Gorongosa 2024-FULL-FINAL - Flipbook - Page 71
CLEANUP TIME Without dung beetles (above) and their waste removal labor, Gorongosa National Park would sink
under layers of dung produced by thousands of mammalian grazers and browsers. Researchers are measuring the
impact of fire on beetles and all the ecologically important creatures in the park.
Massad hopes that the experiment will run for 10
years. The longer it lasts, the more scholars will be able
to learn about variations in climate and the impact of
one-time events such as cyclones, in addition to the
fundamental science of the plots.
After 20 minutes are up, I follow Caminho and
André to another plot. The heat of the day begins to
spread into the cracks between the trees and sweat
gathers on my neck and back. At the end of three hours,
my ankles are covered in insect bites, and we have seen
only a few creatures, including a small blue waxbill and
a black-backed puffback: a bird recognizable for the
unique clacking noise followed by a whistle between
songs. The only reptile André logs in his tally this morning is a skink that Marcolino has accidentally hacked
apart when she was digging holes for her insect traps.
It was probably hiding underground after the experimental plot was burned. We watch as its tail continues
to wiggle, detached from its body.
The team will head back out in the evening to check
the same plots at a different time of day, logging every
observation. All that data will become part of a corpus
of knowledge and lead to a fuller understanding of the
intricacies of the savanna—to help conserve the ecological breadth of Africa for, yes, people, but also the
animals and plants themselves.
Katharine Gammon is a freelance science writer based in Santa
Monica, California, who writes about environment, science, and
parenting. You can find her on X (formerly known as Twitter)
@kategammon.
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