Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (Peten, Guatemala) is great place to do research on Plants of every size, shape, and flower color, plus ferns, lichen, mushrooms

Posted October 15, 2021

After accomplishing research with the co-administrators and park rangers of Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo (PNYNN) from August 2018 through July 2019 we were asked to return for a larger project of cooperation and coordination with CONAP in this park plus adjacent parks and biotope nature reserves plus the overall Reserva de la Biosfera Maya.

So for the first year of this new flora, fauna, and ecosystem research project we are visiting different areas one by one to help us plan the subsequent years. We have done field trips to Cerro Cahui, Bio Itza, Biotopo San Miguel la Palotada and the southeast part of Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre. We go with local people on each field trip since this is a project of cooperation and coordination and we visit with the administrators. There are several other national parks that we would like to assist when time and funding are available.

Today we would like to share with botanists, ecologists, and other interested professors, students and interested general public the initial results of first stage field work on seasonally inundated savannas. Bajo vegetation is already sell studied by multiple projects by Guatemalan archaeologists, ecologists and partners from universities in several other countries. Hillside and hilltop vegetation has been studied by Cyrus Lundell in the 1930’s, Dennis Puleston in the 1960’s, and lots of capable ecologists and archaeologists in recent decades. So we are focused on studying savannas, swamps, marshes, riversides, lakesides and other areas

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FLAAR report on ground level photography	FLAAR report on helpful drone photography
These FLAAR reports are literally only the beginning of our dedicated coverage. I am especially interested in all plant species of these seasonally inundated areas. We also photograph any insect or other creature that we find. All reports will also be published in Spanish as soon as possible.

This report has one of our user-friendly maps to show you where Biotopo Cero Cahui is located and thus how you can easily get here.

Vegetation changes noticeably as the Yaxha lake water level and nearby lagoons rises and falls every several years

Posted October 11, 2021

All the lakes, lagoons, and inlets in the chain from Laguna Sacnab to Laguna Champoxte at the far west of the park (PNYNN) have water levels that rise and fall. In dry years there are massive areas of former mud bottoms that turn into biodiverse fields of vegetation: we have found “cuscuta mimic savannas” of Cassytha filiformis on the south shore of Lake Yaxha and thick “morning glory vine fields” where the inlet named Laguneta Julequito is.

So we are featuring this inlet of Lake Yaxha on the front cover of our brief initial introduction to the unstudied lakes and lagoons at the southwest part of Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo.

This report will be replaced by new FLAAR reports using our fresh drone photos of:

• Laguneta La Guitarra (Laguneta El Juleque)
• Laguneta Lancaja (Laguneta Lancaha)
• Laguneta Perdida (Laguneta of 3 Conjoined Cenotes) that we show in our report on the Savanna of 3 Fern Species

This coming week we will be accomplishing drone photography of the Southwest Cenote, the Northwest Cenote, Rio Ixtinto and the shore areas between and around them (so the far west end of Lake Yaxha). The middle and east ends of Lake Yaxha are so easy to see that they don’t need special reports at the moment.

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16 page introduction to the lagoons, lagunetas west of Lake Yaxha and the inlet of Lake Yaxha (at its southwest part). We show satellite views, printed government maps, and introductory bibliography to document which of these lagoons are missing from 90% of maps and 99% of ecological research projects. Much more coming but we wanted to show what we are working on.

Lots of remarkable Neotropical Flowering Plants to see and photograph in Biotopo Cerro Cahui

Posted October 6, 2021

If you are interested in ethnobotany, Biotopo Cerro Cahai is a place with lots of different plants. For example, we found many edible cauliflorous fruits of Parmentiera aculeata, cuajilote. This tree fruits and flowers directly from the trunk. The flowers are similar size and unusual shape as the cauliflorous flowers of Crescentia cujete (jicara) and Crescentia alata (morro).

We include a list of 27 species of wild plants native to this part of the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya that are edible.

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We try to have all our FLAAR reports in both Spanish and in English.

