International Research Fellowship Program: Ecology of the Long-Wattled Umbrellabird and Other Avian Frugivores in the Ecuadorian Choco

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040213KarubianThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-one-month research fellowship by Dr. Jordan Karubian to work with Dr. David Romo at Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Quito, Ecuador. A portion of this project will be supported by the Biocomplexity in the Environment (BE) program.The Choco Biogeographical Region, which spans 100,000 km2 of humid forest in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, is one of the least known and most biologically diverse areas in the world. Surveys in the Choco have revealed exceptional levels of endemism in plants, reptiles, amphibians, birds and butterflies (Dodson and Gentry 1991, Dinnerstein 1995, Galeano et al. 1998, Stattersfield 1998). However, little additional research has been done in the zone, making it a clear global priority for scientific research. Adding to the sense of urgency, Choco habitat is being lost at dizzying rates, with less than four percent of Ecuador's forests remaining (Sierra 1999).This project focuses on the ecology, behavior, and conservation of large, fruit-eating birds in the Ecuadorian Choco, with a special emphasis on the long-wattled umbrellabird (Cephalopterus penduliger). One aspect of the project concerns the relationship between habitat quality, fruit production, and the diversity and abundance of fruit-eating birds. To better understand this complex relationship, habitat structure and quality is measured at over 200 separate points, fruit production is quantified bi-weekly, and fruit-eating birds are regularly sampled via standardized point counts. These data provide baseline data community-level ecology for the Ecuadorian Choco, with important benefits for basic biology and conservation efforts. The second component of the project focuses on the long-wattled umbrellabird, an endangered and little-known species of bird endemic to the Choco. Special attention is paid to the species' ecology, social behavior, and conservation. Ecologically, radio telemetry is used to assess the species' role as a disperser of large seeds from primary to secondary forest and the role this dispersal plays in forest regeneration. Social relationships and interactions are monitored to test hypotheses about evolution of extreme secondary sexual characters and the adaptive significance of cooperative behavior. These data are then combined with habitat requirements, foraging behavior, and home range to assess principal threats and tractable solutions for conservation of this and other endangered species.