El 26 de Noviembre 2011, Conservación Osa (CO) y el Área de Conservación Osa (ACOSA) organizaron un mini simposio en la Estación Biológica Piro con el objetivo de abrir un espacio de intercambio de los resultados de las investigaciones desarrolladas en ACOSA, tanto por CO como por otros investigadores.

En dicha actividad tuvimos la participación de 14 expositores de diferentes instituciones (Ver programa de la actividad). La actividad inicio con una bienvenida e introducción a Conservación Osa y luego, la Lic. Wendy Barrantes del departamento de investigación de ACOSA presentó un resumen sobre las investigaciones realizadas en ACOSA en los últimos años y los vacios en investigación que ellos han identificado.

A continuación cada investigador presento los resultados más relevantes de sus investigaciones. Debido al gran número de presentaciones, la gran cantidad de resultados presentados y la gran diversidad de los mismos, no pretendemos aquí entrar en detalles de cada uno de los temas expuestos. Sin embargo, si queremos rescatar como algunos de los participantes expresaron su interés en promover este tipo de actividades, que abren un espacio para compartir conocimientos científicos que se generan en la zona, y que muchas veces se complementan entre sí. Esta actividad también permitió el generar nuevas contactos y alianzas que favorece el desarrollo de mejores proyectos en el futuro.

The 2012 Osa Science Symposium was attended by 14 presenters and many members of the environmental community

Osa Conservation recently hosted a science symposium at the Piro Research Center. The event brought together scientists and conservationists to share information and results from various research conducted throughout the Osa Peninsula.  The symposium was organized in partnership with representatives from ACOSA (Osa Conservation Area) and was attended by 14 presenters and many members of the environmental community.

The day began with welcoming remarks from Osa Conservation’s executive director, Manuel Ramírez and ACOSA research department head, Wendy Barrantes.  The gathering provided a space to discuss the current status of Osa’s diverse ecosystems and wildlife, as well as identify priority areas for further research. Participants identified the need for comprehensive studies of land use change in Osa, methodologies for estimating costs of environmental damage, calculations for carbon sequestration potential in primary and secondary forests, scientific techniques for recovering degraded forests and the development of a model to build incentives for reforestation in the peninsula.

The symposium strengthened communication and collaboration among scientists and environmentalists and also fomented the role of Osa Conservation as one of the main facilitators of research in the area. The event was a great success and we would like to thank the following presenters and all symposium attendees.  Thanks for making this year’s symposium a success!

Wendy Barrantes, ACOSA
Conserving the Osa, Overview and Future Directions

Karen Leavelle, Osa Conservation
Spatial Biology and Conservation of the Yellow-billed Cotinga

Guido Saboío, Osa Conservation
Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Piro-Carate Beaches

Reinaldo Aguilar, Los Charcos de Osa
Vascular Plants of the Osa

Pablo Riba, Proyecto Carey, Universidad de Costa Rica
Population Structure of Two Dioceus Hardwood Species in the Osa Peninsula

Edgar Malayassi, Instituto Tecnológico de Cartago
Carbon sequestration in secondary and primary forest, Osa Peninsula

Jesús Mora Molina, Guillermo Calvo Brenes, Instituto Tecnológico de Cartago
Evaluation and Classification of the Quality of Several Water Bodies in the Osa Peninsula

Aida Bustamante, Yaguará
Research and Conservation of big cats and their preys on the Osa Peninsula

Gloriana Chaverri, Boston University
The Use of Social Calls in the Search for Bat Refuges

Julieta Carranza , Walter Marín, Universidad de Costa Rica
Inventory and distribution of macro-fungi at La Leona, Corcovado National Park

DECEMBER 17-22

Space is still available on our Holiday Birding Trip, so join us for spectacular birding through the tropical forests of the Osa Peninsula! This five-day trip includes extensive birding, forest hikes, and nightly talks and excursions with our staff of biologists and conservation professionals.  The trip culminates in the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count—where you, along with thousands of other citizen scientists throughout the Americas, can participate in the longest running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations.

