Marojejy National Park

Marojejy is a rainforest-clad mountain massif in northeastern Madagascar. The park was established in 1952 as a strict nature reserve, but was changed to a national park in 1998^[1]. Several notable biological research expeditions have been led to this mountain, the most significant of which was the Goodman expedition in 1996^[2]. This expedition was one of a series of major biological surveys in Madagascar published in the journal Fieldiana. Their findings provided a baseline for future studies of the flora and fauna of many areas of Madagascar. In the case of Marojejy, this baseline knowledge on reptiles and amphibians was later expanded upon in further expeditions by other herpetologists.

The herpetofaunal diversity of the mountain is immense. To date, around 56 amphibian and 66 reptile species from the park have names (primarily summarised in Glaw & Vences 2007^[3]). But as is typical in Madagascar, a large number of unnamed species are also known from the park, but are in the long queue to receive names.

From November to December 2016, I took part in an expedition to Marojejy to study the reptiles and amphibians of this park. Our research team included Professor Miguel Vences, three of his PhD students (Molly Bletz, Andolalao Rakotoarison, and myself), a Master’s student from the University of Antananarivo (Jary Harinarivo), and a professional herp guide (Angeluc Razafimanantsoa). After two weeks in the park, Miguel, Ando, and Molly left, and I was joined by Carl Hutter, a PhD student at the University of Kansas. As is typical of these expeditions, we were accompanied by a local guide (Eduard) and a cook (Toto), and often also by up to 18 porters to carry our heavy equipment over the treacherous terrain.

Marojejy is a fairly steep massif. It ascends fairly gently from 60 m above sea level (a.s.l.) at Manantenina (where the park office is located, and some two hours by foot from the edge of the protected area) to around 500 m above sea level, and then becomes increasingly steep, rising rapidly to about 2200 m a.s.l. The altitudinal cline creates a stark vegetational gradient, from lowland rainforest and bamboo forest, to mid-, to high-altitude rainforest, to cloud forest, and finally to dwarf shrub a the peak—a cline moreover that influences the distribution of reptile and amphibian species, such that communities at the bottom and top of the mountain do not share a single species.

The view at around 1300 m a.s.l., looking down on the lowland forests. At this altitude, you are somewhere in the transition between montane rainforest and cloud forest.

The view at around 1800 m a.s.l. At this altitude you are well into cloud forest, and the trees are becoming increasingly dwarfed.

The view from the peak, around 2130 m a.s.l. At this atltiude there is no more forest, only dwarf shrubs. This habitat is truly bizarre, and has several microendemic reptile and amphibian species.

The weather on Marojejy is typically very wet, but during our stay it was unseasonally dry. As a result, reptile and especially amphibian activity was less than we had hoped. Indeed, toward the end of our stay, there was a period so dry that even the most abundant and care-free frogs stopped calling. This week-long dry spell ended abruptly in an enormous storm, which had the desired effect of bringing back the frogs, but unfortunately also brought out the leeches in force, made conditions considerably more dangerous, and came on the second to last and last days in the field, making work almost impossible. Despite our weather troubles, we had a lot of success, especially at higher altitudes where humidity is more constant than toward the lower reaches of the mountain.

The park has three tourist camp sites, set up in the same sites the Goodman team used in their 1996 surveys. These are Camp 1 (456 m a.s.l.), Camp 2 (~750 m a.s.l.), and Camp 3 (1325 m a.s.l.). Our research took us to each of these camps and also the non-tourist Camp 0 (310 m a.s.l.), which is however still on the main path, and up to the peak, though we did not camp there. The facilities at each of the established camps are incredible, and include not just sheltered eating and cooking space, but also semi-European toilets (meaning sitting toilets that sometimes even flush!), flowing water (redirected from nearby streams with ingenious, partially bamboo piping), and bungalows for the tourists (we slept in tents to save money). This makes Marojejy one of the best provisioned parks in Madagascar for tourists in my experience, especially for those wanting to do something more extreme in terms of hiking, but still sleep, eat, and above all defecate comfortably.

