Costa Rica
The summer of 2018 I had the opportunity to study abroad in Costa Rica. I spent approximately a month in Costa Rica to conduct my study (please see the abstract below). This trip was my first time doing research outside of a lab. I learned many new data collection methods, such as how to estimate the number of individual plant species in a given area. However, this trip became so much more than just merely collecting data. My classmates and I were lucky enough to venture into the rainforest, which is diminishing, and we got to see animals and plants I had only seen in textbooks. Moreover, I had hand wash my clothes, wake up at five daily, and go into the forest for hours at a time. It was most definitely a humbling experience as I began to follow a simpler lifestyle. My peers and I did not have readily available wifi, so our communication with the outside world was limited. Moreover, I did not bring my laptop on this trip so my final report had to be written by hand. This in itself was an interesting experience because I did not have the chance to make major edits (adding and removing paragraphs) while formulating my final draft. Each word in the report had to be chosen carefully. I could not write without a purpose. After this experience, I look forward to conducting more research in the future.
FEEDING AND FORAGING IN CEBUS CAPUCINUS
All research was conducted at Estación Biológica la Suerte.
Cebus Capucinus has a wide ranging diet, capable of exploiting multiple foods. The purpose of this study is to investigate the feeding and foraging behaviors of this species. More specifically, the activity budget, foraging strategies, and sex and age class will be viewed keeping foraging success as the focal point. Divergences between males and females, and juveniles and adults are not expected to occur. Yet, variances in diet and among age and class are expected due to metabolic requirements. Research will be conducted to investigate foraging success among the sexes and age classes. This research will be conducted in Costa Rica, at the La Suerte field station. Instantaneous sampling will be used to formulate an activity budget. Diet will be monitores, and separated into the categories of; plants, insects, and fruit. Cebus capucinus was found to have few differences within foraging success between adults and juveniles with feed to forage ratios following as 1.86% and 1.62%. Females had higher foraging success than males, feeding 31.6% of the time. Overall this species spends 38.2% of its time foraging and feeding. This data indicates that, firstly the "ecological risk aversion hypothesis" needs to be investigated further and secondly, factors other than sex and age must be present when analyzing foraging success and should be taken into consideration. Ultimately, this study questions if foraging success rates are a good indicator of survival.
