RELICT HUMID TROPICAL FOREST IN MEXICO PROMOTES DIFFERENTIATION IN BARRED WOODCREEPERS Dendrocolaptes (AVES: FURNARIIDAE)

Humid tropical forests in Mesoamerica are distributed along the Atlantic slope and, in scattered locations, along the Mexican Pacific slope. These poorly explored Mexican forests include microendemic bird species. Two species in the genus Dendrocolaptes occur in lowland and foothill humid tropical forests of Mesoamerica. One of these, D. sanctithomae, is comprised of four subspecies, of which the two that occur in Mexico, D. s. sanctithomae and D. s. sheffleri, are distinctly different morphologically, and the latter is a poorly known microendemic taxon of the Mexican Pacific humid tropical forest in the Sierra Madre del Sur. We used both nuclear (nDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to evaluate the genetic variation of D. sanctithomae in Mexico, and complemented this with a quantitative analysis of phenotypic traits. We also conducted analyses of environmental niche models to test the hypothesis of niche differentiation of D. s. sheffleri from other taxa of D. sanctithomae. Our phylogenetic reconstructions of mtDNA consistently recovered D. s. sheffleri and D. s. sanctithomae as reciprocally monophyletic, while they shared alleles of nDNA. These mtDNA differences are comparable with differences reported between other Dendrocolaptes sister-taxa pairs. Our analysis of phenotypic traits also indicated that the taxa differ in measurements of hallux and feather barring. In contrast, niche differentiation tests suggest that the niches of both taxa are more similar than expected by chance. Our evidence leads us to propose species status for D. sheffleri. This is an additional example of recent speciation in Mexico that indicates active and peripatric evolutionary differentiation in the northern Neotropics.

Analysis on Willingness to Pay at the Ecotourism Destination, Cigamea Waterfall, Halimun-Salak National Reserve

Cigamea Waterfall is one of the ecotourism destinations situated in area of Salak Resort II of Halimun-Salak National Reserve (HSNR) Indonesia that can be partialy developed. The area consists of sub montanes forest and montane forest categorized as humid tropical forest. The uniqueness and the beauty of the flora, fauna, natural phenomena, and the natural condition become attraction for people to visit the area and willingness to pay for contribution fee. This fee is used as management funding to preserve the area. A demand for a commodity is trigered by willingness affordibility in buying that commodity (willingness to pay). The research analyzed willingness to pay by visitors to enjoy the beauty of Cigamea Waterfall. Logit method with descriptive quantitative approach was used in this study. Several stages in this study included: (1) analysing visitors’ trend; (2) analysing respondents’logit regression towards willingness to pay (WTP); (3) analysing willingness to pay. During this research, this ecosystem may be the last home for Leopard which stated vulnerable (VU) by REDLIST of IUCN and may be the last home for other endangered (EN) species. Based on the analysis on the responses of 342 respondents concerning their willingness to pay for contribution, 202 of the (59,1%) were willing to pay while the rest 140 respondents (48,9%) refused to pay. The average value of willingness to pay obtained was 15.000 IDR (1 USD = 14.000 IDR per year 2016) paid to enjoy the beauty of Salak Resort II, HSNR. This value was higher than that of the ticket per ecotourism object charged by the management of the resort averaging 7.500 IDR. Based on respondents’ willingness to pay, the average of the willingness to pay to enjoy the Cigamea waterfall ecotourism object was 14.000 IDR. The Willingness to pay to get into Cigamea Waterfall was lower than that for entering Salak Resort II, HSNR. Visitors willingness to visit Cigamea Waterfall ecoturism object due to the existence of forest and some natural phenomena, river as ecological corridors of the area, easy access through trekking path corridors in the forest margin (edges) as well as the potential of the flora and the fauna. The potential value of Cigamea Waterfall was 3,66 (out of 1 to 7 scale of Guideline of Ministry of Forestry), that of the flora was 2,48, while value of the fauna was 3,29. This also support claims toward a new paradigm of value that ecosystem is not only treated as supply depot of resources but also treated as oikos (home for us and other living organism).

Anoxic conditions maintained high phosphorus sorption in humid tropical forest soils

The strong phosphorus (P) sorption capacity of iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) minerals in highly weathered, acidic soils of humid tropical forests is generally assumed to be an important driver of P limitation to plants and microbial activity in these ecosystems. Humid tropical forest soils often experience fluctuating redox conditions that reduce Fe and raise pH. It is commonly thought that Fe reduction generally decreases the capacity and strength of P sorption. Here we examined the effects of 14 d oxic and anoxic incubations on soil P sorption dynamics in humid tropical forest soils from Puerto Rico. Contrary to the conventional belief, soil P sorption capacity did not decrease under anoxic conditions, suggesting that soil minerals remain strong P sinks even under reducing conditions. Sorption of P occurred very rapidly in these soils, with at least 60 % of the added P disappearing from the solution within 6 h. Estimated P sorption capacities were much higher, often by an order of magnitude, than the soil total P contents. However, the strength of P sorption under reducing conditions was weaker, as indicated by the increased solubility of sorbed P in NaHCO3 solution. Our results show that highly weathered soil minerals can retain P even under anoxic conditions, where it might otherwise be susceptible to leaching. Anoxic events can also potentially increase P bioavailability by decreasing the strength, rather than the capacity, of P sorption. These results improve our understanding of the redox effects on biogeochemical cycling in tropical forests.

Amphibians from Serrania de Las Quinchas, in the mid-Magdalena river valley, Colombia

We studied the species of amphibians from Serranía de Las Quinchas, in the mid Magdalena Valley region of Colombia, comparing the data from a recent fieldwork with museum records and literature. We present a list of 50 species of amphibians (Anura and Caudata). In our survey, we recorded 36 species, of which 6 represented new records. One of the most interesting record is that of the genus Oedipina, since this is the first time the genus is recorded for the Cordillera Oriental. The number of species is what would be expected in a humid tropical forest of the mid-Magdalena river valley, given the co-occurrence of amphibian faunas distributed in the sub-Andean, Caribbean, and Chocó biogeographic regions.