Our expedition to Marojejy had two primary goals:

(1) to investigate probiotic bacterial communities on the skin of frogs

(2) to collect material of new and poorly known species of reptiles and amphibians in the park.

The Frog Probiotics research was part of a study that spans Madagascar; Molly’s PhD project. The moist skin of frogs is rich in bacterial communities. Within these communities are ‘good bacteria’ that help the frogs deal with infection and disease. Most importantly, some bacteria can help in the fight against the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) that is responsible for the extinction of hundreds of amphibian species worldwide. But isolating these bacteria is not easy, and samples from a single frog are often not representative of all members of that species. So data collection for probiotics must be done with fairly large sample sizes. Using nitrile gloves and sterile plastic bags, we caught at least five specimens per frog species studied, which were then carefully swabbed—all in all, the probiotics team managed to swab 200 frogs, belonging to 20 different species, including those pictured here:

My main role on this trip was to look for new and poorly known species. We identified a list of priority target species to try and find, including several known only from photographs or few specimens. In addition, we had several targets for ongoing projects; Ando for instance was focussed mainly on collecting Stumpffia species, which are the subject of her PhD, and Miguel and I searched specifically for several groups that we are currently working on. So, while we did not manage to capture the full diversity of the park, we did manage to find the majority of our target species. Here is a small selection of the species (targets and non) we found:

For me, the most exciting find (aside from a really spectacular new species of Rhombophryne), was a big female of R. vaventy, the first species I ever described! Seeing these frogs in person is a totally different experience to seeing them in preservative. Disappointingly, we failed to find R. serratopalpebrosa, which would have been a key species to find to aid in the final resolution of the R. serratopalpebrosa group, which is nearing completion. In the end, we actually managed to find three of the species I’ve described in the last three years: R. vaventy, R. savaka (pictured above), and R. botabota (pictured above).

Rhombophryne vaventy!

As for new species (by which I mean properly new discoveries, not known unnamed species), the trip was remarkably successful. Clearly new species number at least five for frogs, and may be more than ten for frogs and reptiles combined! Some of the specimens may need closer examination and genetic barcoding to rule out that they belong to known species, but all-in-all we are really pleased with our findings.

The habitat of Marojejy is really remarkable. Despite fairly high tourist numbers (and seasonally extreme weather), the paths are fairly well maintained, and the forest around them intact, so that few invasive species are to be seen deep into the forest, and the conditions are generally good. This came as a surprise, given that political unrest in 2009 led to logging, particularly of precious woods, deep inside the forest^[4]. No trace could be seen of this activity. The forest, indeed, was far more intact than any I have worked in to date. I am pleased to say that the diversity, at least of reptiles and amphibians, is still in dire need of study, and that there are surely many more things waiting in the pristine forests of Marojejy to be discovered.

Sources:

[1] http://www.marojejy.com/Intro_e.htm

[2] Goodman, S.M. (1997) A floral and faunal inventory of the parc national de Marojejy, Madagascar – with reference to elevational variation. Chicago, IL, Field Museum of Natural History, 286 pp. Available from: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/3276#/summary

[3] Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (2007) A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Vences & Glaw Verlags GbR, Köln, Germany, 496 pp.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_logging_in_Madagascar#Effects_of_the_2009_political_crisis

The National Bison Range. Those small brown dots on the hill on the far left? Yes, those are bison.

A spectacular meadow in the middle of the forest on the Idaho-Montana border.

Missoula under the setting sun – iPhone pano

Probably the most moving sunset I have ever experienced – iPhone pano

More soon.

– M

I have picked up my camera only a few times since last I posted, but I still have accrued quite a backlog of things about which I intend to post.

I will start, however, with my most recent activity, because it is by far the most exciting, and involves shooting in a style that I am utterly unfamiliar with (which means that many of the photos suck, sorry about that).

