Demography and territorial transformation: half a century of change in the Amazonian Region of Ecuador

Una población numerosa puede favorecer el crecimiento económico (un bebé puede ser un futuro aportador de impuestos), generar oportunidades para la innovación tecnológica (un bebé puede ser un futuro genio e innovador) y dinamizar la economía (más consumidores y más costos compartidos). Pero esto solo puede ser posible si el tejido social y económico de una sociedad es el propicio. ¿Será el crecimiento poblacional amazónico en Ecuador lo suficientemente elevado para garantizar más pobreza y conflicto social a corto y largo plazo, o será un factor de desarrollo? La región amazónica posee la tasa más alta de natalidad en Ecuador. En 60 años, la población se ha multiplicado 16 veces. La ausencia de servicios básicos y educación promueve tasas de natalidad elevadas, especialmente en los indígenas. Existe evidencia de que el crecimiento poblacional (natalidad y migración) promueve la deforestación en la región amazónica. El presente ensayo es una síntesis del cambio demográfico y sus efectos sobre la deforestación, frontera agrícola, urbanización y las estrategias indígenas frente al cambio. Una población en rápido crecimiento puede contribuir a la economía y estabilidad social, solamente si se cumplen las condiciones necesarias de educación y oportunidades laborales. Estas últimas características particularmente ausentes de forma histórica para la región amazónica de Ecuador.   Abstract A large population can promote economic growth (a baby could be a future tax payer), can generate new opportunities for technological innovation (a baby can be a future genius and innovator), and can contribute to a dynamic economy (more consumers and more shared costs). However, this is possible only if the social and economic conditions of a society are the necessarily required. Would the population growth in Amazonian Ecuador be sufficiently large as to guarantee more poverty and social conflict in the short and long term, or will it be a factor for development?. The Amazonian region has the highest birth rate in Ecuador. The population has grown 16 times over the last 60 years. The absence of basic services and education promotes high birth rates, especially on indigenous people. There is evidence that population growth (births and migration) promotes deforestation in the Amazonian region. The present essay is a synthesis of demographic change and its effects on deforestation, the agricultural frontier, urbanization and the indigenous strategies to confront this change. A population under rapid growth can contribute to the economy and social stability, only if the necessary conditions for education and available employment are met. These last characteristics have been particularly absent in the history of Amazonian Ecuador.A large population can promote economic growth (a baby could be a future tax payer), can generate new opportunities for technological innovation (a baby can be a future genius and innovator), and can contribute to a dynamic economy (more consumers and more shared costs). However, this is possible only if the social and economic conditions of a society are the necessarily required. Would the population growth in Amazonian Ecuador be sufficiently large as to guarantee more poverty and social conflict in the short and long term, or will it be a factor for development?. The Amazonian region has the highest birth rate in Ecuador. The population has grown 16 times over the last 60 years. The absence of basic services and education promotes high birth rates, especially on indigenous people. There is evidence that population growth (births and migration) promotes deforestation in the Amazonian region. The present essay is a synthesis of demographic change and its effects on deforestation, the agricultural frontier, urbanization and the indigenous strategies to confront this change. A population under rapid growth can contribute to the economy and social stability, only if the necessary conditions for education and available employment are met. These last characteristics have been particularly absent in the history of Amazonian Ecuador

Soil Bacterial Community Along an Altitudinal Gradient in the Sumaco, a Stratovolcano in the Amazon Region

Our study is a pioneering exploration of the microbiome in the soil of the Sumaco stratovolcano and an assessment of the effects of an elevational gradient and related physicochemical soil parameters on richness and community structure. The Sumaco, as an isolated Amazonian stratovolcano, may be among one of the least studied ecosystems in Ecuador and perhaps the Amazon region. Universal patterns remain unresolved or available information inconclusive to establish a supported consensus on general governing processes by which elevation and its associated environmental gradients may determine the microbial richness and community structure. We tested a recent proposal on how microbial diversity responds to montane gradients, placing a central role in soils as potentially independent of altitude along an elevational gradient. Correlations and effects among soil physicochemical parameters and altitude were contrasted against richness and community structure through quantitative ecology. The most informative physicochemical parameter in our assessment of bacterial community structure was neither pH nor altitude, but sulfur, which was mostly independent of the other tested parameters. We established a positive effect of richness by parameters associated with metallic cations such as Mn2+, and CEC, which were negatively correlated to altitude and pH. The possible relation between the significant role of sulfur on bacterial community structure with the unique geological origin of the Sumaco stratovolcano should be examined in the context of specialized sulfur metabolisms and additional information on community structure and environmental constraints. Our study establishes an initial baseline for further explorations of microbial diversity in this unexplored tropical stratovolcano

