys bottae).  

Solstice is very popular, so you can hear chit-chatting as people walk by us (without noticing the gopher!).  Once in a while you can even make out the knocking from the Acorn Woodpeckers!