Exploring for Plants Expedition to study and conserve the palms of Micronesia, September - October 2008

'Multitasking' - Steve with GPS unit perched on his head while writing filed notes.

Today is Friday and our field work on Pohnpei is nearly complete.  We have spent five days systematically driving and hiking this island, looking for every known site of Ponapea.  Our methods are pretty simple.  We started by driving all the roads with our heads hanging out the car windows, looking intently at the passing vegetation.  We found a few populations that way.  Most helpful were our guides Ray and Amos from the Conservation Society of Pohnpei.  They already knew where a few populations are located on inland trails.  After seeing those, we began stopping and asking local people where to look.

Every time we find a group of Ponapea, we take a GPS reading to reference the site to a map.  Next we walk the area to get an idea of how many fruiting trees there are and if there are any seedlings.  If there are no seedlings, we try to figure out why the palms are not reproducing successfully.  Carl collects DNA samples from several trees at each site.  (This “DNA sample” is actually just a snippet of leaflet he folds neatly into an envelope and preserves with silica gel.  Things don’t get complicated until he gets the samples back to his lab.)  We take pictures of the palms and record the particulars of the site - elevation, surrounding vegetation, soil and drainage, threats to the trees, etc.

Now that the field work is over, we will review our field notes and discuss what we have seen.  The end result will be a comprehensive assessment of the status of Ponapea ledermanniana and P. hosinoi on Pohnpei.  To make our assessment, we use the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.  These guidelines were created to make assessments more uniform and thus more meaningful.

In my opinion, our most important work happens today.  Carl, Steve and I are guest lecturers at the College of the Federated States of Micronesia.  The lecture series is open to students and the general public.  This is our chance to share all we have learned about these special palms that only grow here.  We also hope to raise awareness about the need to conserve palm habitats on Pohnpei.