The San Antonio cloud forest: birds, orchids, and more

The San Antonio forest reserve, owned by Luna Runtun Adventure Spa, is an 80 hectare conservation area which protects a prime example of high elevation cloud forest (elevation about 2400m to 3300m) in a magnificent wilderness setting.

This moss-covered forest is rich in epiphytes (plants that grow on trees, such as orchids and bromeliads) because of frequent mists and high humidity, and the exuberant vegetaion supports a wide variet of birds and insects. Although this forest is relatively easy to access, it adjoins the vast and mostly inaccessible Sangay National Park, which has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

This enormous protected area permits the survival of some of the Andes' most threatened species, including the Mountain Tapir and Spectacled Bear. Both these species can be found in the San Antonio forest reserve, a tribute to its wildness.

A Mountain Tapir and its young were seen in the reserve recently, so there is a breeding population present in the area. A day or a week spent here will never be forgotten!

Masdevallia rosea

The flora and fauna of the reserve

The hike to the forest begins in the dramatic valley of the Rio Ulba, about 15 minutes' drive from Luna Runtun. The elevation at the start of the hike is about 2000m. There is a climb through pasture of 30 min to 1 hr depending on fitness; after the climb the trail reaches good forest and levels off at about 2300-2400m. Even during the climb it is possible to see birds such as the Inca and Turquoise Jays, Mountain and Subtropical Caciques, Black-chested Eagle, and a pair of the rare resident South American subspecies of the Peregrine Falcon, which nests on the cliffs visible to the west. Sometimes the rare translucent silvery-blue Morpho sulkowskii, the Andean Morpho butterfly, can be seen.

  Once inside the forest, anything is possible. The trail contours along the valley of the Rio Ulba, occasionally visible several hundred meters below. Forest birds in this section include the Masked Trogon, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Andean Guan, Emerald Toucanet, and numerous species of tanager. Plain-breasted and White-throated Hawks are possible, and occasionally a Black-and Chestnut Eagle makes an appearance. By paying close attention to the mixed flocks that pass through the forest, many species of spinetail and woodcreeper can be seen. In the undergrowth are several species of brush-finch, including the very rare White-rimmed Brush-Finch.

 The plants inside the forest include many species in the African Violet family (Gesneriaceae) and as the trail progresses further up the valley, orchids and other epiphytes such as bromeliads become increasingly common.  Not all orchids are epiphytes, and the ground along the trail is a good place to see Ponthieva maculata and various species of Elleanthus, Sobralia, Cranichis, and Epidendrum. In the trees it is possible to see Cyrtochilum macranthum and species of Odontoglossum, Maxillaria, Pleurothallis, and Stelis.

After about a half hour of level hiking, the trail passes through an old landslide with more open vegetation. Here is a good place to see the spectacular Golden-crowned Tanager and hummingbirds such as the Tourmaline Sunangel, Collared Inca, and Tyrian Metaltail. Orchids are especially abundant in this more open habitat, and include Ida (formerly Lycaste), Elleanthus, Maxillaria, Chrysocycnis, and many pleurothallids.

After passing this open area, the forest becomes taller and the more delicate genera of orchids begin to appear. Among the most diverse is the genus Lepanthes, including L. muscula, L. transparens, L. imitator, L. jubata, L. gargantua, L. acarina, L. biloba, and others. Masdevallia rosea is one of the showiest of the orchids in this section. Other plants of interest on the side of the trail include Pinguicula, a carnivorous plant with shiny, sticky leaves. Birds of this forest include one of the most strikingly beautiful of Ecuador's birds, the Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan.

The center of the reserve includes an old clearing where the previous owner built a prmitive cabin. It is here that the Mountain Tapir with young was most recently seen. This clearing is also a good place to see the Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Hooded and Grass-green Mountain-Tanagers, and other birds. At dawn it may be possible to see Oilbirds flying from the oriente to their nest cave on the west side of Tungurahua, the highest Oilbird cave in the world.

From this clearing it is possible to go down to the river below, where White-capped Dippers can be found and where Torrent Ducks may be possible. Alternatively it is possible to go upwards towards the paramo of Tungurahua, where additional birds such as the Rainbow-bearded Thornbill can be seen. Orchids of this high-elevation area include Odontoglossum species and Draconanthes aberrans.

This forest is rich in scenic, ornithological, and botanical wonders, including a spectacular white orchid new to science (it is in the process of being described scientifically). One of the most spectacular waterfalls in the Baños area can be reached by following the Rio Ulba upstream from the reserve. Another spectacular waterfall can be found higher upstream, though this requires an overnight stay. Each of these waterfalls is almost 200 m high!

ARTICLES ABOUT SAN ANTONIO

Thanks to Lou Jost and the EcoMinga Foundation for invalubale support

Lou Jost of new WLT Partners Ecominga in Ecuador, recently sent this photograph which he took himself close to his home on the foothills of the Tungurahua volcano. This Spectacled Bear lives safely in the vicinity of a private reserve set up by the owners of the Luna Runtun hotel. The owners are very conservation-minded came to the rescue when the forest was for sale and loggers started showing an interest in buying it. The reserve, now named the San Antonio Cloud Forest Reserve, is close to the Cerro Candelaria Reserve being funded by World Land Trust, working with the Ecominga Foundation.

