E n viron men t TO BA GO n ewsl etter
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nvironment TOBAGO (ET) is a nongovernment, non-profit, volunteer organisation , not subsidized by any one group, corporation or government body. Founded in 1995, ET is a proactive advocacy group that campaigns against negative environmental activities throughout Tobago. We achieve this through a variety of community and environmental outreach programmes. Environment TOBAGO is funded mainly through grants and membership fees. These funds go back into implementing our projects. We are grateful to all our sponsors over the years and thank them for their continued support
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ET News
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Articles
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Ecology Notes
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Book Review
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Community Announcements
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What’s Happening @ ET
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Notes to contributors
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Environment TOBAGO
June 2015
Environment TOBAGO turns 20 Pat Turpin President Environment TOBAGO
It has been 20 years since Tobago’s Naturalists came together in defence of the environment. Since 1996, dedicated and passionate conservationists with a vision of educating and advocating for the preservation of our natural resources while seeking to develop sustainably have been continuously at the helm. It has been a challenging and daunting uphill battle; with the increase in need for land space for the growing population and our development in terms of acquiring modern amenities, it has become more critical that we understand the need for balance in this small island. Environment Tobago (ET) has become a force to be reckoned with, an organisation that is highly respected nationally, regionally and internationally. We have worked with the Government agencies to develop policies and laws in biodiversity, wildlife, protected areas, climate change mitigation, coastal zone development, ecosystem conservation, waste disposal and the list goes on. We have been appointed to numerous cabinet appointed committees in the environmental arena, worked with agencies on EIA/ CEC implementation and so much more. Our Education program has expanded to include all schools on the island of Tobago, and through this, we have been able to witness a burgeoning interest in the youth of the island in conserving their environment. Internationally, ET is currently the Regional focal point-Caribbean for tThe GEF (Global environmental facility) CSO network and participate in decisions for the use of environmental funding in the region. ET is also one of the agencies appointed to work on the UN programme known as Principle 10 – for access to information for all. All of this and more has meant dedicated volunteers have been continuously working on behalf of Tobago to leave behind a legacy that we can be proud of. In this 20th year of our existence, I wish to thank and commend all of you who have supported and worked with us over the years in one way or another. It is our greatest wish that we are able in the coming years to look back and note that our vision has been realised in an environment that is whole and a population that is truly informed and connected with conservation. Happy 20th Anniversary.
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
Report on GEF-SGP 2015 Knowledge Fair
June 2015 Editor: Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Assistant Editor: Christopher K. Starr Design & Layout: Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Technical Support: Jerome Ramsoondar Enid Nobbee Contributors: Bertrand Bhikarry Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Christopher K. Starr Photographs: Environment TOBAGO Wikipedia.com Dan Perlman
Board of Directors 2012-2014 President:: Patricia Turpin Vice-President: Bertrand Bhikkary Secretary: Wendy Austin Treasurer: Shirley McKenna Other Directors: William Trim Hugh Baker Fitzherbert Phillips Renee Gift Andy Roberts Darren Henry Ken Biscombe Nathaniel Licorish
Environment TOBAGO (ET) was well represented at the Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) 2015 annual Knowledge Fair. This was held over two days, May 28th and 29th, at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, North Campus. This year’s theme was, “Igniting Global ‘Envirominds’:Transforming Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”, and true to theme, our minds and spirits were indeed lit up by the many things we saw and heard. There was a feeling of grandeur, with over thirty (30) organizations participating, most of them CSOs with display booths. Attendees from ET included: Bertrand Bikharry, Andy Roberts, Barry Lovelace and Annesa Mejias. We too had our display booth, where, we were able to add to the pool of knowledge being Annesa Mejias receiving a certificate of participation from UNDP for the workshops shared over the two days. The many students and teachers that visited our booth were very pleased to learn of current, ongoing projects such as our Keep A Clean School Award Programme (KACSAP), and our annual Eco-Adventure Camps. We also shared some information about past projects such as the GEF-SGP funded, Belle Garden wetlands community assessment project and subsequent Belle Garden Butterfly Garden Project and the recently completed ET/SWMCOL Plastic Collection Project. Not only were we able to interact and network with other persons from other CSOs, but we also used this opportunity to “interact” and team build over the two day period. Other sister organizations from Tobago that were present included; Speyside Eco-Marine Park Rangers (SEMPR), North East Sea Turtles (NEST), ERIC and Parlatuvier Village Council.
