2016 Mexico

ADMAC at Los Tuxtlas. Left to right, back to front: Mario Augillar Mendez, Matthew Prebus, Phil Ward, Kyle Gray, Rhea Cone, Brianna Bartholomew, Gabriel Somarriba, Dennis Infante, Anamin Saraí Lizama Ramírez, Milan Janda, Michael Branstetter, Madai Rosas Mejía, Ligia Benevides, Jack Longino, Jorge Valenzuela. (Images in this report are mostly by Michael Branstetter, a few by Kyle Gray.)

The 2016 ADMAC field season was not exactly as planned, but nonetheless was successful. From 28 May to 18 July we carried out quantitative sampling at six field sites, did additional non-quantitative sampling at multiple sites in Veracruz and Puebla states, and processed all our samples in the lab at the Instituto de Ecología (INECOL) in Xalapa, Veracruz. We had a fluid crew, with a core group of six people present at all sites, and others with us for variable times. The season culminated in a 10-day workshop at the University of Utah, learning the ins and outs of DNA extraction, genomic library preparation, enrichment for Ultra-Conserved Elements, data formatting, and analysis techniques.

ADMAC 2016 sample sites. Circles are sites of miniWinkler transects. Dots are maxiWinkler samples.

Happy Winkler bosses at Los Tuxtlas.

Our first site was Los Tuxtlas Biological Station, a lowland rainforest site. We worked there from 28 May until 1 June, completing two miniWinkler transects. The site was lowland rainforest, one of the northernmost areas of Neotropical rainforest, and one of the few remaining patches in the region. We were graciously hosted by the Director, Rosamund Coates, who made everything easy for us.

ADMAC beating brigade at Ruiz Cortinez.

Our next site was Ruiz Cortinez, near Los Tuxtlas and above San Andres Tuxtla. This is a small community nestled up against a large area of montane forest. We were joined by famous Coleopterist Bob Anderson, and former project LLAMA student Manuel Barrios. We worked there 2-6 June, completing two miniWinkler transects.

Winklers all hung at Ruiz Cortinez.

On the last day, several of us hiked up to the peak of Volcán San Martín. Here is Phil with our guide, Braulio Magala, on the peak.

Next stop, Uluapan and Cafetal Carlota. These were two sites in the magnificent Sierra Mazateca in the state of Oaxaca. The most prominent feature is Cerro Rabón, a towering limestone escarpment that rises almost vertically from 300m elevation at the base to 2000m at the top. It is riddled with caves, and at Uluapan a full-size river emerges from a cave at the base. Here Brianna scales the rocks at Uluapan.

Caves added intrigue to Uluapan. One of the key finds of our fieldwork was an enigmatic cave ant.

We were hosted and housed at Finca Carlota, a former coffee beneficio with a long and colorful history. Tony Akers and Waldo Garcia operate it now for visiting groups, and they had adapted one of the large, historic buildings for our use (pictured here). We worked there from 7-16 June, splitting our time between Uluapan and Finca Carlota, and finishing two miniWinkler transects at each site. Uluapan was a lowland site, around 400m, with a small patch of mature wet forest. Finca Carlota was at 1100m, and there we had access to second growth Liquidambar forest, and some mixed mesophyl forest on the steep slopes above the farm.

Part of our crew at Finca Carlota. Waldo Garcia is on the left. Tony Akers is the bearded guy poking out between Brianna and Rhea.

Bob Anderson gives the Curculionidae lecture at Finca Carlota.

We were all set to move to our next site in the Sierra Juarez, when a political disturbance in Oaxaca resulted in road blockades throughout the region. We spent a day waiting in Tuxtepec, hoping the situation would clear up, but it just got worse. So we changed our plans and headed for INECOL in Xalapa. INECOL has a brand new third campus, with a set of brand new apartments to house visiting researchers. We were earlier than our scheduled arrival and they had to scramble to get the apartments ready, but soon we were comfortably housed at INECOL. We began doing lab work, sorting the samples, while planning new sites to sample.

Our first replacement site was Aguita Fria, a beautiful cloud forest site a short drive from INECOL. On 22 June we sampled two miniWinkler transects at Aguita Fria and hung them at INECOL.

We decided to do two road trips, taking maxiWinkler samples at multiple forest patches. Our first trip was to Coscomatepec, near Volcan Orizaba, on 30 June. We reached some very high elevation sites, above 3000m, and were excited to find temperate elements: Formica and Myrmica.

Our next trip was longer, 2-4 July, to Cuetzalan in the state of Puebla. This was a beautiful and historic town, tucked in the mountains, and we were able to visit numerous forest patches in the vicinity.

Our final miniWinkler sampling site was Zapotal, a 2000m cloud forest site near INECOL. Here we are hiking to the site, a long down through a valley and up the other side to the forested ridge in the distance. We had to split this sampling over two days, 11-12 July, because of afternoon rain on the first day.

We took a break from sorting to visit the Anthropology Museum in Xalapa.

Dennis and Kyle on a shopping spree.

On 16 July we celebrated the end of our work in Mexico with a day-trip to La Mancha, an INECOL field station on the coast north of Veracruz. We took a few Winkler and baiting samples in the dry forest habitat, and then had a swim in the ocean.

That evening we had a celebratory final dinner and ADMAC graduation ceremony at a beach-side restaurant.

Sunday, 17 July, was final packing and preparations. We said our goodbyes to Jorge Valenzuela and others at INECOL, and flew to Salt Lake City on 18 July. Then Michael began his molecular techniques workshop, teaching everyone the intricacies of DNA extraction, library preparation, bioinformatics, and the UCE method. Most of the students were housed at the Longino house or in Michael's apartment, and we all had a fun and productive time.

Molecular Workshop Graduation. Left to right, back row first: Gabriel Somarriba, Ingrid Catalina Romero Ortiz, Brianna Bartholomew, Gabriela Camacho, Michaela Borovanska, Katherine Noble, Kyle Gray, Rhea Cone, Michael Branstetter, Dennis Adrián Infante-Rodríguez, Miguel García-Martínez.

Thanks to all for a terrific ADMAC experience!