Emily Graslie of The Brain Scoop at the National Bison Range in Montana

I flew at short notice across the world to visit Emily Graslie, noted youtuber and museum fiend. If you have not yet seen her show, The Brain Scoop, make sure to check it out at your soonest convenience (by clicking the link). It is fascinating educational content, put out in a funny and easy-to-understand way. Emily is changing the future of museums by bringing their function and behind-the-scenes life to the forefront of the public mind. It is easy to understand why one of the world’s largest and best-respected museums has decided to acquire her.

This was the first time I have visited in America in four years – the first time as an adult – and I had a fantastic time. Emily took me around to see some parts of America that I have only ever seen in movies and read about in books – the parts that it is easy to forget as an expat living overseas, growing up removed and immersed in stereotype.

Some of the landscapes were just incredible. This road up the National Bison Range is one of the most scenic routes I have ever seen. And this comes from someone who lives in Switzerland!

I tried to work some landscapes, first with no foreground interest, and then with some added.

I think the foreground interest gives a much better balance to the shot.

This gnarly pine tree grows near the top of the mountain around which the National Bison Range lies.

Quite spectacular views.

More flowers for foreground interest.

A beautifully bleak view. Emily wanted to paint it, and I can understand why. The drama is just wonderful. This is a kind of scene you just don’t see in Europe.

The landscapes were just wonderful to work with. Unfortunately I found myself woefully out of practice. But some of these are alright.
The wildlife in the National Bison Range is incredible. I haven’t seen large mammals up close since last I was in mainland Africa seven years ago, and never have I had a chance to photograph them properly.

We went to the Bison range and we saw… Bison. Shock shock.

Not just bison though – we saw pronghorns too!

This particular fellow was grazing right by the road. Which is good, because, as you may remember, my long lens was stolen last year, and the longest I have now is just a 105. And I forgot my teleconverter, because I’m an idiot apparently.

Bighorn sheep resting by the road.

These Bighorns lined themselves up quite nicely for a well-balanced shot.

The National Bison Range was awesome, and Emily was just a fountain of facts, talking about its founding, and the diorama of taxidermied Bison that was set up by William Temple Hornaday to alert America and the rest of the world to their plight, and finally wound up in the Phillip L. Wright Zoological Museum at the University of Montana, where Emily has volunteered for the last two years.

A few days later we drove up to the border with Idaho. This was beautiful country full of more beautiful landscapes.

A logging path through awesome pine forest.

An enormous meadow in the middle of the pine forest.

In the middle of the meadow, a massive rock.

Some more experimentation with foreground interest.

And finally, an adorable ground squirrel.

I have two more posts to follow this one: one on the awesome thing we found whilst hiking through the forest, and one on the museum. So stay tuned – I hope to have the first of those up by the end of the week.

~ M

I have to say, it has been an irrationally long time since I last put a blog up here. There has been a lot of crazy stuff going on.

So what’s new? Well, I’m going back to Madagascar in 10 days (more on that later). That has caused most of the stress, and is really the reason I haven’t blogged since January. We have been sorting out the logistics, getting the project together, and trying to get our heads around the expedition. On top of that, I’ve also been at Uni, so that’s been consuming the rest of my life. All this to say my camera has scarcely seen the light of day since I last blogged.

That’s not entirely true, as I imagine you gather from the title of this blog. I went up to Aviemore in northern Scotland with Edinburgh University PhotoSoc and did quite a lot of photography up there. This is the first of three (possibly four) blogs about that trip. I might employ the clever skills of WordPress and write all the blogs today, and get them to publish a few days apart. We will see.

Aviemore:

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm 1/250s f/3.2

This first shot was really just for fun. The stumps are completely covered in lichen and mosses, and I thought I would test the 14-24 on them. Beautiful I think. Busy, but fun. Not the sort of shot you would get out of a macro lens. This trip was meant to work on a few things. Specifically, I wanted to test my own creativity with things that I don’t usually shoot. I wanted to capture the thick atmosphere, and the feeling of the forest, while at the same time grabbing a bit of emotion and depth in the shots.