The microbiome of the ice-capped Cayambe Volcanic Complex in Ecuador

A major challenge in microbial ecology is to understand the principles and processes by which microbes associate and interact in community assemblages. Microbial communities in mountain glaciers are unique as first colonizers and nutrient enrichment drivers for downstream ecosystems. However, mountain glaciers have been distinctively sensitive to climate perturbations and have suffered a severe retreat over the past 40  years, compelling us to understand glacier ecosystems before their disappearance. This is the first study in an Andean glacier in Ecuador offering insights into the relationship of physicochemical variables and altitude on the diversity and structure of bacterial communities. Our study covered extreme Andean altitudes at the Cayambe Volcanic Complex, from 4,783 to 5,583 masl. Glacier soil and ice samples were used as the source for 16S rRNA gene amplicon libraries. We found (1) effects of altitude on diversity and community structure, (2) the presence of few significantly correlated nutrients to community structure, (3) sharp differences between glacier soil and glacier ice in diversity and community structure, where, as quantified by the Shannon γ-diversity distribution, the meta-community in glacier soil showed more diversity than in glacier ice; this pattern was related to the higher variability of the physicochemical distribution of variables in the former substrate, and (4) significantly abundant genera associated with either high or low altitudes that could serve as biomarkers for studies on climate change. Our results provide the first assessment of these unexplored communities, before their potential disappearance due to glacier retreat and climate change

First national assessment of wildlife mortality in Ecuador: an effort from citizens and academia to collect roadkill data at country scale

Ecuador has both high richness and high endemism, which are increasingly threatened by anthropic pressures, including roads. Research evaluating the effects of roads remains scarce, making it difficult to develop mitigation plans. Here, we present the first national assessment of wildlife mortality on roads that allow us to (1) estimate roadkill rates per species, (2) identify affected species and areas, and (3) reveal knowledge gaps. We bring together data from systematic surveys and citizen science efforts to present a dataset with 5010 wildlife roadkill records from 392 species, and we also provide 333 standardized corrected roadkill rates calculated on 242 species. Systematic surveys were reported by ten studies from five Ecuadorian provinces, revealing 242 species with corrected roadkill rates ranging from 0.03 to 171.72 ind./km/year. The highest rates were for the yellow warbler Setophaga petechia in Galapagos (171.72 ind./km/year), the cane toad Rhinella marina in Manabi (110.70 ind./km/year), and the Galapagos lava lizard Microlophus albemarlensis (47.17 ind./km/year). Citizen science and other nonsystematic monitoring provided 1705 roadkill records representing all 24 provinces in Ecuador and 262 identified species. The common opossum Didelphis marsupialis, the Andean white-eared opossum Didelphis pernigra, and the yellow warbler Setophaga petechia were more commonly reported (250, 104, and 81 individuals, respectively). Across all sources, we found 15 species listed as “Threatened” and six as “Data Deficient” by the IUCN. We recommend stronger research efforts in areas where the mortality of endemic or threatened species could be critical for populations, such as in Galapagos. This first country-wide assessment of wildlife mortality on Ecuadorian roads represents contributions from academia, members of the public, and government, underlining the value of wider engagement and collaboration. We hope these findings and the compiled dataset will guide sensible driving and sustainable planning of infrastructure in Ecuador and, ultimately, contribute to reduce wildlife mortality on roads

Mapping evolutionary process: a multi-taxa approach to conservation prioritization

Human-induced land use changes are causing extensive habitat fragmentation. As a result, many species are not able to shift their ranges in response to climate change and will likely need to adapt in situ to changing climate conditions. Consequently, a prudent strategy to maintain the ability of populations to adapt is to focus conservation efforts on areas where levels of intraspecific variation are high. By doing so, the potential for an evolutionary response to environmental change is maximized. Here, we use modeling approaches in conjunction with environmental variables to model species distributions and patterns of genetic and morphological variation in seven Ecuadorian amphibian, bird, and mammal species. We then used reserve selection software to prioritize areas for conservation based on intraspecific variation or species-level diversity. Reserves selected using species richness and complementarity showed little overlap with those based on genetic and morphological variation. Priority areas for intraspecific variation were mainly located along the slopes of the Andes and were largely concordant among species, but were not well represented in existing reserves. Our results imply that in order to maximize representation of intraspecific variation in reserves, genetic and morphological variation should be included in conservation prioritization

