Reesher Kearns is doing her Honours project using data from aSCR arrays from 22 sites across the Cape peninsula. Today we went up to a site where some male Arthroleptella lightfooti had started calling in Silvermine to go through the motions.
You can see some of what we got up to in the video below:
There's lots of preparation necessary before you set off, as well as once you're up there. A good walk for Star Wars day. May the 4th be with you too!
The honours students present their proposals in a compressed 5 minute format to members of the Cape Herp Club. Meeting since 2004, the Cape Herp Club comprises all academics and students who work on herps in the Cape Town area.
Procedures involving field sampling of many vertebrates require ethical clearance for ecologists wishing to collect genetic samples for DNA analysis and involve an increasing number of different sampling techniques. A growing number of choices of sampling techniques require researchers to re-examine procedures which have traditionally been accepted without question.
The practice of amphibian toe clipping is controversial. The impact of toe clipping on anurans is likely to differ with their life-history and studies on performance may provide better indications on the effect of clipping different toes. Buccal swabbing provides logistical difficulties and requires more resources for extraction of DNA.
Sampling of tadpoles is likely to introduce bias in the example given for population genetics of anurans, although there may be good reasons for using this technique to acquire genetic material in other circumstances.
The majority of researchers need to provide sufficient information to convince an institutional ethics committee of their need to conduct ecological sampling. With respect to amphibians, we require more studies on populations using DNA to inform conservation decision making. Toe clipping of adults will represent the best current method for obtaining tissue samples for the majority of studies, as well as providing extra tissue which should be placed into tissue banking facilities for future studies.
One argument against toe-clipping is that it is unnatural. Recently, I found a pond full of frogs and crabs that made me think again about this.
Show me a population of frogs which have had their mouths naturally buccal swabbed.
Had a great time in the field at some extreme sites in South Africa with Honours project student, Carla Wagener.
We started low, trapping in sites within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. There we were setting traps in shallow muddy pools with warm water, while lots of animals looked on.
Then we got high at the amazing Royal Natal National Park. We climbed up to 3100 m asl, and set traps and searched in the icy river waters.
Sadly, we only managed to get crabs in our traps, but we found a whole lot of frogs at 2000 m that Carla will use in her project. We'll have to return to the Drakensberg another time to get the highest platannas in South Africa.
Now Carla has to use the frogs to do her experiments. More news on how this progresses here on the blog.
It's another big day in the MeaseyLab as Marike Louw defends her MSc thesis:
Marike Louw has been with us since January 2016, and has made quite a splash in the lab. Marike worked extremely hard on a National Geographic funded project on aSCR. She trained many field assistants to set up acoustic arrays on the Cape peninsula. Marike won the CIB prize for the best MSc presentation at the ARM in 2016. In March 2017, Marike was runner up in a NRF science writing competition, and again in August 2017, she won a prize at the fynbos forum. She spent some of her prize money attending the BES meeting in Ghent, as well as presenting aSCR work in the ZSSA meeting in Pretoria. Marike attended our lab retreats (Kleinmond & Bonamanzi) and made a splash into the pool with her crazy synchronised swimming routines and appearing twice in the mannequin challenge. We've really enjoyed having you in the lab, and wish you all the best on your next mission to Marion Island!
From left to right, Carla, Damian celebrate with Marike & John
