White sand forests in Upper Amazonia: conservation of its endemic avifauna and flora, Peru

Roosevelt Garcia Villacorta

White Sand Forests occur disperse in Peruvian Amazonia and despite its low diversity they harbor a unique community of organisms, mostly composed of endemics. In the past few years 10 species were described new for science only from these habitats—5 birds and 5 plants—including the "Iquitos Gnatcatcher" (7) and "Gentry’s antbird" (4). The goal of this project will be to assess, with standard protocols, the distribution and relative abundance of these endemic species in unsurveyed patches of WSF of Amazonian Peru. This study will provide the baseline to define the real conservation status of the 10 new species and to raise conservation awareness against the deforestation of these forests.