Bertrand Bhikarry and Andy Roberts interacting with school students
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
What ET has been up to Environment TOBAGO’s participation at the GEF ECW (extended constituency workshop facilitated by ET) Bahamas - May 3rd to 8th 2015
Top row: Group photo—members from Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and Antigua and Barbuda 2nd row: Workshop for CSO partners, the group from Jamaica 3rd row: CSO partners at lunch, Workshop on project formulation
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
Summary report of GEF-CSO Network Activity and Achievement – 48th GEF Council Meeting 29 May-4 June 2015 The 48th GEF Council Meeting was held in Washington DC from 2 – 4 June 2015. In terms of funding, the Council approved five global programs and a range of country projects with GEF allocation of $709 Million and cofounding of $4.81 billion. One of the new global programs is to address the challenge of a rapidly urbanizing world and the subsequent pressure on cities with an investment of USD 150 million in GEF grants plus USD 1.5 billion in additional financing from other sources to focus on 23 pilot cities in 11 countries. GEF-CSO Network organized a range of meetings in Washington DC in association with the 48th GEF Council as follows: 29-30 May - Meeting of GEF-CSO Network Coordination Committee (CC) The CC meeting was attended by all the fifteen currently elected Regional focal points and two Indigenous Peoples Focal Point. The meeting discussed a range of matters including how to strengthen the operation of the Network, the status and development of network membership and preparation for GEF-CSO consultation and the GEF Council meetings. Among the important results were: Revised Strategic Plan (2015 – 2022) for the Network which provides the focused mission, objectives and Meeting with CEO GEF strategies, which are directed towards ensuring the development of a sustainable operation of the Network during the GEF6 (20142018) and GEF7 (2018-2022) cycles. New governance structure for the GEF CSO Network to enhance the Network’s operation which will be implemented over the next 18 months. Streamlined the work of the various Network Sub-Committees to facilitate work between CC meetings.
Network Coordination Committee Meeting
31 May - Preparatory meeting for the GEF Council-CSO consultation This meeting was attended by 40 representatives from CSOs and the meeting discussed and reviewed some of the key issues on the agenda of the 48th GEF Council meeting and prepared statements for delivery at the council, namely: 1. Annual Monitoring Review 2. Expediting the Preparation of the Stock of Delayed Projects
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3. Four Year Work Program and budget of the GEF Independent Evaluation Office
– GEF6 4. GEF Agency Compliance with policies on Environmental and Social Safeguards, Gender and Fiduciary Standards 5. Knowledge Management Approach Paper 6. Semi-Annual Evaluation Report Work Program The meeting also discussed other matters including the Network’s Strategic Plan and Governance and the work of Indigenous Peoples Advisory Group (IPAG) as well as the preparation for the GEF Council-CSO consultation on 1 June. At the end of the meeting, the CSOs had a meeting with the GEF IEO to discuss the proposed review of the Network by GEF IEO. 1 June - GEF Council-CSO Consultation This meeting was attended by more than 100 representatives from civil society, GEF Council members GEF Agencies and the GEF Secretariat. The meeting included a one hour dialogue between civil society and the GEF CEO and three panel sessions. In the morning, the panel session discussed the enhancement of CSO engagement in GEF followed with discussion on knowledge management in GEF which was one of the key agenda items of the Council meeting. The meeting was very interactive with active inputs from Council members, GEF agencies as well as CSOs. A report of the meeting, together with the presentations is available at the Network’s website. Among the major outcomes from the meeting are:
The GEF Secretary is very open to suggestion from the Network on best approach to knowledge management. A representative from the GEF CSO Network will participate in the two task forces set up by GEF Secretary, namely on gender and knowledge management. The Network will work more closely with CSOs following the World Bank Climate Investment Fund (CIF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to learn from respective experience and enhance CSO engagement. 1 June - WG for Review of GEF Public Involvement Policy The GEF Working Group on Public Involvement met for the first time to review and endorse the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the WG and discuss the work plan of activities. There are 4 CSO representatives in the WG comprises of two GEF-CSO network representatives, 1 representative from an international CSO (Transparency international) and 1 IPs representative (IPAG). 2 – 4 June – 48th GEF Council Meeting Around 35 CSO representatives observed the GEF Council sessions by rotation and ten formal network position papers/statements were presented to the council on the agenda items as follows (the statements can be viewed at the Network’s website: 1. GEF 2020 Implementation 2. Annual Monitoring Review
“One of the new global programs is to address the challenge of a rapidly urbanizing world and the subsequent pressure on cities.”
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
3. Expediting the Preparation of the Stock of De-
layed Projects 4. Four Year Work Program and budget of the GEF Independent Evaluation Office – GEF6 5. GEF Agency Compliance with policies on Environmental and Social Safeguards, Gender and Fiduciary Standards 6. Report of the Chairperson of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel 7. Knowledge Management Approach Paper 8. Work Program 9. Semi-annual Evaluation Report June 2015 and Points to keep in mind for the success Management Responses of the GEF 48 LDCF/SCCF Work Program Among the key decisions related to CSOs are the approval of the Knowledge Management Approach Paper and the Council’s call to revitalize the global SGP Steering Committee to support high-level strategic thinking in developing a long-term vision for the SGP. The joint summary and the highlights of the Council’s Discussions are available on the Network’s website: www.gefcso.org.
