Mara River Flows Newsletters

We have been circulating a newsletter in house within our research community for the last few months. They have been very well received and we have been encouraged to share them within our entire network. So...here you go. All our newsletters will appear under the "Mara River Flows Newsletter" section which is directly under the "About us". We will craft them at the end of each month to provide a nice recap of all we've been up to the previous month.

Our most recent newsletter (August 2008) has an interesting story about one of our now infamous breakdowns. Here you can see a picture of us being hooked up to the back of a leaking petroleum gas tanker!

Check them out and give us some feedback.

Mara Wetlands

The Mara River Wetlands are beautiful...

Detection of American alligators in isolated, seasonal wetlands

That is the title of the paper Amanda wrote that is published in Applied Herpetology 6 (2009).

Here is the abstract:

Although the American alligator has been well-studied in coastal marshes and large reservoirs, very few studies have taken place in the isolated, seasonal wetlands that occur within the inland portion of the alligator’s range. Understanding alligator populations in these systems is important because, although they are subject to the same management strategies and regulations as their more well-studied counterparts, they may have markedly different population dynamics and densities. Additionally, understanding patterns of alligator presence in isolated, seasonal wetlands is important to understanding how alligators may affect these critical habitats as ecosystem engineers. However, survey methods designed for large, open water systems may not work in these small, vegetated wetlands, and their efficacy in this habitat has yet to be documented. We conducted eyeshine surveys for alligators along walking transects through isolated, seasonal wetlands in southwest Georgia. We used a double-observer method with a Huggins closed capture analysis to determine the detection probability of this method, to model the effects of observer and wetland type on that parameter and to estimate abundance. We found that detection probability for eyeshine surveys under the best-supported model was 57%, between 2 and 5 times higher than documented in other habitats. We then compared eyeshine surveys with systematic trapping to ascertain which components of the population were more likely to be detected by each method. Both methods were effective in detecting a range of size classes in the wetlands; however, the two methods were most effective when used in concert. Wildlife biologists studying population trends and establishing harvest quotas can use this information to design surveys in the inland portion of the alligator’s range.

Get yourself a copy of it and let her know what a wonderful job she did!

Something Ordinary...

Growing up in America, I thought water came from a tap. I had no concept as to where water really came from...and all the steps along the way that water would travel to find me.

This Green Bay Packer's fan has a pretty simple understanding as well...push the metal rod up and down and the water will come from the ground and fill my momma's aluminum pot that my little brother is holding...

One of the major problems...

One of the major problems encountered by NGOs working anywhere in the world revolves around issues of sustainability.

The date on the sign is "March 2009" yet the pedal pump they installed is already broken and non-functional.

Imagine...

I apologize for the absence. We have not had an opportunity to post in a long time but that does not mean we have not been busy.

We have had the good fortune to assist in the development and planning of a large water, sanitation and hygiene project in Tanzania. This has enabled us to take what we know from the Mara River basin and help apply that to other basins throughout East Africa.

Expect to see some more pictures in the coming weeks from our research on that project...as well as some more from the Mara River as we get back to what we know and love.

Imagine...waiting for 8 hours everyday for the well to recharge so that you can get one bucket of dirty water for your family...

Research in the Mara

Karibu kwa Kenya Jeff and Kiki Onsted! They are visiting from Florida International University to search for old maps of the Mara to aid in our understanding of the river. We'll be taking them along with us to the Mara this week to meet the mighty Mara herself.

Eating Seafood in Zanzibar.

Clams, rock lobster, octopus, squid, giant crab, jumbo prawns, calamari and king fish.

Asante Sana Pam And Bill

Amanda loved the lobster in Zanzibar.

Carla...and her immigration 'issues'