Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve

The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve is located along the Jama-Coaque Coastal Mountain Range in northwestern Ecuador, in the heart of 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.{{cite web|title=Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve|url=http://www.3malliance.org/index.php?id=436|publisher=Third Millennium Alliance|access-date=14 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806074753/http://3malliance.org/index.php?id=436|archive-date=6 August 2011|url-status=dead}}

The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve was established by Third Millennium Alliance in 2007, initially as a 95-acre (38 hectare) private reserve along the peaks of the coastal mountain range. From 2008 to 2011, the reserve expanded to {{convert|586|acre|ha|abbr=off}} through 5 subsequent land purchases, and presently covers 57% of the Upper Camarones River Basin.{{cite web|title=The Last Pacific Equatorial Forests|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yeXrdZKbbM|publisher=Alianza Pacífico Ecuatorial|access-date=14 April 2011}} The reserve takes its name from the ancient kingdom that thrived in the region from 355 B.C. to 1532 A.D.{{cite web|last=Avilés Pino|first=Efrén|title=Jama-Coaque, Cultura|url=http://www.enciclopediadelecuador.com/temasOpt.php?Ind=1105&Let=|publisher=Enciclopedia del Ecuador|access-date=14 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004112448/http://www.enciclopediadelecuador.com/temasOpt.php?Ind=1105&Let=|archive-date=4 October 2011|url-status=dead}}

The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve climbs from {{convert|846|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} elevation, along the Camarones River, to a maximum elevation of {{convert|2,290|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} 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 {{convert|1,900|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} 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.

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.{{cite web|title=Tropical Monsoon Climate|url=http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/tropical_monsoon_1.html|publisher=The Physical Environment|access-date=14 April 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324035928/http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/tropical_monsoon_1.html|archive-date=24 March 2011}} 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 (the Chocó rainforests in Colombia) and the driest desert in the world (the Atacama in Peru and Chile). 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.{{cite web|title=Climate in Ecuador|url=http://www.goecuador.com/ecuador-general-info/ecuador-climate.html|publisher=GoEcuador.com|access-date=14 April 2011}} 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 (75-88°Fahrenheit) in the rainy season and 19-28°Celsius (66-82°Fahrenheit) in the dry season.{{cite journal|last=Criswell|first=Bryan|title=Daily Temperature Averages|journal=Jama-Coaque Daily Log - 2010|date=29 January 2011}} 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,{{cite journal|author1=Dodson, C.H. |author2=Gentry, A.H.|title=Biological Extinction in Western Ecuador|journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden|year=1991|volume=78|issue=2|pages=273–295|doi=10.2307/2399563|jstor=2399563}} 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.{{cite web|title=Cloud Forests|url=http://www.therainforests.info/landscape/cloud-forest.htm|publisher=The Rainforests Website|access-date=14 April 2011}}

The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve serves as habitat and key migratory channel for six endangered species of felines (jaguar, puma, ocelot, oncilla, margay, and jaguarundi) and two endangered species of primates (mantled howler monkey and white-fronted capuchin monkey).{{cite web|title=CITES Species List |url=http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml |work=Appendix I, II, and 3 |publisher=Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora |access-date=14 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203100154/http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml |archive-date= 3 February 2007 }} 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.{{cite web|title=Rain Frogs and a Slug-Sucking Snake New to Science but Nearly Extinct|url=http://reptilesandamphibians.org/news/press_releases/40_new_frogs.html|publisher=Reptile and Amphibian Ecology International|access-date=14 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513195715/http://reptilesandamphibians.org/news/press_releases/40_new_frogs.html|archive-date=13 May 2011|url-status=dead}}

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{{Coord missing|Ecuador}}

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Category:Nature reserves in Ecuador

Category:Forests of Ecuador

Category:Geography of Manabí Province