University of East Anglia Cloudforest expedition, Ecuador 1991

Nikki Dayton

The original aim, of comparing five ecological aspects of primary, secondary and plantation forests, had to be modified due to the inaccessibility of primary forest and the absence of plantations. Instead, the surveys were carried out in existing forest, aiming ultimately to help reconcile conservation strategies and local people's way of life. They were done with the help of Ecuadorian graduates, who had previously been involved with the Rio Mazan project. The following were surveyed: land use and land use change; species composition and structure in disturbed primary forest; change in bird diversity and abundance; density, distribution and water retention of epiphytes; and the relation between humming birds and flowering plants.

Project update: 12/2/98. The team studied ecological and environmental interactions in forest in the Rio Paute watershed in southern Ecuador. The study sites visited were the same as those studied by the University of Bristol Rio Paute Headwaters Expedition, thereby yielding a cumulative data set covering 9 months.