Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve


The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve is a 1,600-acre protected area of Pacific Equatorial Forest in coastal Ecuador. It is one of the last significant remnants of tropical moist evergreen forest and premontane cloud forest in the region between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean in Ecuador. It is estimated that only 2% of the native forest still remains in coastal Ecuador. The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve is owned and managed by Third Millennium Alliance and partner Grupo Ecologico Jama-Coaque, both non-profit conservation foundations in their respective countries. It is part of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena biodiversity hotspot as designated by Conservation International.

Location

The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve is located along the Jama-Coaque Coastal Mountain Range in northwestern Ecuador, in the Pacific Equatorial Forest. It is 19 kilometers south of the equator and 7 kilometers inland from the Pacific Ocean in the Upper Camarones River Basin. It is 3 kilometers inland from the small agricultural community of Camarones and approximately equidistant from the mid-sized coastal towns of Jama and Pedernales in the province of Manabí. The Bamboo House Research Station within the reserve is located at 0° 06’56.8” S, 80°07’29.5” W.

History

The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve was established by Third Millennium Alliance in 2007, initially as a 95-acre private reserve along the peak of the coastal mountain range. From 2008-2011, the reserve expanded to 586 acres through 5 subsequent land purchases, and presently covers 57% of the Upper Camarones River Basin. The reserve takes its name from the ancient kingdom that thrived in the region from 355 B.C. to 1532 A.D.

Ecology

The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve climbs from 846 feet elevation, along the Camarones River, to a maximum elevation of 2,290 feet elevation at the peak of Cerro Sagrado mountain. The lowland part of the reserve is characterized by tropical moist evergreen forest and transition to tropical rainforest. Starting at approximately 1,900 feet of elevation, the forest rapidly transitions to premontane cloud forest, owing to the nearly constant fog layer along the crests of the coastal mountain range. The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve protects the headwaters of the Camarones River and three tributaries.

Climate

The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve is subject to a tropical monsoon climate. Although it receives abundant rainfall like that of the tropical rain forest climate, rainfall is concentrated in the high-sun season, which is late December through May. The reserve is located onshore from the changeover between the Humboldt and El Niño ocean currents, which place it at the transition zone between some of the wettest forests in the world and the driest desert in the world. Starting in late December, a change in atmospheric pressure shifts ocean currents so that warm waters from the El Niño current come closer to shore and displace the cold waters of the Humboldt current. The result is warmer air temperatures and heavy rainfall that used to last through August, but now usually only lasts into May. The dry season, which now begins in June or July and can last into mid January, is characterized by cooler temperatures and more overcast skies. The Bamboo House research station in the Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve records an average daily temperature range of 24-31° Celsius in the rainy season and 19-28° Celsius in the dry season. Annual rainfall in the lowland moist forests of the Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve averages 1,000-1,500 mm. The total annual water intake of the cloud forest is estimated to exceed 2000 mm, owing to fog drip, a process in which moisture from the clouds the hover along the peaks of the mountains is stripped by the surfaces of vegetation and condenses into water that drips to the forest floor.

Wildlife

The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve serves as habitat and key migratory channel for six endangered species of felines and two endangered species of primates. Other endangered mammals include the tayra, the three-toed sloth, the western agouti, and the spotted paca. In 2009, herpetologist Paul S. Hamilton discovered two new species of frog in the cloud forest of the Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve.
To learn more about the Jama-Coaque Reserve please visit: http://www.tmalliance.org/