IS Symposium

I one of the presentations I attended on Friday was given by Sarah Comstock who studied glass frogs in Costa Rica and how the male frogs provide care to the eggs based on environmental factors. Sarah emphasized what her results were and what they mean. She found that for the most part the dads rarely abandon their eggs. One example she said is that if temperature is high enough the frogs will call more and then they will need to find food making them abandon the eggs. Latin America was portrayed as a place where biology can be studied to the high biodiversity.

Mackenzie Kellar also went to Costa Rica to study glass frogs. She studied if there is a difference in the frog’s egg survival between primary and secondary forests. Primary forests or old growth forests have been standing for over 500 years where secondary forests are in the process of regrowing after the old growth has been removed. WIth the amount of deforestation that occurs it is important to know weather organisms can survive in secondary forests. Mackenzie emphasized that there was no significant difference in egg survival between the primary and secondary forests meaning that they should both perceived with the same importance. Latin America was portrayed as a place that has the highest amount of biodiversity in the world and the importance of its preservation.