The Osa Peninsula is the wildest, yet most under-birded, corner of the country.  It is home to over 460 species of birds, including the healthiest population of Scarlet Macaws in Central America, Red-capped Manakins, Yellow-billed and Turquoise Contingas, and even the Harpy Eagle.  Osa Conservation’s birding trips are led by resident ornithologist, Karen Leavelle, as well as trained naturalist guides who are intimately familiar with the bird species and tropical ecosystems of the Osa.

Your participation in the Holiday Birding Tour directly supports OC’s avian conservation and education programs. We invite you to be part of our mission to conserve the Peninsula’s globally significant biodiversity and we hope to see you on one of these fantastic trips!

For more information on our Holiday Birding Tour, or to see a trip itinerary, please visit our website at www.osaconservation.org/ConservationTrips.html. For trip registration or questions please contact Emily Angell at emilyangell@osaconservation.org or Karen Leavelle at karenleavelle@osaconservation.org.

Volunteering with the FOO Sea Turtle Research Program was a wonderful experience.  My observations and field notes taken while on the Osa Peninsula were used to complete the final independent study project of my Master of Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).  The topic of my independent study project was Global Threats of Sea Turtles.  I graduated from VCU in December of 2010 and feel very lucky to have had this volunteer/research opportunity on the beautiful Osa Peninsula.  The personnel at the FOO Sea Turtle Research Center were very helpful in my data collection and field studies, even after I returned home to finish my independent study.  I couldn’t have asked for a more hospitable and professional research program.

Jesus Christ Lizard

Getting from San Jose to the research center was quite an adventure.  Visiting the Osa during the height of the rainy season made it a bit tricky, but it was well worth the effort.  I spent nine thrilling days and nights at the Osa Biodiversity Center from the end of October through early November of 2010.  I participated in four night beach patrols and two day beach patrols with the sea turtle research program.  Watching the sea turtles nest at night was a magical experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

With several FOO conservation projects underway, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about the local biodiversity of the peninsula.   I stayed busy, practiced Spanish a bit, received plenty of rest, and filled my belly with wonderful home-cooked meals served onsite at the research center.  The people of FOO were a lot of fun and I enjoyed working with them.   I’d do it all over again! Thanks for everything FOO. I’ll be forever grateful.

Sincerely,

Vickie Buisset Jones

What turtle has the best eye sight?

A SEE TURTLE!

And that´s why it´s so important that we make sure on night patrols that we spot the ladies before they spot us…the last thing we want to do is scare them back to the sea. A good turtle detective just doesn´t do that. An Olive Ridley could have swum thousands of miles to get to this specific beach  which is why here at Friends of the Osa we do what we can to ensure we have minimal impact on beach patrols- especially at night. Females can be deterred from nesting and the hatchlings’ important journey to the sea can be disrupted just by the presence of white lights. For this reason, we only use red light on the beach. Sea turtles, like many other reptiles, don´t actually have the color red within their visual spectrum so it means we can work safe in the knowledge that they don´t feel like a criminal fleeing from the scene of a crime!

Volunteering with sea turtles on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

We´ve just said goodbye to the lovely Brandy and Nick who were volunteering  with us for 2 weeks, staying at Finca Exotica in Carate. Their second day it was unnecessary to use ANY  artificial light to spot a turtle as on an afternoon stroll to the lagoon at around 3:30pm, we  discovered a solitary uptrack and on the top…an Olive Ridley covering a nest! It was a beautiful day anyway so this just completely topped it off. Most sea turtles come up during the night to lay their eggs as they feel it´s safer but this individual obviously had other ideas! It was a real treat to see her in natural light.

Of course, night patrols aren´t always a walk in the park.  We are in the peak of the rainy season, and it’s not uncommon for there to be times when the rain has penetrated every ounce of clothing, sand has made its way into every crevice you never thought possible and throughout the patrol, one can´t help but feel like you’re on the losing side in World War III against the elusive sand flea. But the second you catch a glimpse of a turtle, watching each egg drop into the nest she created ever so carefully, we are reminded of how much energy has been invested in this process and just how vital our efforts are to protect nesting sea turtles. Our efforts here on the Osa seem so small- but nest by nest, day by day, the data we gather can be interpreted and contributed to the global effort for sea turtle conservation, and together we can make a difference.  Besides, who wouldn´t care to swap the office for this?

