The Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve (Reserva Ecológica Jama-Coaque) is a 586-acre (236 hectare) protected area of Pacific Equatorial Forest

Pacific Equatorial Forest

The Pacific Equatorial Forest is a tropical forest ecosystem located at 0° latitude in coastal Ecuador, in the province of Manabí. The ecosystem is most notable for its high diversity of forest types in unusually close proximity...

 in coastal Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

. 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

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 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, a non-profit conservation foundation. It is part of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena biodiversity hotspot

Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena

Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena is a biodiversity hotspot, which includes the tropical moist forests and tropical dry forests of the Pacific coast of South America and the Galapagos Islands. The region extends from easternmost Panama to the lower Magdalena Valley of Colombia, and along the Pacific coast of...

 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

Manabí

Word Manabí can refer to:* Manabí Province in Ecuador* Manabí * The manga and anime series Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! or the nickname of its main character Manami Amamiya....

. 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 (38 hectare) private reserve along the peak of the coastal mountain range. From 2008-2011, the reserve expanded to 586 acres (237 hectares) 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 (256 meters) elevation, along the Camarones River, to a maximum elevation of 2,290 feet (698 meters) 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

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

. Starting at approximately 1,900 feet (580 meters) of elevation, the forest rapidly transitions to premontane cloud forest

Cloud forest

A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...

, 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

Tropical monsoon climate

Tropical monsoon climate, occasionally also known as a tropical wet climate or tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate in climate classification, is a relatively rare type of climate that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category "Am."Tropical monsoon climates have monthly...

. 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 (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

Humboldt Current

The Humboldt Current , also known as the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north-westward along the west coast of South America from the southern tip of Chile to northern Peru. It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and can extend...

. 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 (75-88° Fahrenheit) in the rainy season and 19-28° Celsius (66-82° Fahrenheit) 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

Fog drip

Fog drip is a type of precipitation that forms when fog droplets condense on the needles or leaves of trees or other objects, and drips to the ground....

, 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 (jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

, puma, ocelot

Ocelot

The ocelot , pronounced /ˈɒsəˌlɒt/, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean...

, oncilla, margay

Margay

The Margay is a spotted cat native to Middle and South America. Named for Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, it is a solitary and nocturnal animal that prefers remote sections of the rainforest. Although it was once believed to be vulnerable to extinction, the IUCN now lists it as "Near Threatened"...

, and jaguarundi

Jaguarundi

The jaguarundi is a small-sized wild cat native to Central and South America. In 2002, the IUCN classified the jaguarundi as Least Concern as it is likely that no conservation units, with the probable exception of the mega-reserves of the Amazon basin could sustain long-term viable populations. It...

) and two endangered species of primates (mantled howler monkey

Howler monkey

Howler monkeys are among the largest of the New World monkeys. Fifteen species are currently recognised. Previously classified in the family Cebidae, they are now placed in the family Atelidae. These monkeys are native to South and Central American forests...

 and white-fronted capuchin monkey

Capuchin monkey

The capuchins are New World monkeys of the genus Cebus. The range of capuchin monkeys includes Central America and South America as far south as northern Argentina...

). Other endangered mammals include the tayra

Tayra

The tayra , also known as the Tolomuco or Perico ligero in Central America, and San Hol or viejo de monte in the Yucatan Peninsula is an omnivorous animal from the weasel family Mustelidae. It is the only species in the genus Eira...

, the three-toed sloth

Three-toed sloth

The three-toed sloths are tree-living mammals from South and Central America. They are the only members of the genus Bradypus and the family Bradypodidae. There are four living species of three-toed sloths...

, the western agouti

Agouti

Agouti refers to a number of species of rodents as well as a number of genes affecting coat coloration in several different animals. Agouti fur contains a pattern of pigmentation in which individual hairs have several bands of light and dark pigment with black tips.* When referring to a rodent,...

, and the spotted paca

Paca

The Lowland Paca , also known as the Spotted Paca, is a large rodent found in tropical and sub-tropical America, from East-Central Mexico to Northern Argentina...

. In 2009, herpetologist Paul S. Hamilton discovered two new species of frog in the cloud forest of the Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve.