Every summer we run an extensive bird monitoring in our reserve. For this reason, we have more than 160 observation points in all elevation and forest types.

The project is also financed by Mika Peck, University of Sussex.

We have been running this for 8 years and all the data is showing interesting changes in the composition of our avian species.

Thank this project our local guides received good extra training and information on birding which we use to improve our tourist services.

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More than twenty mammal species have been observed since 2008 in our camera trapping projects. Many of them, such as the Andean Bear (Tremarctos ornatus) or the Oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), are considered vulnerable or endangered in the IUCN list and have found refuge in our reserve. After working with external partners for many years, Santa Lucía took full control of the camera trapping project in 2016. If you are interested in the data, please write us.

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Amphibians have been the center of several research projects so far. The list of confirmed species holds mostly rain frogs of the Pristimantis genus,but there are also tree frogs and caeciliean species present. Salamanders have been observed in the lower part of the reserve, but they have not been identified in the context of a research project.

The Cloud Forests of North Western Ecuador are known to be hots spots of Orchid diversity. Our orchid garden hosts around fifty species of this attractive family. We are monitoring the orchids there in order to learn more about the flowering times of the particular speices. Additionally we started a mapping activity for orchids in the reerve to find out about their altitudinal ranges and growth conditions.

Soon more information

The camera trapping project was started by Mika Peck, University of Sussex, in 2008. The intention is monitoring medium-sized and large mammals in the Santa Lucia reserve.

Since 2016 we are running the project on our own, and thanks to the financial aid of Condesan we were able to purchase cameras and get our own staff working to the field as well as to the data analysis.

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During 2013 Santa Lucia was selected as a research site for a hummingbird investigation. The purpose is finding out about the interactions between these birds and flowers (feeding and pollination), and how they change during the different seasons.

The project started by Dr. Ben Weinstein and, in 2016, was taken over and is currently being extended by Catherine Graham.

Over the years we have learned a lot about hummingbird behavior and their seasonal tendencies as well as about flowering periods for the different hummingbird-related plants. 

Small and flying mammals, such as rodents, marsupials and bats, have not been in the focus of the camera trapping project(s) as it is difficult to identify them on pictures produced by camera traps. Three short-term rapid assessments of bat diversity have resulted in a list twenty species.

Soon more information.

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The Andean Bear (Tremarcto ornatus) has been the focus or at least part of several research project over the last years. Of course we monitor the presence of bears permanantly in the context of our camera trapping project, and addtionally scientists from all obser the world have also looked more specifically in the number of individuals and behavioral aspects of bear in our reserve.

Several short-term projects (often run by students) have looked into the diversity of reptiles and amphibians and their distribution across habitats and the elevation gradient in the Santa Lucía reserve.  On of those "expeditions" lead to the disovery of a new lizard species, the Riama yumborum. Around 40 species of reptiles have been identified in the reserve so far.

Soon more information.

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