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Tungurahua Volcano: An Estrategic Refuge for Mountain Tapirs in Ecuador

Juan Pablo Reyes Puig, Nelson Palacios, AndresTapia

1 Fundacion Oscar Efren Reyes. Baños.Tungurahua-Ecuador.
2 Comunidad San Antonio de Puntzan. Baños.Tungurahua-Ecuador.
3 Centre Tecnologico de Recursos Amazonicos - Centre Fatima Puyo, Pastaza-Ecuador.

"A la cabeza de los pensamientos de los poblado-res de la region, merece Jigurar la danta o Gran Bestia, animal al que tenia yo por semi-fabuloso en mis exploraciones; pu.es siempre que oia que en tal o cudl lugar abundan las dantas me sonreia con cierto aire de duda; pero ahora estoy conven-cido de que en los basques de los contrafuertes del Tungurahua, existen real y efectivamente dan­tas, y a juzgar por los caminos construidos por ellas, que se cruzan en todas direcciones, y por la enorme cantidad de excrementos que se encuen-tra de ellos, su numero debe ser considerables

Nicolds G. Martinez. Hacienda San Antonio.
Noviembre de 191O.

The Tungurahua volcano is located in the Central region of the Ecuadorian Andes. With an altitude of 5,023 m a.s.l., it is one of the most active volcanoes of the world. For centuries this mountain has been modelating the variety of local ecosystems due to con­tinuous eruptions and it has regulated the dynamics of one of the richest Andean fauna and flora. Barios -the closest town to the volcano- is a small vil­lage in the doors of the Central Ecuadorian Amazonia. In the past decades most researchers have neglected this area in search of more diverse habitats in lowland ecosystems (Lynch and Duellman 1980). For that rea­son, there are just historic or anecdotic registers of the fauna, but no long-term studies that depict the faunal composition of the region.

Paradoxically, this area is one of the most well preserved of the Ecuadorian Andes and, because of its connectivity with other protected areas (i. e., Sangay National Park, San Antonio Forest Reserve), represents a strategic corridor for the survival of the endangered mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque). Here, we present the most recent direct record of a mountain tapir in the eastern flanks of the Tungurahua volcano.

Access to the wild domains of mountain tapirs demanded three hours following tapir trails in a nearly inaccesible Andean forest and across the 300 to 500-m
tall rock walls that raise from the bottom of the valley of the Salt River ("Rio de la Sal"). The sighting of two individuals was made at an altitude of 2,600 m a.s.l., beside natural springs of mineral waters that come from the volcano and could be used by tapirs as a source of salts and minerals. The surrounding forest is composed of endengared trees like Sisin (Podocarpus sp.) and Palma de Ramos (Ceroxylon sp.J, with other typical elements of cloud forest like moss, lichens, bro-meliads and orchids (Figure 1).

The first tapir was seen while crossing the river at a distance of 30 m and heading to the forest in the direc ­tion of the paramo. After this encounter, we walked approximately 200 m and arrived at a natural spring where we saw another individual hiding between rocks and vegetation (Figure 2). The skin of the posterior part of this second animal appeared to be affected because it lacks a patch of hair*. We supposed this animal to be unhealthy because it did not escape rapidly and we could even touch it before it ran away.

Several direct observations have been made in the last years in Tungurahua, but without adequate recording and verifiable evidence. In the surrounding areas (i. e. Runtun, Pondoa) indirect observations (tracks and feces) evidence other mountain tapir groups that could be more or less connected with the Tungurahua popu­lation. Historical reports (e.g., Martinez 1933) mention that this mammal was common at the beginning of the 20th century but, according to the local inhabit­ants, the tapir populations were severely threaten by hunting until 1990, when this activity was forbidden.

In addition, the constant eruptions of the Tungurahua volcano have stopped the colonization of the region with the consequent improvement of the natural areas surrounding it. Due to its inaccessibility, the influence of the eruptions in keeping humans at bay. and its con­nectivity with other protected zones, this area could constitute one of the last refuges for mountain tapirs in the Ecuadorian Andes.

The records of tapirs were conducting research on the conservation status of Eleuterodactylus frogs in the Tungurahua Volcano, a project supported by Oscar Efren Reyes Foundation, Ecociencia and Conservation International.

References
Lynch, J. D. & W. E. Duellman. 1980. The
Eleutherodactylus of the Amazonian slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes (Anura: Leptodactylidae). Misc. Fubl. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas 69: 1-86.
Martinez, N. G. 1933. Exploraciones en los Andes Ecuatorianos. El Tungurahua. Publicaciones del observatorio de Quito. Seccion de Geofisica. Imprenta Nacional. Quito-Ecuador. Pp. 88.

*N.B. patches of bare skin in the hid quarters oj Mountain Tapirs are not uncommon and at present it is unknown whether these are indicators of the health or age oj the animals.

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