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Vote Today!
 The OTS Amigos t-shirt has been a long-standing tradition for decades. Each year, the membership shirt has spotlighted a wide variety of tropical themes. This year, we're leaving it up to you -
our members.
Over the last two months, we have received a number of designs for consideration from alumni and friends of OTS. We have selected four designs for the contest.CLICK HERE to view your choices and vote today. Voting will close on June 30, 2010. |
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OTS Annual Report
 The 2008-09 Annual Report is now available for download on the OTS website. To reduce our collective carbon impact, we do not have hard copies available and recommend that you download an electronic version for viewing and only print this document when necessary.
 OTS 2009-09 Annual Report (4 MB)
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 | Permanent Primary Forest Plot at Las Cruces Las Cruces is proud to announce that the station has officially inaugurated its first primary forest permanent plot. The plot is 2.25 hectares in size and has been grided into 10 x 10 m subplots that are each marked by corner PVC posts. All trees and lianas > 5 cm DBH (diameter at breast height) have been tagged, mapped in 3-dimensional space, and identified by species whenever possible. It is estimated that approximately 80-85% of all species have been identified to species level at this stage and further identifications are continuously being made.
The project was initiated in the summer of 2007 by Chris Peterson from the University of Georgia and Zak Zahawi, the Las Cruces Station Director, in the summer of 2007. However, due to a lack of funds and severe time restrictions the project took longer than expected to complete. It has involved countless hours of volunteer time, most notably from the students of the summer NAPIRE (Native American and Pacific Islanders Research Experience) program at Las Cruces, the PIs and by Las Cruces station staff.
The plan is to resurveying the plot every 3 years to monitor forest demographics at Las Cruces. The value of having such a plot for furthering research at the station is essential and we hope that this will further attract researchers to the southern part of Costa Rica. If you are interested in additional information, please contact Zak Zahawi directly at zak.zahawi@ots.ac.cr. |
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. | Green Macaw Update
In
the March issue of E-Canopy, we included an article on the observation
of a pair great green macaws (Ara ambiguus) courting. Although the
macaws visit La Selva every year to feed on the almendro fruits (Dipteryx
panamensis), they usually return north along the Río San Juan to nest. Experts
have been puzzled about why the birds do not nest in the Sarapiquí region,
where the habitat seems entirely appropriate. This species is considered
highly endangered (CITES I), with only about 50 breeding pairs in Costa Rica
and a total population of about 3,700 individuals.
In March 2010, La Selva invited Drew Irwin and his crew to La Selva to document the
pair of nesting Great Green Macaws. Drew Irwin is an
audiovisual producer, director, cameraman, non-linear video editor, and video
and multimedia installation artist based in San Jose, Costa Rica. Drew has been working with Deedra McClearn, La Selva Station Director, on the La Selva Fern Blog since it was launched in January 2009.
 CLICK HERE to view the video on the OTS YouTube Channel.
 To document the macaws, which were
approximately a distance of 40 meters from the camera location, Drew used a
high definition Panasonic P2 AG-HVX500 camcorder with a Canon ENG HD lens
(model: KJ16EX7.7B IRSD), with a focal length of 7.7-124mm (16x)/15.4-248mm
(w/2x Extender).
Special thanks to
Rodolfo Alvaroado (Fofo) for guiding the crew to the nesting macaws, to Deedra
McClearn for inviting the A.M.I. Video crew to La Selva, and to the La Selva
staff for all their support and assistance during the visit.
A.M.I.
Video has also produced several videos for OTS since 2008, including:
La Selva
Biological Station - 40 Years of Research: Science and Community
http://vimeo.com/9095674
and
Naturalist
Guides Course OTS - 2009
http://vimeo.com/11407398 |
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Duke Planned Giving Office Offers Advice to OTS Members
Glenn and Barbara established a bequest for OTS in 2007. |
Our friends in the
Duke University Planned Giving Office have agreed to provide advice to OTS donors on how you
can minimize your tax exposure and /or receive a steady income for life while
maintaining your commitment to OTS in perpetuity.
For example, some
options, such as gift annuities, can provide you with an immediate tax
deduction and, depending on your age, provide you with excellent quarterly
payouts at a rate that is not possible through almost any other
investment. Alternatively, a charitable
lead trust can be used to transfer assets to children or others at a
significantly reduced tax liability.
Glenn and I are delighted to support OTS
--- now and in the future. The quality programs, world-class field stations,
and excellent support staff have provided unsurpassed educational and research
opportunities for thousands of scientists, future scientists, and concerned
citizens. Truly the world, and not just the tropics, is a better place because
of OTS. -- Barbara Bentley
OTS has a unique opportunity right now -- by letting us know of your
intention, we might be able to match your future donation on a 1:1
basis with a grant we received from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
If you would like to take advantage of this
opportunity, please contact Jonathan Giles at (919) 684-6188 or jgiles@duke.edu.
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