D300 + 105mm VR @ 1/200s f/2.8

D300 + 105mm VR @ 1/25s f/8

I actually had a lot of fun shooting the forests. I treated them like you would a herd of cattle or a flock of birds; I singled out the interesting one, and framed around it, isolating with a shallow depth of field, but not completely obscuring nearby features. The tripod was a must, as the light in the forest was dim, and shutter speeds were low at times.

D300 + 300mm VR @ 1/30s f/2.8

I also shot with a very warm whitebalance (manually set to 6250K). This brings out the vibrance of the tree bark, but is not so warm that the bluish white of the lichen appears yellow.

D300 + 300mm VR @ 1/20s f/7.1

Spotting patterns in the trees also made for some fun times, though only one of the resulting photos is any good, and I still can’t decide if I like it or not:

D300 + 300mm VR @ 1/50s f/8

I also played with a bit of macro abstract stuff. I don’t really know what I think about these. They are probably too warm. Tut.

D300 + 300mm VR @ 1/800s f/2.8

D300 + 105mm VR @ 1/50s f/4.5

And finally in this mini series, I found a bank of reeds and shot it for a while. Again, only one good shot to show for it. But it was fun to try to work the shutter speeds for just the right amount of blur in the water.

D300 + 300mm VR + TC-14E @ 1/3s f/20

And that ends the Aviemore section of this post. It is a really magical place, and camping out in it all made the adventure just that much better. We were up super early every morning to get out and get shots. More on all of that in the next post!

Madagascar:

So, going back to Madagascar! I guess I’ll give you a bit of an overview on the trip: myself and a team of three other people are going out to do research in a newly protected area of southern Madagascar. I am leading the expedition, and conducting research on the effects of deforestation and habitat exploitation on reptile diversity and community structure; Matthew, an old friend of mine, is studying the population status of the critically endangered Radiated Tortoise; we both have a student each to help out with our studies, and on top of that we have a third student studying the plants of our study sites; Natalie and Justine are the team’s anthropologists, and are creating a documentary and a written report of their observations of both the people and the way in which we interact with them.

Our destination.

The expedition is going to be 2 months long, six weeks of which will be spent in the field doing the research. When we get back, we have to deliver lots of talks to all of the granting bodies, and disseminate the project report as far as possible. So when we get back, we will really have our work cut out for us. But I will certainly generate some EPIC photos. I have purchased a 32gb Lexar card, 2 additional batteries for my camera, and I am even bringing my 300mm VR with me. I might purchase a 2x teleconverter too.

So yes, that is very exciting. It means I won’t be blogging again for a long time after this Aviemore series. But when I get back, I will make serious changes, and also be changing the home of this blog. But more to come on that in a few months. =D

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm HDR

You’ll notice that it’s a bit surreal looking – unfortunately, that effect is sometimes inescapable.
HDR is a useful tool sometimes, but the situation has to be appropriate. Typically, it is used for the middle of the day, where the light and shadow are too different. Admittedly, this is a fine application.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 16mm HDR

Another fantastic and underappreciated use is a (lower quality) alternative to a Neutral Density (ND) filter, whose job it is to make exposures longer, typically resulting in beautifully blurred rivers with a bright day sky (an effect otherwise only possible when it is quite dark outside).

D300 + 14-24mm @ 14mm HDR

D300 + 14-24mm @ 14mm HDR

D300 + 14-24mm @ 16mm HDR

D300 + 14-24mm @ 15mm HDR

I find it actually makes for pretty interesting sunsets too. Much more realistic to the moment. Still, I’m not sure if I prefer it to the gorgeous, limited sunsets that are generated when you only have a fraction of the dynamic range.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm HDR

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm HDR

D300 + 14-24mm @ 14mm HDR

D300 + 14-24mm @ 14mm HDR

Anyways, more HDR will be forthcoming at some point, but this concludes the landscapes of Corsica. Next: Critters of Corsica!

Let me end by saying, the latest post from Corsica, had the best reception of any post yet. Almost 2000 veiws in two days. Amazing. Thanks for stopping by!