“ To many p eopl e t hes e tall pea ks make fo r a c hallen ging b ut s cenic hike. B u t t hey a re not jus t a no the r t all m oun tain to climb . ”
GEF 48 Meeting—Group photo
The next GEF Council will be held as follows: CSO Preparatory Meeting, 18 Oct 2015 GEF-CSO Consultation Meeting, 19 Oct 2015 GEF Council Meeting, 20-22 Oct 2015
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
Illegal Logging at Kings Bay Estate Photos of illegal logging taking place on the Kings Bay Estate watershed off the main road. Illegal roads have also been cut to facilitate this activity. ET is following up on this issue.
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ARTICLES Two men and an iguana? Perhaps there is hope for us Bertrand Bikharry
“The guys – one of them driving a WASA van, the other a TSTT pickup (according to the logo on the door), had to be visitors from outerspace.”
It was the Monday of the last week of the dry season although, given the heat of the day, no one was feeling particularly upbeat, much less hopeful, that the rains would ever come. The traffic on the Claude Noel Highway was as expected – fast and dangerous. The good drivers were worried – many drawing their caution from bad experiences. The naïve and the hotshots though were their usual happy selves, immersed in phone conversations or simply lost in music. So, the sight of a few vehicles slowing up ahead didn’t really excite me – I was just another weary wheelman paying scant attention to anything that wouldn’t hit me. And I almost missed it. Apparently two vans had veered off the road and were parked badly, in that they were blocking the free flow of cars that traditionally and naughtily overtake on the left. The drivers were bent, one was stooping, one on his knees holding something. It only dawned on me long after flashing by that they were pouring cold water on a tiny iguana, with the intent to revive, not prepare the thing for the pot. The incongruity of their joint action startled me. It was something so rare, so unexpected that to my mind it was a sensational, dramatic turning point for Tobago wildlife. Then again, Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) Joe and Jane Public might disagree with Photo: Wikipedia the idea: Saving a baby iguana just doesn’t sell papers on the same scale as the antics of Jack Warner and his white collared (as in crime) buddies, or of impoverished CLICO’s obscene payout to it directors with the taxpayers’ dollar. Er, about the iguana. It took me all of a kilometre to put it together. The guys – one of them driving a WASA van, the other a TSTT pickup (according to the logo on the door), had to be visitors from outerspace. They had probably jumped into the bodies of two brethren and then moved to intervene in the lifecycle of little lizzy Iggy. Because on any other day, in any other time in Tobago, a heatstruck iguana is an item on the dinner menu, not something two big, hardback men would risk life, limb or a corporate four-wheel drive for. However, when I arrived home, the theory of the extra-terrestrials found no favour with my wife. She urged me to say a public thank you – via this column at least - to the two gentlemen who took time off from their round of work to save a small, but valuable part of the island’s biodiversity. And I must do that, but it wouldn’t be enough the way things are going right now. South Tobago has absolutely no provision in hand to protect its natural life. There’s no respect, even at the highest levels of authority, for the sanctity of the reserve at Bon Accord, neither are there provisions to ensure that the function of oth-
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
er southern (and unprotected) wetlands remain intact. Take for instance the Kilgywn Wetland - where the airport runway meets the mangrove. Many unscrupulous individuals go to great lengths to dump their household discards there, which is really bad, but the State has not done any better by Kilgywn biodiversity. The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has destroyed a wide swathe of mangrove along the Petit Trou southwest coast here. Ostensibly, it means to provide a road for fishermen to access their boats and for recreational beach users to drive their cars. Really THA, what was wrong with just that single access? The fishermen will not use anywhere else in any case, since the depth of the water does not permit boats east or west of where Store Bay Local Road meets the sea. The ugly thing about the THA road down in Kilgywn is its very impracticality, as well as the future cost to the natural environment. Roads are the single greatest factor guaranteed to decimate a wetland. They encourage fly-tipping, they open up the coast to destruction as people drive or park vehicles on the protective grassMangrove habitat Photo: Wikipedia es which hold the upper beach together. They also encourage illegal structures (and activities). But, nature in Tobago south has challenges other than in the waterfront areas. Development for housing, going on apace from Scarborough to Store Bay, is leaving wildlife and wildflowers alike at risk. It makes little sense at this time to look at, or remind readers of, the mistakes others have made elsewhere, but the reality there is stark and the future is also bleak; nothing wild will have any place left to live soon. The only green spots are the Petit Trou Mangroves – privately owned and up for development -, the Bon Accord Marsh, which although not privately owned, is being chopped up to satisfy some weird THA idea of park management. There is too, the Patience Hill Estate - lands which are already marked for building. Daily are the earthworks there denuding the hillsides at Signal Hill, just as they have done down on the flats. Much needs to be read into the episode of the two men and an iguana this dry first week of June. True, the rains will come and with it the traditional time of plenty. There will be mangoes, tomatoes, fruits galore. Soon, we will forget the misery of sweltering heat, tongue thickening dust and the threat of wildfire burning our homes in our absence. But, the animals and the plants will have no such things to look forward to. They will be starved, homeless and, one day, even diseased, given the correct combination of bad factors. When that time comes, it will cost us much more than if we had left a few miserable acres untouched for their use, for our benefit. So is there any good news? Maybe not now, but there is hope. It became evident last week when two of our young men reached out to assist a small, green iguana in the middle of a busy highway.
