Fragmentation of Mabi forests

I realize that most of my posts have been toward the wonderful non-class time that I have experienced while studying abroad here in Australia.  However, a huge reason why I came here was for the classes, cultural experiences and to really understand how rainforests work. 

Its been about 4 weeks since I have arrived here at the Centre and classes are almost at the mid mark.

So what have I been recently doing?

This past week was devoted to the impacts of climate change and fragmentation on rainforest structure; as well as its flora and fauna.  This is of course is particular to the Wet Tropics region of North Queensland.
One of the most interesting aspects about this week was our field excursions, relating to fragmentation.  The rest of the students and I all visited actual places around the Atherton Tablelands that were being effected or rather affected by fragmentation.  Most of the clearing of rainforests here in Australia has completely ceased (since 1988 World Heritage Listing occurred) , which is good; but what is left now, is the forests in fragments of all sorts of sizes and shapes.  This is what most of the field lecture contained, moreover it covered how fragmentation affects species composition, ecological processes and if these fragments will remain stable.  We had the chance to look at three fragmented forests and all of these forest fragments visited were Mabi forests of various sizes and shapes.  Mabi is considered endangered ecosystems (which I never knew could occur), because of how heavily fragmented they are across the Wet Tropics region and because they only occur here (endemic).  Another interesting fact is that these forest fragments also contain certain species like the Lumholtz's Tree Kangaroo (which are endemic to North Queensland and only occur in Mabi forests) and if these rainforests disappear or collapse so could these cute little marsupials (if you dont know what a Lumholtz's is, look it up...its so freaking cute, yes they are marsupials).

That is all I can write about for now..so much more to post but so little time.  I am actually going out for a second night of data collection for a field exercise/paper I am writing for my rainforest ecology class.  We are catching cane toads and then dissecting them.

Fun times here in the land of OZ.

Chillagoe..the red part of Australia

Not sure if you all realize this, but I did not realize the difference until I was reading more about the area I went to yesterday; Chillagoe.  (If you already knew this... well..okay then, I guess you can leave... )

Unequivocally, Australia brings two words to mind.. 'The Outback' and 'The Bush'.  But, what is the difference?  Is there a difference?

'The Outback' is refereed to as most remote desert areas around the middle of Australia.  When I went to Chillagoe, it was (rather will be) the closest I will get to 'The Outback'.  'The Bush' is considered to be closer to the coastline and is high in native wildlife.  At Chillagoe, I guess you could have considered it to be either though.  It was relatively remote but not as remote as the middle areas of Australia, and yes it was RED and HOT.
 
Chillagoe is a deserted mining town with a current population of about 200.  In the early 20th century it was a massive mining town, (with a population of about 10,000) but after not making any profits from mining in the area, the company went bankrupt and it closed down and most of those people left. Now this place is just littered with abandoned caves and mine shafts.  This place was really cool, about 4 hours northwest of Yungaburra, it brings to mind of the old west movies that play on TV from time to time.  Small, almost desert like town with TONS of dust and red red rock.  One of the great things about this area again is the natural geology.  So much of the  rock formations are incredibly old...all sorts of different types of rocks. I had the chance to take a guided tour guide with a Queensland Park Ranger, it was really sweet.  Why did I bother to bring up 'The Outback"?  While I am here in Australia I will not be seeing it much and I guess this is the closest that I was going to get to it, living in the rainforest you are quiet far away from 'The Outback'. 

Sadly no kangaroos, but plenty of wallabies, even a little baby wallaby. 

So yesterday, Tuesday, after a day of lectures and exploring caves I and the rest of my group went back to the town center and had dinner at the only pub in Chillagoe.  Nice place, had a barramundi fish grill.  After dinner we all headed back to the previously set up camp site to fall alseep under the stars.  The great thing about Australia is the wonderful assortment of stars you cannot see from the skies in the northern hemisphere.  I never realized how incredibly different the stars looked here, especially when I was so far west.

So far its been a really beautiful trip.  I apologize for not posting anything while I was in Cairns, I got caught up in finishing a paper for one of my classes on Environmental policy.  I will try and be more disciplined in writing up posts.  Photos though are kinda hard and I will try and upload some soon, Ive been taking so many...I dont even know where to start. 

Its late here.. and I still have to hike up to my cabin. 
Good night.

Dark nights in the rainforest...

So, sorry everyone. I know I haven't posted a blog post, but this weekend I will be staying in Cairns and I will have reliable internet access (and I can upload some photos, maybe a video too!!)  I PROMISE I will make a more in-depth post.  To some things up though.  Its been an exciting 12 days since I have arrived here.  I was some what sick because of the cold temps and constant rain for the last 5 days but now its getting sunny and hot.  I cannot believe how strong the sun is here, its kinda of unbearable.  I have started lectures and field exercises, classes are all day and some what long, but they feed us real well here.  I had an amazing night last night.  I had an intro to Spotlighting class and went on night hikes throughout the rainforest. I was able to go through the "old growth" or "never been cleared rainforest" and was able too see some amazing insects, a leaf tailed gecko and bio-luminescent fungi.  During the hike in the rainforest we (all the students and I) all turned off our headlamps and became surrounded in complete darkness.

Though living in the rainforest is some what difficult (without modern day comforts) after about a week you start to really love were you are and the rigorous routine you have become adapted to (I guess that helps too!).  I really have never done anything like this before and I believe this will be good for me and my future endeavors though hard lines still lay ahead; I am optimistic.

More to come this weekend.