Male Turquoise Cotinga. Photo by Ulises Quintero

This week as promised I am bringing you the Turquoise Cotinga (Cotinga ridgwayi).  This is definitely one of those species of bird that makes you go “WOW” when you see it.  This is also one of Costa Rica’s most sensitive species to loss of forest habitat.  BirdLife International has this Cotinga species listed as Vulnerable which puts it one step away from be considered Endangered.  It is a regional endemic only found on the Pacific slope of central and southern Costa Rica and western Panama.  Its population is estimated to be between 2,500 – 10,000 birds and declining.

So why the decline?  As with many species, the Turquoise Cotinga is faced with deforestation and severe habitat fragmentation.  This coupled with an already naturally small range makes it difficult for the Cotinga population to remain stable.  This is also true for its closest relative the Yellow-billed Cotinga also found here on the Osa Peninsula whose population is estimated to be much smaller between 250 – 1,000 birds (more on this species in the weeks to come!).

Because of the Turquoise Cotinga’s conservation concern and its rarity, it is a special occasion when we see one.  Now you must know there are certain areas on the Osa Peninsula where this bird is quite common such as Carate and Corcovado National Park and folks flock to these areas to see them.  Since we at Friends of the Osa are in the middle of our seasonal avian monitoring we have had the distinct pleasure to have encountered several Turquoise Cotingas in the last two weeks within our monitoring points and just up the road from the Greg Gund Conservation Center on Cerro Osa.  It is possible that Turquoise Cotingas are more common than once thought on Friends of the Osa property especially outside of the breeding season when they are seasonally migrating in search of food resources.

This passerine species is found mainly in the canopy of humid rainforest and secondary growth and can also be seen along forest edges and in tall trees within shade grown coffee plantations.  They will wander throughout the canopy of wet forests and are known to rest on high exposed perches.  They consume the fruits of fig trees, Cecropia and parasitic mistletoe Psittacanthus and will go down low to gather pokeweed berries Phytolacca in clearings on occasion.  In case you were wondering it weighs in at about 50 grams, just under the size of a Red-winged Blackbird.

The males and females apparently do not form pair bonds.  The males gather in group display leks to attract females.  The female then builds the nest and rears the two young all on her own.  Nesting takes place between January and May.

Conservation measures are to investigate current distribution and discourage the conversion of shade coffee to full sun grown coffee.  Unfortunately very little information is available on the behavioral ecology of this species so the more we learn the more we will bring to you.

Frugivorous Butterfly Trap

The methodology used by José consists of traps that are placed in the canopy and the understory that attract butterflies with fermented fruit. Fruit is placed in these traps during the first week of each month. All butterflies captured during this period are identified, which gives a pretty good idea of the species richness in both strata of the forest, if sampling is performed at adequate intervals.

Jose shared with us some of his vast knowledge of frugivorous butterflies of Costa Rica, which, he tells us, make up between 40-50% of all Costa Rican butterfly species. He also told us how the species richness of frugivorous butterflies has greater variation vertically than horizontally; i.e. there is a greater difference between the canopy and the understory of the same site, than there is between different sites at similar heights.

Not content to talk only about butterflies, José also gave excellent lectures on the concepts of diversity, evenness, dominance and beta and gamma biodiversity, all fundamental concepts in the work he has been doing.

I would like to thank La Leona Lodge, especially Ifigenia Garita, for the opportunity to have participated in this activity. I also want to thank José Montero his great willingness to teach and share his knowledge.

The information generated by this project was included in the latest update workshop of the conservation status of amphibians in Costa Rica for the IUCN Red List, held in San Jose in July this year. The workshop was organized by the University of Costa Rica’s School of Biology and the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN. The workshop summary will soon be published by the organizers, and we’ll share that report through the blog.

