Effects of the environmental conditions and seasonality on a population survey of the Andean condor Vultur gryphus in the tropical Andes

Background Among the New World vultures, the Andean condor is considered one of the most culturally and ecologically important species. However, their populations are declining over their entire distributional range. In response, conservation strategies have been implemented in many countries to reverse the increasing extinction risk of this species. The initiatives rely on extensive population surveys to gather basic information necessary to implement policies and to intervene efficiently. Still, there is a need to standardize the surveys based on seasonality and suitable environmental conditions throughout the species distribution. Here, we provide the first assessment of how daily temperature, rainfall, and seasonality influence surveys of Andean condors on a communal roost in the central Peruvian Andes. Methods Using an autoregressive generalized linear model, we associated environmental variables with visual surveys of adult and young condors at three different times of the day and three times a week between June 2014 and March 2015. Results We found that both adults and young Andean condors showed a threefold reduction in the use of the communal roost after the beginning of the rainy season. Colder and drier days (dry season) are preferable for surveying, as we expect the total number of condors using communal roosts to reduce under rainy (rainfall = −0.53 ± 0.16) and warmer days (temperature = −0.04 ± 0.02) days. Therefore, the significant variation in the use of roosts across seasons and hours should be carefully accounted for in national surveys, at the risk of undermining the full potential of the communal roost surveys. Moreover, we also found a strong bias towards immatures (about 76%) in the adult:immature ratio and a remarkable absence of Andean condors during the wet season. These results suggest that the species might be using other unknown communal roosts hierarchically. Such results provide key information for selecting priority areas for conservation and selecting the best time to survey this species in the tropical Andes. Finally, it may open a fruitful avenue for further research on the protection of the Andean condor

Algas marinas del litoral de la región La Libertad, Perú

Las algas marinas son importantes como fotosintetizadoras en la cadena trófica, alimentación y economía humanas. Existen escasas investigaciones en algunas regiones del Perú. Por ello, se determinó la diversidad, distribución, ecología e importancia económica de las algas marinas del litoral de la región La Libertad. La colección se realizó en las zonas intermareal y submareal, entre 1 y 15 m de profundidad; y depositó en el Herbarium Truxillense (HUT). Se revisó el material de ésta institución y contrastó con estudios previos. La determinación taxonómica se realizó según los caracteres vegetativos y reproductivos. Se consideró la distribución geográfica por provincias (Ascope, Chepén, Pacasmayo, Trujillo, Virú), hábitats, zonas de marea, ecosistemas litorales, profundidades, y uno o más ejemplares según el nombre y número del colector principal, el acrónimo del herbario, el nombre vulgar y la importancia económica si existieran. La ficogeografía descriptiva fue estimada por los índices de Feldmann y Cheney. Se registraron 51 especies: 12 Chlorophyta, 7 Ochrophyta y 32 Rhodophyta. El mayor número de especies se encontró en Trujillo, Ascope y Chepén, sobre rocas, zona intermareal y ecosistema mesolitoral. La ficoflora tiene afinidad tropical. Rhodophyta es la más diversa. Chondracanthus chamissoi y Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis tienen interés comercial en la región