This report has one of our user-friendly maps to show you where Biotopo Cero Cahui is located and thus how you can easily get here.

Documenting botanically interesting trees, vines, shrubs, herbs, water plants in remote unexplored areas of Peten as our 5-year (2021-2025) field work continues

Posted October 4, 2021

Our 15-month project in the eastern half of Izabal area of Guatemala has evolved to focusing on wetlands vegetation and habitats: swamps, marshes, riverside ecosystems, lake and lagoon side ecosystems, and the biodiverse areas inland starting several meters from the Caribbean Beach (of Amatique Bay). This Municipio de Livingston area project has three more months before this phase is completed.

My immersion in wetlands of Izabal has motivated me to focus on wetlands of the Reserva de Biosfera Maya (RBM). The RBM is the entire northern half of Peten: from Lake Peten Itza at the south all the way up to the Peten-Campeche border at the north; and from the Peten-Chiapas border at the west across to the Peten-Belize border at the east.

Since savannas of RBM are seasonally inundated (as are the adjacent bajos, tintal areas that surround the grassland savannas), I am including savannas in our coverage of wetlands. We have documented several remarkable savannas during our 2018-2019 project in PNYNN (Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo). Now we continue there plus are expanding to cover the entire project area: Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM). So in August we visited two savannas in the far southeast part of Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre (PNLT). We focus on the far southeast because 99% of previous helpful ecological, botanical, and zoological research by other professors in this park has been at the west and northwest.

Callingcard vine (Entada polystachya) in Chocón Machacas

Posted September 29, 2021

Throughout the Chocón Machacas River you can find Callingcard vine (Entada polystachya) or in Spanish “bejuco de agua”, “bejuco Prieto”. It is a plant that seems to be very spongy and can be observed in 3 colors: green, white and brown. The buttons are green and when they open they turn white and brown. Its fruits are legumes, that means, pods. It is a plant with a foul odor.

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Ecology: Tall climbing shrub, no spines present. The flowers are grouped and very flowered clusters are seen, depending on their stage of development, it turns into different colors. The fruits are pods that are 5 to 6cm wide.

Distribution: Native to tropical America. It lives in a warm climate between 550 and 800 meters above sea level. It is associated with disturbed vegetation derived from mangroves, tropical deciduous forest, grassland, and thorn forest. This means that it is a very adaptable plant to different ecosystems.

Ethnobotany uses: The ground seeds of this species are used to apply topically, it is used to prevent hair loss; the soaked root to wash the hair; and stem water in eye infections. A slightly sweet, pale yellow resin is obtained from the tree and sometimes it is used as a dye.

Written by Vivian Hurtado & Roxana Leal
Identified Species by Victor Mendoza

Cafecillo (Casearia aculeata) a cauliflory plant

Posted September 28, 2021

Cafecillo (Casearia aculeata) is a very showy plant, its fruit is very peculiar since it is green on the outside and on the inside it is red with an orange seed. When you touch the red color inside the fruit it stains your finger a bit, although it is removed quickly. Its flower is white and has three petals. This species was photographed in Río Chocón Machacas, Livingston, Izabal.

It is a species of tree of the SALICACEAE family, it is distributed in flooded areas in both the Pacific and Atlantic areas. It is a species that is found from Mexico to Panama and in the Antilles, and part of South America. It is a spiny, evergreen shrub or small tree, usually growing 2 - 3 m tall, but with occasional specimens to 10 m.

It is a kind of cauliflory plant, this means that the flowers are born directly from the stems. Where axillary buds that have the potential to form inflorescences originate, they are located at the angle or axilla, between the stem and the petiole of the leaves.

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Photography by: David Arrivillaga, Chocon Machacas (2021)

Uses:

Taxonomy:

Written by Vivian Hurtado & Roxana Leal
Identified Species by Victor Mendoza

Macrophyte photographed with the new underwater equipment

Posted September 27, 2021

On the last day of the September expedition of the Biodiversity of Livingston project part of the team went to visually document underwater species in Cañon del Río, Río Dulce, Livingston area. We found aquatic plants.

