Journey so far...update #1

Hello! It’s time for an update to let you all know how the study is going. It’s Steve, the Field Assistant, checking in from the office here at Agumbe Rainforest Research Station.

We’re seven days into the study and although we have faced some unseen obstacles – as is the way with field work – all remains on track. Upon our arrival and inspection of the plantation, we quickly realized that we needed to find a way to number the trees in order to monitor and track the movements of the Dracos that inhabit the area. It wasn’t an easy task, but after a day and a half of work we finished hand-numbering every tree in the plantation; a total of 923 trees. 

 

Each tree has been marked with an alphabet and number following a grid pattern

Following this, we immediately began setting up the ‘flight arena’. This is our chosen spot in the plantation to film and subsequently 3D-track the lizards in action. We picked an area which had two main trees more than four meters apart, as we wanted to film a glide at least five meters in length. Our two chosen trees are 5.5 meters apart, which gives us a good glide to work with. One side of the flight arena is covered by messy shrub, so we know that the Dracos won’t glide in that direction as there is nowhere for them to land. On the opposite side, we set up the background for our cameras using massive white sheets stretching between the trees. This is the backdrop for our camera shots, and they also serve as a barrier to prevent the lizards from gliding in that direction. With assistance from the super helpful staff at ARRS and great volunteers, we tied the sheets all the way across the length of the flight arena, as well as wrapping around and behind the target tree, where the lizards will be landing.

Setting up the flight arena was a huge task and it took a lot of ongoing fine-tuning and tweaking. After a few days, we reached a point where we could begin filming with all seven cameras. Three are set on the ground facing the white sheets in order to capture the entire glide. Two are focused on the landing of the glide, toward the target tree, and two are pointed at the launch tree to capture the take-off shots. It took a few practice glides to obtain the footage we needed to analyse and figure out what we needed to change in the flight arena, and it’s looking good! We have had multiple successful glides directly through the flight arena with the lizard landing on the target tree, as planned.

 

Under construction: the flight arena where we will film the lizards glide

We have successfully caught, measured, weighed, marked and released a total of 22 Dracos. Every day between 9am to 11am, and then again from 3pm to 5pm (these are the hours that the lizards are most active), we have been surveying the plantation and monitoring the Dracos. We note the time of day and tree for each lizard that we spot, and also their marked number if they have one. If they are unmarked and within reach to potentially catch, we attempt to catch them so that we can further collect valuable data from them and their movements. We have already logged a considerable amount of data on the Dracos, and we will continue this documentation on a daily basis. We are already getting to know which individuals stick to which areas in the plantation, and also which individuals are more active (and therefore glide more frequently) than others.

 

Each lizard is handled with extreme care and marked using a non toxic marker for easy identification

We have been facing issues with the cameras overheating, as the day temperature is quite high here during this time of year. We have made a shade umbrella for each camera to help solve this, and it seems to be working. Another challenge is that the lizards are extremely quick and agile, and often sit very high up their chosen tree – and therefore out of reach. However, we are constantly getting better at safely catching and handling them. There have been no injured lizards whatsoever, and the disturbance to their daily lives has been very minimal. Pranav’s diligent work with the 3D tracking equipment and software is clearly taking shape, and we’re starting to see it all come together.

Now that the flight arena is functioning well and we’re overcoming the majority of the challenges we have had to face, we expect to see some quality results over the next few days. Stay tuned for the next update; coming soon!