 |
 |
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Bilsa Biological Reserve
:: Habitat and locationThe 3,000 hectares (7,410 acres) Bilsa Biological Station is a nature preserve and a center for field research and environmental education in northwestern coastal Ecuador. Founded in 1994 by our partner in memory of conservation biologists Al Gentry and Ted Parker, Bilsa conserves a critical remnant of Ecuador's coastal premontane wet forest, of which less than one percent remains. Located in the Mache Mountains in the northwestern coastal province of Esmeraldas, this remnant forest has a unique composition of flora and fauna, internationally renowned for both its diversity and rarity. Although physically isolated from the Andes, Bilsa possesses species also encountered in the western Andean middle elevation cloud forests 100 km to the southwest, as well as species endemic to the Choco, a pluvial forest of southern coastal Colombia, and species common to the generally dryer Tumbesian Bio-region.The region's rugged topography (300 to 800 meters) and the coastal climate create a dense fog which shrouds all of Bilsa's steeper ridges. Rare animals found at the reserve include the Jaguar, several small cat species, the Long Wattled Umbrella Bird, the Giant Anteater and abundant populations of the threatened Mantled Howler Monkey. Utilizing the protected reserve as a core area, the Foundation has been able to develop highly successful conservation programs within the reserve and the surrounding communities. These programs range the spectrum from agroforestry to extension programs such as handicraft production, carpentry, sewing, environmental education, reforestation with native hardwoods, and health and nutrition initiatives. The Bilsa extension team has encountered a tremendously positive response from the local population for its efforts to work cooperatively to find solutions to the multicultural social fabric and complex conservation dilemmas of the region. Rising steeply from sea level to an elevation of 700 meters, the Mache-Chindul Mountains capture moisture from sea winds, making the forests extremely wet. Recent studies within the Bilsa Biological Station have shown that with the additional moisture received from abundant fog drip, the area receives more than 3000mm of precipitation a year. The coastal region of Ecuador is under the influence of four distinct climatic regimes: normal dry and wet seasons, El Ni�o (extremely wet and hot) and La Ni�a (extremely cool and foggy). Characteristically, the region undergoes a long, warm rainy season from January to August, with a cooler, drier season usually taking place from September to December. In one study of coastal Ecuadorian forests south of the Mache-Chindul Mountains, Caloway Dodson and Alwyn Gentry (1991) observed marked differences in moisture levels and forest habitats within minor altitude gradients. Consequently, plant community composition and structure changes greatly with successive altitude zones from valley floors to hilltops. Similar altitude-related variations in moisture levels in the Mache-Chindul Mountains and specifically in Bilsa create microhabitats that encourage speciation and local endemism. Considering that the foothills reach over 700 meters in height, isolated and endemic populations of species is highly likely (Parker and Carr 1992). Located at the meeting point of three important ecoregions (the Choco, the Tumbesian, and the Andean slope) the Mache-Chindul Mountains display elements of each of these, creating a highly unusual species composition and ecological make-up. Preliminary biological inventories conducted at the Bilsa Biological Station indicate an extremely high level of beta biodiversity. Through an in-depth botanical inventory being conducted by Ecuador�s National Herbarium, over 2000 different plant species have been documented. Thirty of these species are completely new to science. Based on current data, Herbarium botanists estimate that the final species count for Bilsa plants will be over 2200 species. Additionally, tree alpha diversity, measured on permanent plots established by foundation biologists, is as high as 100 species per hectare. High species levels and abundant animal populations indicate an intact ecosystem. 330 species of birds have been documented (Clay et al 1994, Hornbuckle et al 1996, Berg 1999), among the highest totals for any western Ecuador coastal forest. Some extremely endangered avian species abundant in the area include the banded ground-cuckoo Neomorphus radiolosus, the gray-backed hawk Leucopternis occidentalis, the baudo guan Penelope ortoni and the brown wood rail Aramides wolfi. Isolation of these species due to habitat loss is especially evident in the case of the long-wattled umbrella bird, Cephalopterus penduliger. Although rare or completely absent from the majority of its range where forest has been cut, the umbrella bird is extremely abundant in the Bilsa Biological Reserve. To date, twenty-four mammal species are known to reside in these forests. Five of these are on international threatened species lists, including the jaguar Panthera onca, the jaguarundi Felis yagouroundi, the oncilla Felis tigrina and the giant anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla. Troops of the endangered mantled howler monkey Alouatta palliata are heard twice each day from the Bilsa field station. A recent survey in a 500 hectare portion of Bilsa�s Aguatal River watershed reported twelve distinct howler monkey troops during August of 1998. :: Bilsa Reserve Programs
:: Goals of the Bilsa Reserve
|
||||||||||