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“ To many p eopl e t hes e tall pea ks make fo r a c hallen ging b ut s cenic hike. B u t t hey a re not jus t a no the r t all m oun tain to climb . ”
“South Tobago has absolutely no provision in hand to protect its natural life. .”
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
The solution to our environmental problems is leadership? Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Dept of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies
“At this point in our planet’s history the global population is faced with a slew of environmental problems.”
The 22nd of April is Earth Day. However, there are two Earth Days, the first proposed in 1969 by peace activist John McConnell. He proposed it as a day to honour the planet and the concept of peace. He selected the 21st March to commemorate the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The second is celebrated on the 22nd April has been celebrated as Earth Day since 1970. It was started to focus on environmental protection of the resources of this planet and the Earth Day Network is responsible for coordinating activities associated with this celebration all over the world. We are concerned with the latter. This week we will look at this year’s theme. At this point in our planet’s history the global population is faced with a slew of environmental problems. One of the most prominent being a possible shortage of resources to support our growing global population and biodiversity including, plants, animals and microorganisms. Another major environmental concern is climate change which encompasses a range of Photo: Wikipedia other environmental problems. One concern of climate change is global warming primarily attributed to increasing emissions of carbon dioxide most of which is attributed to human activities by our need for fuel to drive our lifestyle. We consume more products because they can be mass produced and transported faster and for humans to get around faster. The result in addition to rising global temperature, which in turn causes melting of glaciers, thus increasing rainfall, more severe storms, rising sea levels which will affect islands. Rising temperatures also affect biodiversity as some animals can survive within a certain temperature range or this range affects other conditions necessary for the organism’s survival such as, humidity and pH, where the latter affect aquatic organisms. However, like other environmentally based celebrations there is a theme around which activities are centres to raise awareness of a particular environmental concern. This year’s theme is “It’s our turn to lead.” So how do we lead? One of the main solutions is to use alternative fuels that do not give off carbon dioxide. Another criteria for alternative fuel is that it is sustainable, unlike fossil fuels whose source is finite and there will come a day when there will be no fossil fuels left. So ideally, alternative fuel should not use fossil fuel in any part of its production and be renewable. However this is not as easy as you think and many alternative sources of energy can be linked back to some form of fossil fuel use for instance in running machinery. With respect to using plants as organic fuel then fossil fuel is used in running machinery involved in planting, irrigation and harvesting and to transport the alternative fuel to service stations. Possibly there sources that have the least fossil fuel use is solar and wind. Fossil fuels used in initial production and transport to size of installation.
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
Ways of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is through carbon sinks such as forests and oceans. Where the plants use carbon dioxide as a part of photosynthesis to produce energy for themselves and oxygen for us, and carbon dioxide is soluble in water of the oceans. But our actions can result in carbon dioxide entering at a rate that is too great for the sinks to absorb and for instance can result in ocean acidification. However, these carbon sinks need protection for instance preventing deforestation which is happening at an Solar and wind energy alarming rate as we need increasingly Photo: Wikipedia amount of land to provide housing and food to support our growing global population. Put probably the best measure is prevention and through our actions, less carbon dioxide can enter the atmosphere via combustion. For example, carpooling to reduce the number of vehicles and thus the amount of fossil fuel used. Also by using the power of consumerism and producing an educated consumer who buys products that use less carbon dioxide in its production. Raising public awareness of the problem and what can be done is one of the major ways in resolving these environmental problems. There is a need for focus on urban ecology, as more and more people migrate to cities in search of jobs, cities expand and in the process destroy increasing areas of natural vegetation. And along with it many of the ecosystem services that they provides such as providing us with clean freshwater, preventing flooding, providing habitats for beneficial organisms such as bees which are major pollinators of crops thus affecting our food security. Strong policies are also needed to protect our environment and prevent further damage. However, in order to develop these policies, comprehensive information is needed for politicians, many of which are not environmental or ecological experts. Such information includes research on biodiversity and environmental interactions on how the organisms interact with each other and their habitat. Greater public awareness is also required to push for these policies and their enforcement. But whatever day you chose to celebrate Earth Day, let us not devote only a single day to appreciating or thinking about all that this planet has provided for us. After all it is our home! There are other “Earth-like” planets in the universe but we are far from creating the technology that will allow us to get there. So we should not proceed through life with the belief that if I mess up or destroy this planet my children will not suffer. We are stuck here!
