Research on amphibians, reptiles and spiders by postgraduate students at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, and collaborators.

Nicole Sookoo has been studying the ecotoxicology of several insecticides and herbicides commonly used in Trinidad, especially on sugar cane. The study focuses on two species, the Túngara frog Physalaemus pustulosus and the cane toad Bufo marinus, which breed in the wet and the dry season, respectively and allow year-round work on eggs and tadpoles. This work is laboratory-based, and supported by a Dean's Award from UWI, St. Augustine (TT$100,000). Ecotoxicology

A seed grant from the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (DAPTF) Chester Zoo Award has been obtained for work on health monitoring of tropical amphibians, using the cane toad as a model. The work is in collaboration with Prof. John Cooper and veterinary students of the Mount Hope Medical and Veterinary Science campus, and includes measurement of condition and monitoring for chytrid fungus (US$1,500).

Work on the Bloody Bay frog Mannophryne olmonae in summer 2006 with former students from UWI studying the distribution and conservation of this endemic species to Tobago. Team leader Jahson Alemu I, with Michelle Cazabon, Lena Dempewolf, Ryan Mannette, Kerrie Naranjit, and Alicia Roach. Funding from BP Conservation Programme: Future Conservationist Award (US$12,500). Associated work with sabbatical visitor Rick Lehtinen (The College of Wooster, USA) on call properties, call recognition, and molecular differences between Mannophryne olmonae in Tobago and M. trinitatis in Trinidad. Press Release

There are currently three introduced species of Anolis lizard on Trinidad (A. aeneus, A. trinitatis, A. wattsi) and one on Tobago (A. richardii); only one species (A. chrysolepis) is native to Trinidad. These species have been studied in collaboration with local naturalists Graham White, Victor Quesnel, and others including B.Sc. project students from UWI. Current work focuses on distribution, niche separation, and thermoregulation. Anolis

Jo-Anne Sewlal has a longstanding interest in spiders, and has already completed an M.Phil. on the biology of two species inhabiting tree buttress roots. She now has a scholarship from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, for a Ph.D. on the biodiversity of orb-weaving spiders in Trinidad. There are currently 46 families and 225 species of spiders known in Trinidad, although the latter is expected to be only a third to a half of the true total. This study focuses on some of the web-building spiders, one of the three ecological guilds of spiders, since their webs make detection easier. Spiders