The 3D lab

Bad luck

Posted on November 12, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

As a field ecologist work isn’t always easy. Unlike a stay-at-home-scientists who cultivates seedlings in his greenhouses, we can’t predict what our experiment will look like. You start on paper creating a nice and elegant research design that takes into account as many factors as you can possibly imagine, but still experience shows that no research design ever matches the final output.

It is called ‘bad luck’ and it’s as closely linked to the job as the studied plants themselves. As you could see in the post ‘the good…’ we visited this beautiful breath-taking mountain at the end of the american continent. We had a nice several hours climb up to the highest point where the view took our breath away. But then we realized that the vegetation on top was not at all suitable for the experiment.

It is bad luck, because we climbed all the way up. Being unable to use the mountain means that we lost a day and that we should try to find another mountain. However, finding mountains in Chile is not an easy process. Mainly because almost all roads at the tops are privately owned and in bad condition after the snow melt in early spring.

Some advanced networking with local landowners did not yet pay off. We still need to find a third mountain that fits all the requirements of our experimental design. If not, we’ll need to be really creative. Luckily, creativity is one of the main qualities of a field ecologist.

Bad luck it is, but we are used to it and you would be a sad ecologist if you would let it ruin the day. We decided not to care and enjoyed our awesome hike in the mountain. You never give up, because there are always possibilities. If the car can’t cross the rivers that ruin the road you can always continu on foot…

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Adventure, Experiment, Science, Subantarctic | 6 Comments

The good…

Posted on November 11, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

Chili is a land of extremes. The places where people could have their way with the environment are mostly awful, but as soon as you get away from the bad influences of the cities, environment improve a lot.

We drove all the way south from Punta Arenas, along a road that slowly changed from an ugly city highway to an exciting 4×4-track along the coast. While increasing distance to the city, the landscape evolved fromthe typical suburbs over agriculture-orientated to an exciting evergreen forest next to the coast.

The good1 We had to leave our car were road conditions got too bad and continue on foot. Wandering along the beach next to the blue and calm ocean. Birds were singing in the trees, the forest looked tropical and the sun was surprisingly warm. No summer resort in the Caribbean could give you any better.

We left the beautiful bay behind to explore the mountains, with a small path through forests and peat bogs. The view opened up to show a beautiful snow-covered mountain on the horizon while we slowly got higher and higher. Our efforts were rewarded with a fantastic view of the most southern point of the American continent and the blue outlines of Tierra del Fuego and the Isle of Santa Maria on the other site of the Street of Magellana.

The mighty views of Patagonia, they’re worth all the efforts. The good4

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Adventure, Mountains, Subantarctic | 4 Comments

…the bad…

Posted on November 11, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

Chili is a land of extremes. Even this far south, human influence succeeded in ruining whole ecosystems. Here, the funny thing is that nobody bothered to clean up the mess. In the whole area around Punta Arenas, all evergreen native forests are burned and cut to create short grass meadows for grazing cattle. Strangely, the remaining trunks of the burned trees are left in the fields creating a spooky cemetery of nature. As far as the eyes can see, they stick out of the ground as a sad reminder of how this place once looked.

The bad3 The result is a strange but attractive landscape that highlights the true human power to create and destroy. Showing something that gets you thinking.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Agriculture, Human impact, Subantarctic | 2 Comments

… and the ugly

Posted on November 11, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

Punta Arenas is a horrible city. Except one interesting main market place and a pretty cemetery there is nothing at all attractive about it. The main tourist attraction is a carriage museum. A nice spot, but apparently not worth the visit.

These days, the situation is even worse due to the upcoming local elections. The whole city is covered in signs and all kinds of propaganda, with happy faces of politicians screaming at you from every free square meter of the town. There is even this guy called Domingo, who collected more than thousand tires, lined them up along all major roads and attached his face to it. The ugly

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Human impact, Punta Arenas, Subantarctic | 3 Comments

The power of dandelions

Posted on November 9, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

I’ve been completely wrong all the time! I knew that invasive plants were an issue and I knew you could find them everywhere in the world. But I couldn’t have imagined their real impact. Even Punta Arenas, a city as far away from the rest of the world as you can go, even this city is completely engulfed by invasive plants.

The dandelion is the most impressive one. It turns out to be the most common plant in the whole city, easily overruling all native species. Whole fields turn yellow due to massive flowers, even bigger than at home.

It’s allowed to be impressed, because these dandelions show a remarkable flexibility. Even when it’s snowing,even when strong and cold wind still remind of the horrible winter, even then dandelions are flowering. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them. Dandelion2

As strong as a dandelion. If it ain’t a proverb yet, it should become one soon.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Human impact, Subantarctic | 1 Comment

Birds

Posted on November 9, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

Birds, birds everywhere! Small, active songbirds, majestically floating birds of prey, angry shouting lapwings protecting their young… Birds everywhere, and all of them different from the species I know. That’s a good thing, because now even the most common birds know how to impress me.

Luckily, birds are not as shy here as they are in Belgium. I can get as close as I want, which is good news for the camera.

Check out the photostream ‘Punta Arenas’ on the front page for a growing list of pictures of this wonderful place.