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“Raising public awareness of the problem and what can be done is one of the major ways in resolving these environmental problems..” “ To many p eopl e t hes e tall pea ks make fo r a c hallen ging b ut s cenic hike. B u t t hey a re not jus t a no the r t all m oun tain to climb . ”
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In dealing with Tobago’s environment, can we trust the land developers? Bertrand Bikharry
“Scientists warn, if the temperature goes up by just 2.5 degrees, there’ll be mass extinctions.”
As it concerns building for development, Tobago certainly is as experienced as any other Caribbean community. From the days of laying out sugar plantations, relocating the capital from Fort Granby to Scarborough, and more recently the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, Tobago has never really stopped. Now in the old days of progressive thinking, it was not felt to be a bad thing. Big ideas, especially of the sort that required brick mortar and stone was the catalyst that fuelled commercial activity, which in turn provided money – both which then allowed the so-called good things in life. Granted, forward thinking souls of any geography or past era have never really been bothered by small things like climate, consequently we observe that our forefathers have built homes and thrived in them, from the cold Arctic to Saharan desert and everywhere in between. Adversity in building if we care to admit it, is a powerful part of the attraction we have with construction. But in recent years, there have been changes in the natural environment that everyone must heed. The climate has begun to shift upward from that narrow band of temperature that allows organic life to prosper. As scientists warn, if the temperature goes up by just 2.5 degrees, there’ll be mass extinctions, changes in the growing cycle, water shortages and then of course, human strife in the battle to survive. The ‘Great Heating’ brings with it two huge risks – that Tobago would do well to prepare for, among the many others that are already day-to-day reality in other places. First are the hurricanes - or as communities elsewhere call them, the cyclones and typhoons. With these harsh weather events, come a slew of problems, any of which can even kill us if we are not afforded the protection of strong homes and stronger social constructs. In fact, short of not being on-island at all, being inside a hurricane-safe home is probably the best way to survive those deadly acts of God. Shortage of food is the other insidious climate change related threat to wellbeing, but it’s followed by something equally as bad; high or prohibitive nutrition costs. Which leaves us little option to take charge of the things we ourselves can do, that may mitigate or lessen the impact of such an implacable future. One of the things we can do is to accept responsibility for - and then take such steps as will be necessary to protect those naturally occurring life and landforms, that will protect our families in the face of hostile weather and other unpredictable events. This is merely good stewardship, since as these things go, the disasters to come will probably occur around the same time the plants and animals we will need for food, become items of even shorter supply. The blame for that though is more than just rising temperatures changing the landscape. It must be laid squarely on the ever progressive urge we have to build with brick mortar and concrete on the very land our food sources require. We gather then- for at least in this instance, the ocean is the very best bet for cheap and good sustenance. Because in a planet that is overheating and for small communities like ours, the marine environment promises to be the most affordable source of good food. Which brings us full circle back to that conversation about local land development. Tobago knows it lies in the path of the hurricanes and now that the science shows the overall intensity of those storms have been increasing, it behooves us who live here to ensure the natural windbreaks, reefs and forest cover remain intact so as to benefit the many, rather than just few of the population. Obviously, the island
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
needs to earn a few bucks until such time the big one hits, but hit it will. What will happen if we move ahead with development plans as if tomorrow will always be just like yesterday? Will the people who make rash and seemingly uninformed decisions from seats of ‘officialdom’ accept blame, be willing to personally get out there to help folks affected by storm surges and exacerbated by removal of the mangrove forest at Buccoo? Will they part with their own money to assist housewives who need big money to for fish when there is actually any in the market? Will they stick Global warming predictions Photo: Wikipedia around long enough to tell the children of the next generation the jetty in the Bon Accord Lagoon was the final nail in the coffin that took away the Buccoo Reef? The travesty of the irresponsible developer is not limited to the arms and agency of State though. Just west of the threatened mangroves at Buccoo, other equally short-sighted developers are again preparing fancy arguments to develop a marina at Petit Trou. The project was shut down once almost twenty years to this day, because the owners could not show how their ambitions benefit the wider population - or will leave intact, the natural environment that protects Tobago from foul weather or famine. If the aim of the developer mentioned here is to satisfy the human instinct to build on as well as profit from shoreside Tobago, there is little the general population can do given the law of land - as pertains to title. In the respective cases of the Buccoo and the Petit Trou Mangroves, the development planned for each belongs respectively to the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) and a locally owned conglomerate hiding behind Central Government skirts. Okay, so these characters do in fact have some right to ‘enjoy’ their ownership. But there must be some provision in those same laws where the THA or the unknown developer at Petit Trou - by their ideas potential to do harm to the wider community - would fall subject to litigation under the tenets of negligent or intentional tort. But it doesn’t have to go that far. If either of the developments, upon submission of comprehensive social and environmental impact studies by competent body or group, promises just the slightest of negatives, they should be stopped. Stopped as Tobago Plantations Limited was two decades ago because the action they proposed could have hurt people locally. Let’s face it, in a time of coming, food (fish) shortages and rising (fish) food prices, Tobago needs all the help it could get from its mangroves and shoreside reefs and who is willing to trust a land developers in that scenario?
