Murcia, Week 4

So the purpose of this blog was to travel to different areas of Murcia and create webisodes exploring the natural ecosystems... and it finally happened!... kind of.

Watch the episode here!

I also thought now would be a good time to share with everyone what I'me actually doing out here in Murcia, Spain.

I have taken a 3 month internship at CEBAS - CSIC (Centro de Edafologia y Biologia Aplicada del Segura - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas) ((Center of Soil Science and Applied Biology of Segura - Superior Council of Scientific Investigation) This is the main research organization of the government of Spain.

Here is a link to their website!

For the last 2 years, the team has been monitoring
5 endemic (native to the area) and endangered (very small number of individuals left) species of shrubs in gypsum soil  ecosystems of Mediterranean Spain. The species I am working on include:

Heleanthemum squamatum
Heleanthemum syriacum
Santolina viscosa
Teucrium turredanum
(No pics as I haven't spent a lot of time in field)  

The main reason for the endangerment of these species have been habitat loss via the extraction of gypsum (Gypsum - wikipedia). It is a common amendment in garden soils to control pH (acidity) and Spain is the main supplier or Gypsum to Europe. Now that the sustainability of the gypsum soil ecosystems in Spain are threatened and harvesting of gypsum has decreased, we are looking at another factor threatening the ecosystem: Climate change.

These scrub lands are dominated by a pine tree canopy and receive very little water during the year. Climate projections show that temperatures will be rising in these areas by around 2*C in the next few years and soil moisture will be greatly reduced as well. We are monitoring how well the plants are surviving under these harsher conditions by measuring growth and survival.

My main focus is to monitor the ability for these plants to reproduce successfully under these new climate conditions. I have been in the lab harvesting seeds from the plant H. squamatum measuring fruit size and seed numbers in order to see if higher temperatures or water stress reduces the plants ability to produce seed. The fruit capsules are extremely small so I've been getting familiar with the microscope with great compromise to my eye sight. It's been difficult as well because we have found a fungus that is able to infect the seeds of H. squamatum at higher temperatures.

 After the harvesting of all the seeds I have placed them into a climate controlled growth chamber and monitor the seeds ability to germinate. This should take approx. 1 month to complete and needs continuous monitoring. So this will be taking up a lot of my time. Feel free to contact me if you would like a more in depth look at the methods we use. Until next time!

Murcia. Week 2 (And a bit of 3)

So the purpose of this blog was to create webisodes about the ecology of Murcia and show the beauty of nature... This has not happened yet.

This will all change very soon! Meet my new partner in crime: Animales!

He's a hefty mountain bike that was not made for touring but that will never stop me! Got my panniers packed and I'm ready to hit the coast! My friend Lupe has a place in a coastal town called Torrevieja! She will take me on a grand adventure this weekend and tell me about some of the interesting national parks around the area. (She's an amazing PhD student that I will be working with during my time in Spain! Check out her blog here!) Next week we will be visiting our field work sites near Madrid!

Now for some stuff I've actually done!

 I live in the heart of downtown Murcia. This is the fountain right outside of my building in the center of El Plaza de Circular. The city builds out from here in a circle which is really difficult to navigate, but I'm happy to report that after 3 weeks I can usually make it to work on time and have now stopped getting completely lost ... sort of.

This city is amazing! I just had my first big night out with some friends and I finally found out what all the noise outside my window is during all hours of the night! In Murcia, you don't leave your house until about midnight. And if you are really out to party you don't show up until about 2 or 3 in the morning! That's when things get really crazy! Many people here are keen to learn English and Murcia is not a town with a lot of tourists (unlike much of Spain), so when they find out you're a native English speaker they are more than willing to buy you a few beers and have a conversation with you. Needless to say
I made a lot of friends that night/morning.

 Murcia's gem is the Cathedral de Santa Maria. It is an epic and beautiful building that begs to be stared at for hours. I have yet to take the tour inside but hope to get some spectacular footage. It is located very near my home and I spend a lot of time drinking cafe solos (that's a shot of espresso!) with my friends and exchanging English and Spanish lessons. Construction began in 1388 and continued until the 18th century. It's a wondrous mix of  Baroque and gothic architecture and I can't wait to go inside!!!!

Even though I've been a little trapped in the city, I have been lucky enough to be staying with an amazing family! I borrowed one of their bikes and took it on a long ride last weekend along the Rio Segura! It's a beautiful river but has been heavily utilized as it's some of the only accessible water in the area and used to be one of Europe's most polluted rivers (as you can see in the photo it's pretty low this time of year). It flows east towards the Murcian coast along fields of orange and lemon orchards and through some beautiful mountains. The tectonic plate under the

"My smile is not mine, it is yours"

Mediterranean Sea pushes North into Spain creating  two Mountain ranges: The Cordillera Sur to the South of the Rio Segura and a wide array of mountains to the North. Many people bike along the Rio Segura and I was lucky to meet some cool people who offered me a refreshing beer on a beautiful hot day! I am now Tired. More Coming soon!