Love Thy Downstream Neighbor

Last week we were joined by Professor Bill Deutsch, from Auburn University, for our course in Stream Ecology.

This is what Chemistry in Belize looks like.

While visiting local streams we learned all about different types of streams, had the opportunity to test their chemical and physical properties, and collected all sorts of macro invertebrates. Most importantly, we learned about the interconnectedness of streams, and how important it is to take care of our local streams and thus our downstream neighbors.

On the hunt for some macro invertebrates.

One of our more memorable trips in the week was to Mountain Pine Ridge. Here we got a firsthand look at one of Belize’s many unique ecosystems, where granite bedrock has resulted in a largely pine ecosystem. We were able to see just how this affected the streams and what lived in them.

Justin examines the geology of this stream.