Exploring the diversity of odonates: Are we done?

Among the billions of life forms around us, odonates or dragonflies and damselflies have been occupying only a small fraction of it with around 6,000 species currently known to science. The systematic study of odonates began with the birth of Linnaean taxonomy in 1758 and biologists and naturalists have been describing odonates around the world and assigning names for these species. 

So, after the 257 years, where do we stand now? 

Naming a species is the basic requirement in order to truly appreciate it and conserve it. Without giving a name to a species you can not study it, assess it for its conservation value or even discuss it. As odonates are wonderfully colourful, attractive, active, usually diurnal and comparatively large bodied insects, one might think that we already know enough of them after centuries of systematic studies and exploration. 

However, questioning this view, 60 new species of odonates were described from the continent of Africa by a single paper authored by K. D. B. Dijkstra, J. Kippings and N. Mézière just at the end of 2015. If you think about the total number of odonates known from around the world, this has increased the number of species from around 1% single handedly. A very interesting fact regarding these discoveries is that all of them have been made in the field, not inside a lab while studying the molecules. And some of them were not made from remote jungles but from places no one has cared to look intentionally before. 

The important point is, if that many African species were yet unknown to science until the last year, how many undescribed species might be there in the other regions? Especially, in the hottest biodiversity hotspots around the globe, including Madagascar, Indo-Burma, Sundaland, Philippines, Atlantic forests in Brazil and Western Ghats/Sri Lanka. 

As a biologist working in Sri Lanka I am well aware that only seven new species and two new subspecies have been described from Sri Lanka since the year 2000. According to the odonata checklist published by K. A. Subramanian in 2014 and a recent paper by C. G. Kiran, S. Kalesh and K. Kunte, this number is only six species in the whole of India with only two in the Western Ghats.

So, are we done? No, not even close.

You can read the interesting facts about the new discoveries from Africa here. 

https://science.naturalis.nl/media/medialibrary/2015/12/60NewDragonflies_fullsize2.pdf

Reference

Bedjanič, M., van der Poorten, N., Coniff, K. and Salamun, A. 2014. Dragonfly Fauna of Sri Lanka: distribution and biology with threat status of its endemics. Pensoft, Sofia. 321 pp.

Kiran, C.G., S. Kalesh & K. Kunte (2015). A new species of damselfly, Protosticta ponmudiensis (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from Ponmudi Hills in the Western Ghats of India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(5): 7146–7151; 

Klaas-Douwe B. Dijkstra, Jens Kipping & Nicolas Mézière (2015). Sixty new dragonfly and damselfly species from Africa (Odonata). Odonatologica 44: 447-607.

Subramanian, K.A. (2014). A Checklist of Odonata of India. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.

Field Notes

A field note of a field biologist is a very important part for his/her study. It must be taken with caution as it's your primary data storage for later analysis.
Every field note must start with date, time or time duration and the location. For some observations data on the exact location is also can be valuable. If an observation was made 100 m towards North from a known location X, the location is X and exact location is 100 m towards North from X. Apart from these data, data on weather conditions are also necessary for a field note as it affects on the environment, activities of organisms, your visibility (due to light intensity) and many other factors that can make a significant difference in your data.

After noting down these things, you can proceed in obtaining data required for your study. There are many things that are important in data gathering, but they vary from a study to study depending on the methodology. Thus it's not practical to state them all here.
Let's just see what we must note down when we need to identify an animal, as a lot of nature enthusiasts are interested in this. When we encountered an animal we can not identify, we have to note down several essential data on it. Such as size, shape, colour, habitat, micro habitat, behaviors and call if possible. In some cases we can measure the size accurately, if not make sure that you note down it comparing to a known object or an animal (length about a pen, slightly larger than a crow). For shape and colour we can make a sketch. Do not forget that a sketch is a sketch not a painting. You don't need to be an artist to draw a sketch and you really don't want to colour it. Just make sure that you draw it with correct proportions and colours can be indicated using arrows.
Both habitat and micro habitat are very important in identifying a species. Thus make sure that those data are obtained properly. For a fish a fast flowing stream can be it's habitat while bottom of the stream is it's micro habitat.
If you can observe the animal for some time, note down any data on it's behaviors. Some special behaviors can help in species identification.
Some species can be determined using one or few characters while you need different characters to identify another. (Usually colours and size is enough to identify a bird, but colour has less importance when identifying a frog) If you are sure of what to look at, you can give priority to observe that. If not, make sure that you gather as much data as possible as it'll give you a bigger chance in determining the species your looking at.

Field Notebook

The field note book is something that every field biologist must carry when he/she is going to the field. It's where you record all your observations and data during the field work for further clarifications and analyzing. Field note books comes in many variations but there are some basic things that should satisfy to be a good and user friendly field note book.
It must not be too large or too small. Otherwise it'll be difficult to carry or easily lost. Personally I prefer A5 size (210 x 148 mm) books. It can be easily carried in your pocket. The number of pages can vary according to your preferences and needs. But its good if it's not too large or bulky. So choose a book with pages between 160-320. It's better to have a book with a hard cover and good quality papers. It'll make sure that it won't be torn or worn out easily and won't get soaked quickly. Personally I prefer books with ruled pages as its easy to make clear and well arranged field notes.
In the inner front cover of the book you can write your name and other contact details including the details of any research institute, university or any other professional institute you are working with. So if you lost your field note book and it was found by some 1 else that person will know where to find you to return the book. (providing those information will increase the chance of having your data back)
Leave the first few pages of the field note book for an index. Number all the remaining pages for indexing to be effective.
Then starting from the page number 1 you can write field notes.

Qualities of a good field biologist.

