Rapid Biodiversity Assessment: Guatemala

On a five-day expedition into the heart of the Yucatan jungle, an international team conducted a rapid biodiversity assessment of Guatemala's El Mirador-Rio Azul National Park in the Maya Biosphere Reserve.

The El Mirador region is second only to the Amazon rainforest in tropical forest biodiversity and is one of the least explored areas in Central America. It harbors the largest concentration of Neotropical migrants in the Americas, according to Partners in Flight. Over 4 million hectares are legally protected, but that designation means little on the ground. At present, the forest is under threat from poaching and illegal logging.

The team measured the diversity of resident and migratory birds through audio recording and direct observation, recording 184 species in their five-day visit to two locations.

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Narrated by Chris Wood

Highlights included Ocellated Turkey, Crested Guan, and Great Curassow, three vulnerable species that - in more populated areas - often succumb to hunting pressure. The team also encountered two types of monkeys (spider and black howlers), also common targets of poachers. They recorded 24 species of North American migrants and 12 species endemic to the Yucatan Peninsula dry forest.

Based on the diversity the team found, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology decided to work with the reserve's staff to help them enact sustainable, effective protection for this forest and its unique wildlife.

The Rapid Biodiversity Assessment bird survey team consisted of Eduardo E. Inigo-Elias, Gregory F. Budney, Marshall J. Illiff, Thomas S. Schulenberg, Christopher L. Wood.

Partners included the Foundation for Anthropological Research & Environmental Studies (FARES); Instituto de Antropologia e Historia, Republica de Guatemala; Wolf Creek Charitable Foundation; and Robert and Marilyn Schumann.

For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Laura Erickson, editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850. Phone: (607) 254-1114. email: lle24@cornell.edu