The Water Was Up to Here

José Tuanama showing how high up the water came last year (1985) in this floodplain forest. The tree he's pointing to, Number 22, is one of the Spondias mombin trees that was measured for fruit production (see Yield Studies). Wonderful to be gliding through the mid-canopy of the forest in a boat when the Rio Ucayali floods. [NOTE: I can remember scooping up handfuls of Spondias mombin fruits out of the water (and eating them) as we paddled by. The sight of thousands of bright orange fruits bobbing up and down in the water was one of the best parts of studying the reproductive biology of this tree].