The XPERT field school took place 8-22 April 2015 in Ecuador
Outline program (written prior to departure)
Two field trips are planned; one to the eastern and one to the western Andean flank.
The first field trip, to the eastern Andean flank, will visit two study sites close to the Hacienda Erazo (between the towns of Baeza and Cosanga, c. 1900 m above sea level [asl]). Participants will be taught field skills whilst examining a sedimentary section and surveying/coring a lake. The work on the sedimentary section will build upon previously published work and seeks to obtain new samples to shed new light on the ‘controversial’ origins of the sediments (Cardenas et al., 2011ab, 2014, Punyasena et al., 2011). The nearby lake was ‘discovered’ during fieldwork in 2013 but due to logistical constraints could not be cored. During the first stage of the field work we will be staying mainly in a hostel; however, the expedition to the lake will involve wild camping.
The second field trip, to the western Andean flank, will visit a series of vegetation study plots distributed over an elevation range from 600 to 4500 m asl (near Volcan Pichincha). The vegetation study plots are being established by CONDESAN to provide information on biodiversity and carbon storage within Choco-Andean biodiversity hotspot. Participants will be taught vegetation survey skills and the transect will be sampled for the purpose of improving our understanding of the modern environment with a view to being able to better interpret the fossil record. During the second stage of the field work we will be staying in local hostels.
Following the field work the team will return to Quito. Whilst in Quito participants will have the opportunity to present findings during a seminar series to be hosted at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, and discover more about the rich history of Ecuador by visiting the Museo Nacional de Quito.
Over the course of the field school training will be provided on general and specialist skills. General skills training will cover: data collection, data management, field notebooks, field sketching, oral presentation, sampling strategy design and teamwork. Specialist skills training will include: limnological survey, operation of a sediment corer, plant identification, pollen trapping and vegetation survey.
References
Cárdenas, M.L., Gosling, W.D., Pennington, R.T., Poole, I., Sherlock, S.C. & Mothes, P. (2014) Forests of the tropical eastern Andean flank during the middle Pleistocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 393: 76-89.
Cárdenas, M.L., Gosling, W.D., Sherlock, S.C., Poole, I., Pennington, R.T. & Mothes, P. (2011a) The response of vegetation on the Andean flank in western Amazonia to Pleistocene climate change. Science 331, 1055-1058.
Cárdenas, M.L., Gosling, W.D., Sherlock, S.C., Poole, I., Pennington, R.T. & Mothes, P. (2011b) Response to Comment on “The Response of Vegetation on the Andean Flank in Western Amazonia to Pleistocene Climate Change”. Science 333, 1825.
Punyasena, S.W., Dalling, J.W., Jaramillo, C. & Turner, B.J. (2011) Comment on “The response of vegetation on the Andean flank in western Amazonia to Pleistocene climate change”. Science 333, 1825.
Palaeoenvironment 