Salamander Chronicles

MAY 2012

I have finally gotten most of my field gear together. In all, I will be carrying a lot of equipment out with me every day, but it manages to pack down to a fairly compact size.

It certainly seems like a lot but you can see it all packs down into a pelican case, hiking pack, and a fanny pack (I may switch that out for a photographers vest). I have tried the gear on and over all it seems like it will not be too difficult to hike around with it. I may also lighten my load a bit after I test out my methods in the next couple weeks. Right now I am thinking a cube (shown put together in my first photo) will let me photograph and measure cover objects and vegetation in my plots. However, I think I can easily accomplish this using only the square base with one or two poles sticking up for height measurements. If I use this approach I will save probably 2 kg of pack weight. 

I will be starting much later than I would like and will only be able to get one months worth of data in before the middle of summer.  However, this should set me up for a very productive field season this coming fall and next spring. The main goals for this year is to collect preliminary data, narrow down my field sites, tweak my data collection methods, and prepare for my proposal defense in fall. At the moment I think I am on the right track.

I also made a walking stick out of left over PVC pipe. I marked off 1 m in 0.5 cm increments. This will function as a handy walking stick but also will let me easily measure leaf litter, vegetation, and other things while I am out in the field. In addition to the obvious equipment in the photo I also have a 50 m tape measure, 6 inch digital calipers, and several steal rulers on the way. I also stocked up on spare batteries for all my electronic equipment. 

I am also going to try something relatively risky. I plan on recording my data on my ASUS transformer prime tablet. I consider this risky because I will be out in the forest and exposed to the elements. Therefore, recording data on it may not be possible in all situations, and there is also the possibility of damage to the tablet. I am taking three major precautions to help prevent any problems from occurring. Firstly, I purchased a Gumdrop protective case for the tablet which should protect it from falls and make it at least splash resistant. Second, I will be storing it in my pelican case with my other electronic devices, so it should remain well protected when not in use. Finally, I also purchased rite-in-the-rain copier paper to use as a back up system. This means if it is raining or appears like it might rain I can simply use the rite-in-the-rain paper to avoid potential damage to the tablet. If the tablet ends up working, I will save myself from entering a lot of data.

I am certainly starting to get excited. I will update more once I start collecting data.