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“Big ideas, especially of the sort that required brick mortar and stone was the catalyst that fuelled commercial activity.”
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
ECOLOGY NOTES What is Sexual Dimorphism? Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Dept of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies
“The males of many spider species are mistaken for the females’ offspring.“
Sexual dimorphism is simply a difference between the physical appearance of males and females of the same species. It is a very simple concept but it has great implications in the survival of species it is seen in. The genders vary from each other in various ways for instance, colour, size or the presence of ornamentations. Sexual dimorphism is exhibited by a range of organisms including arachnids, insets, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and plants. This article will look at some of the reasons organisms develop sexual dimorphism and its advantages and disadvantages. But why invest in sexual dimorphism? It could be a way of reach gender to attain the requirements for successful reproduction, while reducing their reproductive cost which is often higher for females than males. Sexual dimorphism is exhibited by some species in Trinidad and Tobago for example, the bird species White-bearded Manakin (Manacus manacus). In this species the males clear patches on the forest floor where they hop on the ground and between low branches in a complicated display to attract females. In addition to performing dancing displays the black and white patterns on the males’ bodies make them quite visible compared to the dull brown females. The reason for this difference in colour has to do with the raising of the offspring. Therefore the males are so coloured to attract females to their court and if the females find them suitable they will mate with them. The males do not take any part in raising the young. However, the dull colouration of the females help camouflage them and her nest which is made in the understory vegetation. A similar situation is seen between the colourful peacocks and the plain white peahens. Again the males use their colourful tails to attract the females while White-bearded Manakin (Manacus manacus) the females use their dull appearance to aid male (top) and female (bottom) them in providing parental care to their off- Photo: Wikipedia spring. It must be noted that this difference in colouration, has often resulted in the different genders being mistaken for members of different species. Sometimes the sexes differ from each other with one gender having some form of adornment. The tails of peacocks can be regarded as an adornment. This is
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
seen in Rhinoceros beetles (subfamily:Dynastinae) where the males have prominent upturned horn on the front of their head which is lacking by the females. This horn is used by the males when they fight with each other to overturn their rival. This is also seen in mammals like elk where the males have antlers while the females do not. Similarly to the Rhinoceros beetles it is used for fighting for mates as well as to defend their territories. However there is a limit to how elaborate and how big these ornamentations can get for example, the peacock’s tail can get only so long and heavy before it impedes the peacock’s ability to move and escape predators, or search for food. Another type of sexual dimorphism is a difference in size. In most species the males are the larger of the two sexes. This is because they use their large size to defend territories rich in the resources needed for mates and their offspring or defend their mates and offspring from predators or rivals. However, the opposite is seen in spiders where in many species the females are many times larger than the males. Examples include Silver Garden Spider (Argiope argentata) and the Golden Orb Weaving spider (Nephila clavipes), where the males are often mistaken Nephila clavipes male (top) and female (bottom). for their offspring. Both of these species Photo Wikipedia are found in Trinidad and Tobago. So how do plants exhibit sexual dimorphism? A majority of plant species are hermaphroditic that is, they possess both male and female reproductive organs, with approximately 6% of all species displaying separate sexes. In plants these parts are found in the flowers where the anthers are the male parts and the pistil is the female part. To display sexual dimorphism, so some species would display the different parts at different times. Some may display their anthers then after a couple of days, by which them they are exhausted of pollen, the anthers are shed and the pistil is exposed. Some species may change their colour depending on the gender of the reproductive organ that is exposed. So sometimes it is good and bad to be different in the environment.
