Tropes

impactlab_2010 03160.txt

#Scientists Identify Ecuadors Yasuni National park as One of Most Biodiverse Places On earth Crowned like a king, the spike-headed katydid, Panacanthus cuspidatus, is projected one of 100,000 insect species in Yasuni. A team of scientists has documented that Yasunã National park, in the core of the Ecuadorian Amazon, shatters world records for a wide array of plant and animal groups, from amphibians to trees to insects. The authors also conclude that proposed oil development projects represent the greatest threat to Yasunã and its biodiversity. oethis study demonstrates that Yasunã is the most diverse area in South america, and possibly the world, said Dr. Peter English of The University of Texas at Austin. oeamphibians, birds, mammals and vascular plants all reach maximum diversity in Yasunã. The study is published in the open-access scientific journal PLOS ONE. oewe have documented so far 596 bird species occurring in Yasuni, said English, a bird specialist. oethats incredible diversity to find in just one corner of the Amazon rainforest and rivals any other spot on the planet. Other specialists joined in to give the first complete picture of the extraordinary diversity found in Yasunã National park. oethe 150 amphibian species documented to date throughout Yasunã is a world record for an area of this size said Shawn Mccracken of Texas State university. oethere are more species of frogs and toads within Yasunã than are native to the United states and Canada combined. The scientists also confirmed that an average upland hectare (2. 47 acres) in Yasunã contains more tree species, 655, than are native to the continental United states and Canada combined. The number of tree species rises to more than 1, 100 for an area of 25 hectares. oein just one hectare in Yasunã, there are more tree, shrub and liana (woody vines) species than anywhere else in the world, said Gorky Villa, an Ecuadorian botanist working with both the Smithsonian Institution and Finding Species. Perhaps the most impressive statistic of all is that a single hectare of forest in Yasunã is projected to contain 100,000 insect species. According to eminent entomologist Dr . Terry Erwin, that is the highest estimated diversity per unit area in the world for any plant or animal group. Article continues below oeone of our most important findings about Yasunã is that small areas of forest harbor extremely high numbers of animals and plants, said lead author Margot Bass, president of Finding Species, a nonprofit with offices in Maryland and Quito, Ecuador. oeyasunã is unmatched probably by any other park in the world for total numbers of species. The extraordinary diversity of Yasunã is exemplified best at the 1, 600-acre Tiputini Biodiversity Station on the northern edge of the park. oethe Tiputini Biodiversity Station is home to 247 amphibian and reptile species, 550 bird species and around 200 mammal species, said Dr. Kelly Swing of the University of San francisco in Quito, Ecuador. oewhat makes Yasunã especially important is its potential to sustain this extraordinary biodiversity in the long term, said Dr. Matt Finer of Save Americas Forests. oefor example, the Yasunã region is predicted to maintain wet, rainforest conditions as climate change-induced drought intensifies in the eastern Amazon. The paper concludes with a number of science-based policy recommendations. One key recommendation is a moratorium on new oil exploration or development projects within the park, particularly in the remote and relatively intact but oil rich northeast corner that contains oil blocks 31 and ITT. The Ecuadorian government is promoting a revolutionary plan, known as the Yasunã-ITT Initiative, which would leave the parks largest oil reserves in the ITT block permanently under the ground. A lack of funding commitments however, now threatens the proposal. oethe Yasunã-ITT Initiative urgently needs international funders to step up and make it a success, or else more drilling in the core of Yasunã may become a tragic reality, concluded Finer. more via science news Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati s

< Back - Next >