Fungal and Plant Diversity of Central French Guiana

Pic Matécho Expedition

25 August through 30 September 2000

Introduction
Pic Matécho Itinerary
Participants on Pic Matécho expedition
Activities at Eaux Claires
Letter to Pic Matécho Expedition Members

The goal of this expedition was to increase the number of collections of lichens, liverworts, mosses, and vascular plants from a remote and poorly collected part of the area covered by the Fungal and Plant Diversity of Central French Guiana. The expedition was sponsored by a $16,020 grant from the National Geographic Society to William R. Buck (with the collaboration of Scott Mori) and by the Fund For Neotropical Plant Research of The New York Botanical Garden.

A total of 1830 collections plus 100 leaves with epiphyllous hepatics were made. A goal of the expedition, to explore granitic rock outcroppings was accomplished. However, most of the rock outcrops were on slopes so steep that they could not be explored without safety lines. In addition to the vegetation patches on rock outcrops, elfin forest, low slope forest, high forest, and the aquatic vegetation associated with a shallow lake make the Pic Matécho area the ecologically most varied of the area covered by the Fungal and Plant Diversity of Central French Guiana project. Because of the remoteness and ecological diversity of the area, a number of new species for the Guide to the Vascular Plants of Central French Guiana were encountered.
 
 

Phase 1. Head guide Andy Allinckx, Guy Bourdet, Sa Va, and Po Va mark trail to Pic Matécho before the start of the expedition. The trail departs from the Route de Bélizon to camp number one at the Haut St. Eloi (Km 6.5 from the Route de Bélizon), from there to camp number two at the Arataï River (Km 24 ), to the summit of Pic Matécho (at approximately km 31). The distance to the Pic Matécho Camp was 11 kms along the Route de Bélizon from Eaux Claires and 31 kms of marked trail to Pic Matécho for a total of 42 kms.

Phase 2. Scott Mori and Nate Smith, accompanied by Hmong guides Sa Va and Po Va, walked to the Pic Matécho Camp from 2-4 September.

Phase 3. Andy Allinckx comes to Pic Matécho Camp by helicopter on 7 September with food and collecting supplies.

Phase 4. Main group walks to Pic Matécho Camp on 12 September. Most arrive on 14 September but expedition doctor and two participants arrive one day later because of sickness and fatigue.

Phase 5. Scott Mori, Nate Smith, and Michael Rothman return to Eaux Claires on 18 September. They spend first night at makeshift camp at Km 11 and arrive at Eaux Claires on 19 September at 16:30 h.

Phase 5. Main group departs Pic Matécho Camp on 21 September after lunch. They spend first night at the Arataï and the second night at the St. Eloi, arriving at Eaux Claires early in the afternoon of 23 September.
 
 

Andy Allincky (Les Eaux Claires, 97314 Saül, French Guiana). Head guide.

William R. Buck (New York Botanical Garden; Bbuck@nybg.org). Specialist in mosses, Dr. Buck is producing a guide to the mosses of central French Guiana. A preliminary checklist of the mosses is online at http://www.nybg.org/bsci/french_guiana/french_guiana_moss_checklist.html. Buck gathered nos. 37756 through 38094 on this expedition. His collections included 3 ascomycetes, 37 lichens, 82 hepatics, and 220 mosses. Financed by the National Geographic Society.

Françoise Crozier (I.R.D.-Cayenne). Worked as an assistant to de Granville, both in the field and subsequently in the Herbier de Guyane to identify the collections. Financed by self.

Christian Feuillet (Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution; Bihorel@concentric.net). Specialist in the Aristolochiaceae, Boraginiaceae, Gesneriaceae, and Passifloraceae. Feuillet prepared these families for the Guide to the Vascular Plants of Central French Guiana. Financed by self.

Jean-Jacques de Granville (I.R.D.-Cayenne; Jjg@Cayenne.ird.fr). Specialist on palms, the flora of French Guiana, and the vegetation of French Guiana. De Granville gathered nos. 14067 through 14343 on this expedition. He will prepare a description of the different habitats found on Pic Matécho. Financed by the National Geographic Society.

Vanessa Hequet (I.R.D.-Cayenne; vhequet@hotmail.com). Hequet worked as an assistant to de Granville, both in the field and subsequently in the Herbier de Guyane to identify the collections. Financed by the Fund for Neotropical Plant Research.

Ingo Holz (Universität Göttingen; ingo.holz@bio.uni-goettingen.de). Specialist in liverworts, Mr. Holz is a student of Dr. S. Rob Gradstein (sgradst@gwdg.de) at Göttingen. Gradstein, Barbara Thiers (bthiers@nybg.org), and Holz are working on a inventory of the liverworts of Central French Guiana. A preliminary checklist of the hepatics is online at: http://www.nybg.org/bsci/french_guiana/hepatics.html. Holz gathered nos. 00-1 through 00-351 and about 100 leaves with epiphylls on this expedition. Financed by the National Geographic Society.

Philippe Kok (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences; Phkok@yahoo.com). Specialist in frogs and toads, Kok has focused a great deal of his work in central French Guiana. He plans on producing an inventory of the frogs and toads of Pic Matécho (some preliminary results available online at:http://www.naturalsciences.be/Kok/Matecho.html) to complement his inventory of the frogs and toads of Montagne Belvédère, French Guiana (available online at: http://www.naturalsciences.be/Kok/MountainBelv.html). His collections of frogs and toads were authorized by Arrete 940 from "Le Prefet de la Region Guyane." Financed by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.

