EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Each week a different image of our fascinating environment is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional ecologist.

28 January - 3 February 2019

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"Nice View" Cloud Forest

Cloud Forest and Bromiliad, Family Bromeliaceae
Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve, Tandayapa, Ecuador

Credit & Copyright: Dr. Bruce G. Marcot

Explanation:  Welcome to the Bellavista ("Nice View") Cloud Forest Reserve outside Quito, Ecuador.  This site is quite a success story of ecotourism and conservation.  

We are on the mid-elevation, Pacific Slope of the Andes Mountains in northern Ecuador, on the equator.  Flowers bloom year-round here, including the very striking bromiliad starring in this week's photo.  

This location encompasses humid cloud forests of the Chocó - Darien region, and is within Chocó Andino de Pichincha, newly declared in July 2018 as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.  The Reserve is amazingly species-rich with about 10,000 plant species (2,500 endemic), and 270 species of mammals, 210 reptiles, 200 birds species and 130 amphibians. 

Bromiliads, such as the one shown here, often contain cupped reserves of rainfall which provide habitat for breeding tree frogs and other species.


  

Next week's picture:  Hippo Old, Hippo New

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Author & Webmaster: Dr. Bruce G. Marcot, Tom Bruce
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