Winkler samples

2002 Expeditions

The 2002 ALAS expeditions were carried out at the Refugio Vara Blanca in Braulio Carrillo National Park. Below are a series of maps of the collecting sites. Antonio Trabucco of the La Selva GIS lab provided digital files of contour maps of the site. The ALAS staff, Larry Kirkendall, and others took GPS readings in the field. These were combined to produce the following maps.

Map 1: large scale map showing location of Refugio Vara Blanca (lower, southernmost spot), the refuge at 1750m (upper, northermost spot), and the transect trail (black line). The small black line branching off near Refugio Vara Blanca is the trail to the roadhead.

Map 2: large scale map showing location of five MiniWinkler transects. See under Winkler samples for explanation.

Map 3: detail map, showing location of the 20 Malaise traps. The refuge building itself was half way between traps 12 and 14.

Map 4 (large file, small file): Antonio produced this map of the entire transect, from Barva to La Selva. The transect trail location is approximate.

Map 5 (large file, small file): Antonio and Larry also produced this version of the entire transect, from Barva to La Selva, showing the overall topography and the location of the 2001 and 2002 expedition sites. It also shows the Zurqui de Moravia Malaise trap site, one of Paul Hanson's trapping sites that has been particularly important.

Habitat: the area of the refuge is montane cloud forest. Steep slopes rise above the refuge, comprising the upper peaks of Volcan Barva. Downslope from the refuge it is less steep. The immediate surroundings, within 100m of the refuge, are regenerating pasture. The area is somewhat swampy, with abundant segdges, grasses, and small shrubs. Beyond this, especially downslope, is an area of regenerating second growth forest with mature forest trees in ravines. Beyond this is mature forest. The slopes above the refuge have tall, heavily epiphyte-laden trees, including many oaks. Downslope the trees still have heavy epiphyte loads, but the trees seem to be of smaller stature on average, and there are more palms.

Dates and participants: Three members of the ALAS staff (Danilo Brenes, Maylin Paniagua, Ronald Vargas) were present during all expeditions. The fourth ALAS staff member, Flor Cascante, was based in the ALAS lab in La Selva, where she received and processed samples and maintained communications with the field camp. The following expedition dates list visiting collaborators.

9-22 February: Brian Brown and assistants Kelli Walker and Lisa Gonzalez (Diptera), Jerry Powell (Lepidoptera), John Brown (Lepidoptera), David Wagner (Lepidoptera), Jadranka Rota (Lepidoptera), Akito Kawahara (Lepidoptera), Jennifer Zaspel (Lepidoptera), Manuel Zumbado (Diptera).

10-23 March: Angel Solis (Coleoptera), Larry Kirkendall (Coleoptera), Paul Berg (Coleoptera), Ethan Kane (Acari), Neville Winchester and assistant Kevin Jordan (canopy arthropods), Marc Epstein (Lepidoptera), Dave Furth (Coleoptera), Kenji Nishida (Lepidoptera), Alan Gonzalez (Coleoptera).

9-22 April: John Longino (Hymenoptera), Don Davis and assistant Mignon Davis (Lepidoptera), Manuel Zumbado (Diptera), Kenji Nishida (Lepidoptera), Gita Bodner and assistant Teresa Anderson (Araneae).

The locality label we use for the refuge site and vicinity is:

COSTA RICA: Prov. Heredia:
6km ENE Vara Blanca, 1950-
2050m, 10¡11'N 84¡07'W
INBio-OET-ALAS transect