University of Bristol Rio Paute headwaters expedition, Ecuador 1991

Toby Maitland

The aim was to produce useful data on the hydrology and aquatic ecology of the primary and secondary Montane Cloudforest, 2000-3000m. Fieldwork included an investigation into the contribution of fog drip to the total water throughfall beneath the forest canopy; a study of the ecology of endemic and introduced fish communities; a study of stream macro-invertebrates and amphibian communities; and plant and fungi biodiversity. An off-shoot of the fieldwork was an educational project involving school children in Ecuador and Bristol.

Project update: 20/8/96. The expedition involved six British and five Ecuadorian students in seven weeks of fieldwork at two sites in the Rio Pulpito valley in southern Ecuador. The project studied the hydrology and aquatic ecology of montane cloudforest and was developed in coordination with the UEA Ecuador Cloudforest Expedition.