We use the new underwater photography equipment a SONY RX100 VII camera, a SONY Underwater Housing MPK-URX100A, and a Weefine Ring Light 1000. Here we show you the results.

Brandon Hidalgo and Victor Mendoza using the new underwater photography equipment.	Potamogeton illinoensis photographed by Victor Mendoza using the Sony RX100, Cañon de Rio Dulce.

Macrophytes are characterized by have been adapted to aquatic life, which is why they have a thin epidermis, dysfunctional stomata and little lignified elements. They inhabit lagoons, dams, swamps, riverbanks, lakes and even the seas. These are important since they serve as a filter for nutrients in water bodies, in addition to producing oxygen and can maintain the ecological balance in their aquatic habitat.

In Rio Dulce, different macrophytes were found, among which Potamogeton illinoensis, Vallisneria americana, Nymphaea ampla, and an introduced species called Hydrilla sp.

Written by Vivian Hurtado & Roxana Leal
Identified Species by Victor Mendoza

Passion flower at the Chocón Machacas river

Posted September 17, 2021

At the beginning of the Río Chocón Machacas we find a very curious vine with small flowers it was a Passion flower.

Botanical characteristics of the flower: Its colors seem colored with watercolor. Its strains are green, petals white with purple, filaments are yellow, the androgynophor is green and the anthers come out of it, followed by the ovary and to finish their stigmas. This flower was observed by our boatman Cornelio Macz, who accompanied us on the September expedition.

Plant etymology: Passiflora was the generic name adopted by Linnaeus in 1753 and means "passion flower". Derived from the Latin passio which means "passion" and flos which means "flower". This was granted by the Jesuit missionaries in 1610, due to the similarity of some parts of the plant with religious symbols of the Passion of Christ, the whip with which he was beaten being the tendrils, the three nails represented by the styles; stamens and radial corolla being the crown of thorns. It receives the epithet ‘’ biflora’’ derived from the Latin meaning "with two flowers."

In Guatemala you can find 62 species of the Passiflora genus, the 10% are endemic from the country. The areas with the greatest diversity are those that oscillate between 1000-2000 masl in the following departments: Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, San Marcos, Quetzaltenango, Chiquimula, Guatemala and Sololá. Some of these species are vulnerable, so it’s important to continue with conservation efforts and support the natural reserves we have (De Macvean & Macdougal, 2012). They are important for the economy since some species are edible, other have medicinal properties and they are also valuable as ornamental flowers because of their beauty.

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Passiflora biflora at Rio Chocon Machacas, El Golfete, Livingston. September, 2021. Photo by David Arrivillaga, FLAAR Mesoamerica.

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Passiflora biflora at Rio Chocon Machacas, El Golfete, Livingston. September, 2021. Photo by David Arrivillaga, FLAAR Mesoamerica.

Written by Vivian Hurtado & Roxana Leal
Identified Species by Victor Mendoza

The curious flower of Barillo (Symphonia globulifera)

Posted September 16, 2021

Barillo (Symphonia globulifera) is a plant that you can find in the Livingston area in Izabal. This time we find it specifically in Black Creek. We found it very curious, since at first glance its flower looks like a fruit.

As we got closer and got to know her more, we realized that what we thought was her fruit was actually its flower. We hope to find more of this species and document it with more photographs.

About the uses of Barillo, it is known that the raw fruit is edible. The bark is taken as an appetizer, gentle laxative, stomachic and tonic. The resin is used externally to treat wounds; prevent skin infections and treat scabies. Sap from the leaves is sniffed up the nose to stop it bleeding. The resin is also used for making candles and torches and the wood is used for construction and as a fuel (Tropical Plants Database, 2013).

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Symphonia globulifera at Black Creek, El Golfete, Livingston. September, 2021. Photo by Brandon Hidalgo, FLAAR Mesoamerica.

Written by Vivian Hurtado & Roxana Leal
Identified Species by Victor Mendoza