This post is to discuss some of the qualities a person must have to become a proper field biologist. I'm writing this according to my own understanding of the field and what I have come across during my field work. Though I'm still an amateur in the field, personal experiences has proved to me that these are some of the essentials to be a better field biologist.

First of all lets see who a field biologist is.

A field biologist is a biologists who use nature as a laboratory and combine the principles of biology with other sciences to study the diversity and interactions of plants, animals and microorganisms in their natural environment. Thus field biologists include zoologists, botanists, microbiologists, ecologists, ethologists, marine biologists, paleontologists, conservation biologists etc.

A field biologist works in the natural environment most of the time. Therefore the following qualities will help him/her to work with both nature and people.

Physical fitness : Field work often includes working for long hours, trekking in wilderness

and sometimes even mountain climbing. Therefore enough physical fitness to carry your own weight, back packs, instruments etc for hours or even for days in any terrain is a must for a field biologist.

Ability to work in unfavorable conditions : Depending on the purpose of your study field works has to be carried out in various ecosystems ranging from deserts to misty mountains. If the study is done throughout the year it will include working under various conditions in both wet and dry seasons. Thus working in extremely dry, warm, cold, rainy and misty conditions can be involved in your work. Therefore the ability to withstand any of this conditions up to a certain extent is important.

Basic survival skills : Field studies always involves

outdoor life. Thus some basic skills on camping, hiking, first

aid, dealing with wild animals and extreme weather etc. is clearly an advantage for a field biologist.

Been systematic : What we primarily do in the field is collecting and recording data we need for the particular studies we are involved with. The data collection and recording has to be done in a systematic manner to minimize errors and unnecessary confusions. Therefore been systematic will always help for a field biologist to do there field work properly.

Critical thinking : Nature is not a controlled environment like a laboratory. The conditions we face there may alter from moment to moment. Also the dangers you may face are numerous. Storms, snake bites, animal attacks are just a few examples. If some one is good in critical thinking he/she can handle any of these situation with minimum risk of been harmed. Thus its a good quality a field biologist should have.

Team spirit : Almost all the time field studies are carried out as a team. Every member of the field team has a certain role to play for the common goal. So a field biologist must always fulfill his/her duty to the team and care for all the members. Personal needs should not come in front of the needs of whole team.

Patience : Field work often requires long hours of working. If you are observing the behaviors of a particular animal or a population for a certain time period the ability to be patient for the whole duration of working hours is really helpful to obtain the data required for the study properly. Sometimes you won't come across the subject of interest so easily, especially if your working regarding a rare species. We have to be patient in such situation and continue the work until we complete the necessary field work and gather enough data.

Punctuality : Any research has a defined methodology designed to obtain the data necessary for the study and to analyse them. These methodologies usually define the limits and boundaries of the research and provide a set of instructions that must be followed precisely. Time period that data collecting is carried out has a significant important to the analysis and the final result you obtain. Therefore a good field biologist must be able to be punctual and carry out the data collecting process only within the determined time duration. Not a second less, not a second more.

Simple life style : If you wanna have meals from KFC, McDonald's or Pizza hut every day and sleep in a comfortable bed every night then the field of field biology isn't the suitable path for you. A field biologist must always be satisfied with the available resources because resources are limited when you are working in the field. Specially if your spending a long time continuously in remote areas. So one must have the ability to adapt to a simple lifestyle during the time spent in the field.

Documentation skills and computer literacy : Data collecting in the field always involves noting down necessary data arranged in to a systematic way. To obtain every important information on what you observe, its better to keep everything written in your field note book while observations are made thus data can be retrieved easily when you get back to base camp/home/university etc. Then the data must be managed properly using a digital database or any other suitable option. To do all these, a field biologist must have some documentation skills and basic computer literacy. Advanced knowledge on database management and GIS is an additional help.

Communication skills : A scientist distribute the knowledge they gained by writing research papers, articles, books or presenting them in a research symposium or a conference. Therefore one must have good communication skills to present their findings in any suitable media. Apart from this, good writing and verbal communication skills will help to communicate with co-workers, supervisors, authorities, fellow scientists etc. regarding your study.

Been fully field geared : When a field biologists goes to the field he must always carry all the necessary field gears for the particular study. The things you need depends on the terrain, climate, habitat etc. Though the instruments and some other stuff will be provided to you if the project has a fund for it, the things that is important for your personal needs and safety must be taken with you. It makes sure that you won't get in to unnecessary troubles by been careless. For an example if you are working in an area where poisonous snakes can be found you must wear a pair of protective boots to prevent snake bites. If not, there's a probability of you been bitten by a snake due to your carelessness and that will affect on the schedules and plans of the whole field team.

Enthusiasm for learning : No man stops learning until the final day of his life. But a scientist, including a field biologist is a bit different from this. They do learn everyday but not just by chance. They must learn with a proper intention and a never ending enthusiasm. Been updated about latest findings, current status of relevant issues and ongoing research activities will give them the chance to develop their understanding in the relevant disciplines and direct his/her research in the right direction to obtain a significant result.

Obedience to the law : Every field biologist must obey the laws of the country when carrying out their studies. Permission must be obtained before hand a project for necessary requirements like collecting specimens and working in a protected area. Trespassing in to a protected area or a private land without permission, collecting specimens from such areas without obtaining a proper permission or been involved in any sort of illegal action for the sake of his/her research is highly unethical thing for a field biologist.

Passion : None of the above qualities will make you a good field biologist if you don't possess the passion for the field. One must have a passion to learn new things, to study the natural aspects and contribute to the development of science through their work. The passion cannot be learnt, bought or obtained by any other means..it must come from your own heart.

These are some of the qualities one must have to develop themselves in order to become a better field biologist. This list doesn't end from here. There are many other qualities that can be included in to a list like this. But I hope that this provides a general idea on what you should develop in your self to become a better field biologist and excel in your work.