Scott A. Mori (New York Botanical Garden; smori@nybg.org). Specialist on the Lecythidaceae and on the flora of central French Guiana, Mori has dedicated a great deal of his research to an inventory of the vascular plants of central French Guiana. Information about his work, done in collaboration with I.R.D.-Cayenne is online at: http://www.nybg.org/bsci/french_guiana/. Mori gathered collections 25034 though 25189 on this expedition. Financed by the National Geographic Society.

Michael Rothman (Independent Artist; Michael.Rothman@snet.net). Specializes in natural history illustration. Examples of his work can be seen at: http://www.theispot.com/artist/mrothman/. Rothman will prepare 10 line illustrations depicting biological studies in central French Guiana. Financed by The Fund for Neotropical Plant Research.

Philippe Roussin (Medical Doctor). Resident of French Guiana and friend of participants. Accompanied expedition as medical doctor.

Nate Smith (New York Botanical Garden; nsmith@nybg.org). Curatorial Assistant at The New York Botanical Garden. Smith gathered his first botanical collections, numbers 01 through 22, in the vicinity of Eaux Claires. Financed by The Fund for Neotropical Plant Research.

Rebecca Yahr (Duke University; Ry2@duke.edu). Specialist in lichens and Ph.D. candidate at Ducke University, Yahr studies lichens, especially the Graphidaceae, of central French Guiana. See: http://www.nybg.org/bsci/french_guiana/graphidaceae.html. Yahr gathered collections 2515 through 3199 on this expedition. Sponsored by the National Geographic Society.

Po Va (Saül, French Guiana). Guide.

Sa Va (Saül, French Guiana). Guide.
 
 

During the course of the Pic Matécho expedition, another group of biologists carried out studies in the vicinity of Les Eaux Claires.

Amy Berkov (Post-doctoral fellow at the Cullman Lab at the American Museum of Natural History; Berkov@amnh.org). Specialist in beetle/plant interactions, Berkov continued her studies of the chemistry of members of the Brazil nut family, the phylogeny of cerambycid beetles that attack Lecythidaceae, and the coevolution of beetles and plants. She gathered aroma samples from the bark and wood of Lecythidaceae. Financed by the Cullman Lab at the American Museum of Natural History.

Kirsten Bohn (Ph. D. candidate at the University of Maryland; kbohn@wam.umd.edu). Investigated vocalizations of phyllostomid bats. Financed by the University of Maryland Biology of Small Populations Research Training Grant.

Dr. Leo Junikka (University of Helsinki; Leo.junikka@helsinki.fi). Junikka was at Les Eaux Claires from 1-15 September with a group of seven students from the University of Helsinki. Financed by the University of Helsinki through student tuitions.

Heather Peckham (Ph.D. candidate in the Yale University/New York Botanical Garden program; Heather.peckham@yale.edu). Peckham and Bohn captured 500 bat inviduals representing 35 species. The bats were placed in bags overnight. The following day, the bats were identified to species and released. Feces samples from 300 fruit eating bats, for use by Peckham in a study of bat dietary preferences, were collected. Financed by Bat Conservation International.
 
 

This letter was sent by Scott Mori to the expedition members preparing to walk to the Pic Matécho Camp. They had arrived at Les Eaux Claires on 11 September in the dark and after a heavy rain. Mori and Smith had walked to Pic Matécho with relatively heavy loads and found the walk to be extremely difficult. The following letter was an attempt to warn expedition members of the difficulties to follow.

Dear Pic Matécho Expedition Members, Heather Peckham, Kirsten Bohn, Leo Junikka's Group, and Amy Berkov:

Nate Smith and I are at the Pic Matécho Camp some 42 kms from Eaux Claires. We were loaded with 17 kilos (Scott) and 25 kilos (Nate). It was a grueling three-day walk. We recommend that only the most fit of you carry more than 10 kilos. If you have more weight than that leave something behind. You should follow this schedule:

Day 1: Eaux Claires to P.K. 6.5 (17..5kms).

Day 2: P.K. 6.5 to Camp at the Arataï River (17.5 kms). VERY DIFFICULT.

Day 3: Camp Arataï to Pic Matécho Camp (8 kms).

NO MORE THAN 10 KILOS. You can't do it with more.

Each day gets more difficult, especially the climb from Camp Arataï to Pic Matécho. THERE ARE STRETCHES OF UP TO 7 KMS WITHOUT WATER! You will have to keep informed from Andy Allinckx about them. There are also numerous stream crossings on slippery and dangerous logs. WADE THEM IF YOU DO NOT HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR BALANCE, I did. Andy and the guides will help.

I think that some of you might not be able to make this trip so I haved asked Andy Allinckx to hire Stepahn to accompany the group to the entrance to the Pic Matécho trail. This is your only chance to go back.

If you can't make it to the entrance in 3.5 hours GO BACK to Eaux Claires the next day with Stephan. The walk to the entrance is on an old road over flat terrain so there is no possible way that you can make the rest of the trip if you can't maintain this pace with 10 kilo loads.

Please be honest with yourselves, both for your safety and the success of the expedition.

We have not yet made satellite phone contact so up until now we do not have that safety measure.

Nate and I will probably not leave Pic Matécho until 20 September. We have not yet found any rock outcrops, but we have made a spectacular collection of a new species of the Brazil nut family and several other interesting trees.

Our camp is in forest by a very small stream. The water is good but bathing is with a cup.

Leo, I hope your stay at Eaux Claires was good. Sorry that I will not get back to spend time with you and your group.

Amy Berkov, please ask Stephan to help you with your work. If you do not have grant money to pay him, I will pay him from the Fund for Neotropical Plant Research.

Philippe please arrange for an extra porter with Andy to carry your gear back to Eaux Claires. Andy will make sure that this is done.