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“Why invest in sexual dimorphism?”
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
BUGS IN THE WOODS Allen M. Young. 1991. Sarapiquí Chronicle. Washington: Smithsonian Inst. Press 301 pp. [Fortieth in a series on "naturalist-in" books; see www.ckstarr.net/ reviews_of_naturalist.htm ] Christopher K. Starr Dept of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies ckstarr@gmail.com
“The great irony of field biology is that most of the practitioners are based in the North Temperate Zone.“
American entomologist Allen Young has worked at the Milwaukee Public Museum for 40 years, but the great bulk of his field work has been in Central America. He decided early that what was most needed (and what he most wanted to do) in the tropics was basic natural-history studies of particular species. This, then, is his predominant theme, which makes for very engaging writing. Of his 160+ published papers on neotropical insects, something over half are on butterflies, with cicadas and cocoa pollinators also taking large shares of his attention. He is also the author of a book on the cocoa tree (Young 2007). Young is a hard-core tropical naturalist, and this is a hard-core naturalist-in book set in the Sarapiquí Valley on the Atlantic side of Costa Rica. At the time of publication, Young had worked there during part of every year for more than two decades, after two years there right after completing his doctorate. Recall that the ornithologist Alexander Skutch (see review no. 11) did his field work in the El General Valley on the pacific side of the same country. With a continental divide in between, these are two quite different places. His account opens with a narrative of an early plane trip to Costa Rica and the succeeding road trip to Sarapiquí. The trip went from the airport on the pacific side up to Continental Divide and down onto the Atlantic side, where he could see the Sarapiquí River far below. At the confluences of the Sarapiquí and Puerto Viejo Rivers lies La Selva (10°26'N 83°69'W), one of the world's best-known field stations (McDade et al. 1994) and Young's main base. In the large main building Young found plenty of hawk moths, katydids and big beetles coming to the lights at night, with a great many of the big orb weaver Nephila clavipes around the building. The forest and its night sounds were nearby. Plainly, he had come to the right place. Following two introductory chapters are four large chapters on a) morpho butterflies, b) butterfly roosts, c) cicadas, and d) the chemical ecology of butterflies and orchid bees. His accounts are up close and personal, reflecting many happy hours watching their buggy activities. It is all about putting together pieces of a puzzle, with each answer opening up new questions. A good example of this is provided by the chapter on morpho butterflies, one focus of which is the very widespread Morpho peleides (DeVries 1983), known in Trinidad as the emperor butterfly. Young notes frankly that he was attracted to morphos by their beauty, even though he was teased by other biologists for not starting in the
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fashionable manner with a conceptual problem and only then selecting an appropriate species to test his hypotheses. He undertook, then, a series of studies to understand the relationship between morphos and their habitat. He started with the caterpillars and their food plants, a topic beset by a particular difficulty. Even if a butterfly is common, finding its food plant often requires patience and luck and depends on watching adult females. Young came very close to seeing the rare M. theseus laying on its food plant, but then it continued to elude him up to the time of writing. Morpho is a small genus, yet the larval food plants are quite diverse, which raised the question of what these plants have in common. Morpho peleides, showing the distinct eye-spots It was almost a year before he first on the underside of the wings and a part of the saw a female laying eggs, and for a long time upper side of one wing to show the brilliant he never saw any caterpillars feeding. Did iridescent blue. they feed at night? After watching them Photo by Dan Perlman around the clock, including in persistent drizzle, found that they were not nocturnal but crepuscular, exposing themselves when many predators are least active. And who were their main enemies? How did they defend themselves from attack? They were probably chemically defended, which suggested that the food plants had poison that the caterpillars retained? Might this explain the bright colouration of the adult butterflies, which are the very opposite of cryptic? Endless questions, interspersed with satisfying answers, is the lifeblood of field biology. Noting that morphos are "attracted to the rot and decay of the rain forest", he lured these and a variety of other butterflies with rotting fruit. Oddly, those attracted to rotting fruit were mostly males. Were they after some particular substance, aside from food, possibly of use in courtship? Another of the questions -- this one still not answered -- that spring from each new answer. The great irony of field biology is that most of the practitioners are based in the North Temperate Zone, while biodiversity is concentrated in the tropics. As a result, what we know of a great many species derives from short-term studies by biologists who are effectively just down here on a visit. As a museum biologist, unencumbered by the academic year, Young has been able to overcome this limitation through a long series of visits at all times of year. The effect of this shows in his studies of cicadas. These are large, often abundant insects, and in one sense they are conspicuous on account of the males' persistent noisy calls. On the other hand, they are often hard to see. (As I write this I can hear several of them shrilling in the distance, yet I have never actually seen one here in central Italy.) Furthermore, most of their lives is spent not as adults in the open but as larvae underground. For most of the approximately 2,500 species, we do not even know something as basic as the length of the life cycle, although it is assumed usually to be between two and five years. During this long hidden period, the larvae of all species (as far as we know) feed on root sap, whose but we know next to nothing about which trees they utilize. I do not envy Young's bold attempt to dig for
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“morphos are "attracted to the rot and decay of the rain forest".