Dermophis occidentalis

As part of this project, and with some good luck, we’ve observed many interesting species of amphibians.  One species in particular which has attracted the most attention is the caecilian seen in this photo.

Caecilians are a group of amphibians that has invaded the underground environment, so that their bodies are elongated, they have no limbs and their eyes are vestigial – all characteristics that allow them to squirm through their subterranean tunnels. Because of their penchant for the underground, these animals are rarely seen, and therefore, little is known about them.

According to the latest review of this group in the Osa Peninsula, there are three species of caecilians, one of these endemic (Oscaecilia osae), which has been reported only twice in Corcovado National Park.

The species that we have been observing, Dermophis occidentali, has been found at both the Piro Research Center, and the Greg Gund Conservation Center (GGCC).  The individual in the photo was found at the GGCC by Kory Kramer, in one of the buildings. This was in early July, when the onset of the rains saturates the ground forcing caecilians to surface.  If you’re lucky, you’ll see one. On this occasion, all Friends of the Osa staff were gathered for an activity so that everyone had the opportunity to observe this rare species.

We are officially half way through this year´s turtle season and it has been a very busy 3 months indeed! Within this time, we have been continuously patrolling our beaches morning and night to help our favorite reptiles. There seems to never be a dull moment, even the walks to the beach prove exciting! Already, we´ve been fortunate enough to have encountered jaguarundi, coati, caiman, anteaters, armadillos, as well as a variety of beautiful and rare frogs and snakes. Last week on a morning patrol in Carate, Greivin and Phoebe were lucky enough to see a group of 6 humpback whales pass by. It really is like a party in the jungle at the moment! Apparently whales can be camera shy so a group photo was out of the question but here´s a shot of one of the females:

Photo by Carlos García

Of course seeing these animals is all well and good but it is the sea turtles we are here for and they´ve proved not to fail with appearances. Olive Ridley are commonly sighted here with Green´s following second, but in the last month we´ve also had a handful of the critically endangered Leatherback and Hawksbill coming up onto our beaches – amazing! Due to the incubation period of some Olive Ridley nests being 45 days we are also starting to see more and more hatchlings appear too. For anyone who has been in the right place at the right time, you´ll know how incredibly cute these youngsters are! Sadly only 1 in 1000 makes it to adulthood which is why it´s so important that we use all of our best efforts to do what we can. One of our protected nests just hatched yesterday morning and we caught a straggler on her way to her new home, the sea. Fingers crossed she will be one of the females returning to the beach in the future to continue the cycle.

Baby sea turtle making its way to sea

We would like to take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to all of the fantastic volunteers we´ve already had come and help us in our conservation efforts this year. This is a critical time in the history of sea turtles and with the help of volunteers we as humans really can save them from extinction. Please don´t standby whilst the last of these majestic creatures disappears.  Come get involved and make a difference too!

Figure 1. Density of sea turtle visits during the months of July and August on the beaches of Piro-Carate, Osa Peninsula 2010.

By calculating the July and August data in this way, taking the sampling effort on each beach into account, we get the results shown in Figure 1. As you can see, Rio Oro is the beach with the highest density of in situ nests, nest predation and false crawls, followed by Pejeperro. From this graph, we can also see that the density of depredated nests on Rio Oro beach is very similar to the density of in situ nests, which is obviously worrying. In the coming days, I will conduct a preliminary analysis of predation in conjunction with Courtney Thomas, one of our assistants, who is using her participation in this project as part of her studies at Evergreen State College.

I would also like to take advantage of this note to thank Mr. Eliecer Villalta and Mr. Geinor Barquero, from MINAET’s Department of Control and Protection, for their support in recent weeks. Their presence, along with other peers in the area, had an immediate effect in reducing poaching of turtle eggs. I hope we can continue to coordinate this type of support throughout the rest of the season.

Remember that you can help us to protect sea turtles that visit the southern part of the Osa Peninsula in several ways: 1) telling others about our project and the importance of protecting sea turtles, 2) participating in our sea turtle volunteer program and 3) by making a donation to help fund the continuation of the Sea Turtle Conservation Program.