Heteromys from Ecuador

26 p. : ill., map ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 17-22).Whereas previous treatments have considered Heteromys australis the only spiny pocket mouse present in Ecuador, morphological and morphometric analyses of specimens from Ecuador and southwestern Colombia reveal the presence of two species of the genus. Heteromys australis is distributed in evergreen forests from eastern Panamá and western Venezuela through Colombia to extreme northwestern Ecuador, where it inhabits wet, unseasonal areas of the Chocó and adjacent western slopes of the Andes. We here describe a new species, Heteromys teleus, found only in evergreen forests of central-western Ecuador, in areas less mesic and more seasonal than those characteristic of H. australis. Both species possess dark gray dorsal pelage, but H. teleus differs by larger (nonoverlapping) measurements of the hind foot and distinctive cranial proportions. Most notably, the rostrum of the new species is strikingly wide and massive, and the interparietal is narrow and rounded (in contrast to the wide, diamond-shaped interparietal of H. australis). The ranges of the two species together conform to the previously recognized Chocoan evergreen-forest fauna of western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. However, the restriction of H. teleus to evergreen but seasonal forests of the southern Chocó (transitional between the relatively unseasonal evergreen forests of the central Chocó to the north and highly seasonal xeric regions to the south) is unique within currently recognized species of mammals. Biogeographic overviews hint at similar patterns in other groups, but more alpha-taxonomic research is necessary to evaluate mammalian distributional patterns in the region properly. Most suitable habitat for H. teleus has been converted to agricultural uses, and its current distribution is likely restricted to a handful of small-to-medium-sized forest patches

<strong>Systematics of <em>Sturnira</em> (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Ecuador, with comments on species boundaries</strong>

FIGURE 1. A relief map of Ecuador with sampled localities as triangles. Numbers above localities correspond to numbers in Appendix 1.Published as part of Jarrín-V, Pablo & Clare, Elizabeth L., 2013, Systematics of Sturnira (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Ecuador, with comments on species boundaries, pp. 165-183 in Zootaxa 3630 (1) on page 168, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3630.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/526139

Knowledge gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean and economic development

An economy based on primary products is present in most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. These remain focused on the export of unprocessed materials and goods, with little added value from knowledge and technology, which creates a development gap with technologically advanced countries and regions. By using a set of 5 quantitative indicators, we provided a novel assessment of growth gaps in the production of knowledge across world regions. Our study interpreted growth curves in terms of their essential constituent components (i. e. size, tempo, and intensity). Latin America and the Caribbean remains a region with average or below-average performance for most indicators of knowledge and most components of growth. The region shows a relatively large intensity for growth in patent applications, high-tech exports, and scientific publications, and this may have to do with recent investment in R&D by some Latin American countries. Although education gaps are slightly closing, research and technologicalgaps, measured by patent applications and scientific publications, are widening and driving up the resulting gaps in economic growth. Our study adds to other assessments of growth gaps in establishing the existence of an increasing divide between Latin America and the Caribbean and the developed world regions. We also propose strategy recommendations in the context of the current observed gaps in the production of knowledge. Bridging knowledge gaps represents a historical imperative and an unavoidable condition for the economic and social progress of the Latin American region. Therefore, active domestic public policies are urgently needed, along with international agreements that contribute to democratizing access to knowledge and technology

Wildlife roadkill patterns in a fragmented landscape of the Western Amazon

One of the most evident and direct effects of roads on wildlife is the death of animals by vehicle collision. Understanding the spatial patterns behind roadkill helps to plan mitigation measures to reduce the impacts of roads on animal populations. However, although roadkill patterns have been extensively studied in temperate zones, the potential impacts of roads on wildlife in the Neotropics have received less attention and are particularly poorly understood in the Western Amazon. Here, we present the results of a study on roadkill in the Amazon region of Ecuador; a region that is affected by a rapidly increasing development of road infrastructure. Over the course of 50 days, in the wet season between September and November 2017, we searched for road-killed vertebrates on 15.9 km of roads near the city of Tena, Napo province, for a total of 1,590 surveyed kilometers. We recorded 593 dead specimens, predominantly reptiles (237 specimens, 40%) and amphibians (190, 32%), with birds (102, 17%) and mammals (64, 11%) being less common. Recorded species were assigned to three functional groups, based on their movement behavior and habitat use (“slow,” “intermediate,” and “fast”). Using Ripley's K statistical analyses and 2D HotSpot Identification Analysis, we found multiple distinct spatial clusters or hotspots, where roadkill was particularly frequent. Factors that potentially determined these clusters, and the prevalence of roadkill along road segments in general, differed between functional groups, but often included land cover variables such as native forest and waterbodies, and road characteristics such as speed limit (i.e., positive effect on roadkill frequency). Our study, which provides a first summary of species that are commonly found as roadkill in this part of the Amazon region, contributes to a better understanding of the negative impacts of roads on wildlife and is an important first step toward conservation efforts to mitigate these impacts