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“A key part of the whole is the constant recycling of matter and energy. “
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them in the underground tangle of the rain forest, nor am I surprised at this lack of success. He undertook a long-term project in the seasonal emergence patterns of different species. This was facilitated by the fact that species and sex can be identified on the basis of cast skins of emerging larvae. The reader, comfortably seated out of the weather in good light, has to admire Young crawling through understorey, including at night, looking for cicadas as they came up from one world into another and cast the larval cuticle to emerge as adults. By setting emergence cages on the forest floor, he was also able to trap a great many. His studies allowed him to plot the seasonality of different species and to estimate the average yearly production of the commonest species at about one individual per square meter, with considerable variation among landforms. During the long underground interlude cicadas are probably vulnerable to very few predators but many fungi and other microörganisms. An emerging adult is not necessarily free of these and may already be doomed by those it has contracted. Young's results allowed him estimate the fraction of such walking dead. This is a critical parameter, as one species may be susceptible to a pathogenic fungus, for example, while another in the same place is not. Amid these and other major studies is a wonderful little essay on tank bromeliads as a microhabitat for a diversity of animals. However, Sarapiquí Chronicle is not about species, not exactly. It would be overreaching to claim that Young is using the lives of particular species as a way of understanding the ecosystem. (Why did he first turn to the study of morphos? Because they're lovely.) Still, the book is imbued with a sense of the forest as a whole, with much attention to landscape and its details. Tree falls, streams, steep hillsides, tangles of vines, waterfalls, trails, gullies and clearings all have their place and all have meaning in the overall dynamic. At the same time as Young is getting up close and personal with one species, he is concerned with the whole. A key part of the whole is the constant recycling of matter and energy. "Converting dying or dead tissues into nutrients is what binds the creatures of the tropical rain forest into a functional unit." He thinks that morphos coming to decaying fruit pick up microörganisms and so serve to spread the decay. These gleaming butterflies "symbolize a great deal about the workings of the tropical rain forest." As all readers of these pages are probably aware, field work or even a nature walk in a tropical forest has its hazards. One may sit down on a tac-tac ant (Odontomachus) or, on the atlantic side of Costa Rica, a bullet ant (Paraponera) and receive a searing sting. One may step on an army-ant column and get a huge number of ants in one's pants. And of course there are mosquitoes. Their most annoying threat in parts of the neotropics is not from their bite but transmission of the human bot fly, Dermatobia hominis. A female bot fly lays an egg on the mosquito, this egg hatches in response to the host animal's warmth and burrows under its skin to grow and develop with rather painful effects on the host. I have never had D. hominis in Trinidad & Tobago, where it is apparently uncommon, but like Young I have been the object of its affections in Central America. It is probably something every field biologist should experience, just to have been there, after which one would just as soon leave it in the past. The local human element is also very much present. Young has always had much affection for the local people, plainly reciprocated. He is pleased to witness the im-
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provements in their lives that come with development, but at a sharp cost. As old roads were improved over the years and new roads opened new territories to farming, he saw a great deal of expanding deforestation. Costa Rica has perhaps the highest fraction of national territory in the hemisphere under effective environmental protect, and privately-owned La Selva is safe for the foreseeable, but much is being lost. I have quibbled before (review no. 36) about naturalists who litter a text with terms in the local language for no good reason, and I regret that Sarapiquí Chronicle is burdened by this gauche exercise in exoticism. One appreciates that local terms are often necessary where there is no accepted equivalent in the language of the text. However, Young's gratuitous use of such words as ensalada, sopa, finca and abrazos -- and, really, a fábrica de hielo is just an ice factory -- is out of place in a fine book that you should all read. References DeVries, P.J. 1983. Morpho peleides (celeste común, morfo, morpho). Pp. 741-42 in: D.H. Janzen (ed.), Costa Rican Natural History. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press. McDade, L.A., K.S. Bawa, H.A. Hespenheide & G.S. Hartshorn (eds.) 1994. La Selva. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press 486 pp. Young, A.M. 2007. The Chocolate Tree: A Natural History of Cacao. Revised edition. Gainesville: Univ. Florida Press 240 pp.
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