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm 1/8000s f/2.8

D300 + 14-24mm @ 14mm 1/400s f/10

D300 + 14-24mm @ 14mm 1/5000s f/2.8

Now there are two ways of dealing with this problem. The first is to make the clouds conspicuous by their absence; that is to say, fill most of the frame with the hard, unyielding blue of the sky.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 17mm 1/5000s f/2.8

That’s not always a good idea – for one, the print uses an inordinate amount of blue ink, and two, a blue sky? nothing else? Seems pretty boring to me. So we recompose, and fill more of the frame with the landscape, the foreground.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 14mm 1/500s f/10

Corsica mimics Yosemite

Sure, that’s alright, but really, we could do with something of interest in our frame – something to contextualise. So we find elements to bring the viewer to the foreground.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm 1/800s f/2.8

D300 + 14-24mm @ 17mm 1/160s f/16

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm 1/2500s f/2.8

D300 + 14-24mm @ 14mm 1/1000s f/5.6

This is all well and good, but the problem of the sky only really presents itself if you are shooting during the heat of the day (which I’m sorry to say is precisely what I was doing most of the time). It is important to bear in mind that most of the best landscape photography happens in the hours immediately before and after sunrise or sunset. The light is just so much better.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 14mm 1/320s f/2.8

D300 + 14-24mm @ 18mm 1/1000s f/3.5

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm 1/4000s f/2.8

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm 1/1600s f/2.8

But this is where we encounter the problems. The dynamic range of the photos just can’t be captured in a single exposure.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 24mm 1/8000s f/8

More on that in the very next post from the landscapes of Corsica. Might not be the very next post. This one will take some time and conviction to get out. Now go shoot!

This is really going to be more of a work in progress than anything else. People who have been following the blog for a long time will realise that this is an area of photography in which I have little or no expertise, so this is a learning experience for me. That’s no excuse of course – I try to keep an extremely high standard for all of the photos I put up on the blog, and all of these shots are available as prints.

Corsica
Corsica is a fantastically gorgeous island. Full of mountains, devoid of the crazy tourists of so much of the rest of southern France, it is like a miniature Africa. In many respects, especailly its flora and fauna, it reminded me strongly of Greece and western Italy, yet it has its own air of rustic beauty.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/200s f/16

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/400s f/9

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/5000s f/2.8

It is not a country for those of weak constitution – the roads wind madly around the mountains, and the sun beats down relentlessly.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/500s f/10

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/160s f/16

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/320s f/2.8

As I say, this is not an area of photography that I am particularly comfortable with. But that’s really something that I quite enjoy – a great challenge, and a way of re-inventing what you do. Not only the black and white (which I’m liking by the way, you? This, by the way, is inspired by the amazing black and white landscape work of Moose Peterson) but also just working with a wide angle, learning to align the elements, compose, and get the exposure just right. And to be honest, I’m pretty bad at it right now. But I’m learning quickly.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/250s f/11

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/1250s f/5.6

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/8000s f/3.5

The 14-24mm f/2.8 is spectacularly great lens – one that I have not gotten even a fraction of the possibilities out of. But the best thing about it? It’s so easy. Focus range is just a fraction of a turn, and everything is just so conveneintly placed. One switch gives auto to manual focus. that’s it. Beyond that, it’s just you, and your ability to read and judge the situation. Fortunately, opportunities to practice are easy to come by on Corsica.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/250s f/8

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/320s f/8

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/2500s f/2.8

With bald skies like we had every day in Corsica, shooting the landscape could be difficult, and I wasn’t sure that things would work in black and white, but I was pleasantly suprised with how most of the shots turned out.

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/4000s f/2.8

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/5000s f/2.8

D300 + 14-24mm @ 1/1000s f/9

That’s not the last of the landscapes though. There are more to come. More things outside my comfort zone, but hopefully a bit fresh.

Keep your eyes on the blog for the new projects though! Mostly aimed at other photographers, but hopefully, other people will find these things interesting too.