mound site south of Comallo. 31 October - Sunny, warm, not windy, temperature still in the 45-68 envelope. Went up to ECOTONO. Nadia Guthmann was there, not Mariana. Nadia had been using 400 traps at El Bolson, caught a few dozen mice which were sent to Pergamino for testing for Hanta virus. Someone did indeed destroy something like 50 Sherman traps. Mariana has been ill. They have been cooperating on a study of owl pellets from the airport. Rapaport was there, and Barbara, and Tom Keithberger the Veblen fire-cycle student. He is married to a geneticist at ECOTONO and the University (Andrea). Patricia Fierro came by in the afternoon. 1 November - Day started out sunny and mild, then clouded up about noon and drizzle in the afternoon, but temperature mild and not windy. Drove to La Veranada in the morning and looked at the two bamboo clumps- but forgot to take the marking pens. Then back to Bariloche. The scores of sport cars involved in the Mil Miles race accompanied us south. Just before the drizzle stopped the weather turned much colder, even a few snow flurries. 2 November - New snow on the mountains. Overnight minimum 42, day 40-55. Went out to Llao Llao and checked the bamboo clump. Still the sports car rally, centered at the Hotel Llao Llao. Nobody in the forest. More big coihues have fallen. Dinner with Tom Keithberger and his wife Andrea. He is a Veblen student, studying fire cycles in the forests here (University and Ecotono), and she is a genetecist hoping to study population genetics of the Nothofagus (and bamboo??). She is from Salta, but they lived in Boulder Colorado for several years. He was a Kravetz student. He says that last year, and maybe earlier, there was a spectacular die-back of nire caused by an insect. Also a masting of the lenga in Tierra del Fuego that was accompanied by a great outbreak of mice. Andrea's project sounds very much like Dick Sage's oak project. She is doing electrophoresis at ECOTONO. 3 November- Overnight minimum 42. Sunny. Drove up to Catedral to see the results of a big fire last January. Lots of scrubby nire/retamo/cana burned. The Cipres seemed to be relatively immune. Some amancay- like lilies are coming up, no grass. Some of the burned ni res are quite large, and the retamos were