Gorongosa 2024-FULL-FINAL - Flipbook - Page 19
completely blank spot on the map of global biodiversity, and
everything that we can contribute will be beneficial and useful
toward understanding the biogeography of life.”
Today, Naskrecki is a project leader of the Gorongosa Map of
Life project. Its purpose is to document all life in the park, from
soil bacteria to elephants and everything in between. Naskrecki
and a group of scientists and students from a variety of fields,
methodically document a section of the park, recording specimens that might be new to science. Recently, their research
took them to a remote area of a limestone plateau dotted with
caves. They swept nets to capture insects, turned over rocks
and logs to look for reptiles, and used ultrasonic recorders to
eavesdrop on bats.
The Gorongosa Map of Life was launched in 2014. Every
rainy season, between March and April, the scientists and students sample everything they can, building a multi-dimensional
map of interactions. Scientists must know which species make
up the park—and how they are related—to conserve them.
“Understanding the ecosystem and all its elements is a prerequisite to effective conservation that’s firmly based in science,”
Naskrecki says.
Each group of experts conducts field research for nearly a
month at a time, moving every week or so to study a new area.
They collect fauna in the soil and leaf litter, trap insects, record
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I, ZOMBIE this wasp (Ambulex sp.) at
gorongosa injects venom into a cockroach,
paralyzes it, and lays eggs in it.
