HM101 Monitoring Biodiversity Change in Key Taxa (Weeks 2-8: Training - need to have completed HM001 Jungle Training and Neo-tropical Forest Ecology and have a high level of fitness)

Operation Wallacea has established an annual monitoring programme for the Cusuco Park that includes standardised monitoring of habitat and a number of taxa from 150 sites across the Park to assess changes in the structure of the forest and how these changes are impacting on the target taxa (amphibians, reptiles, birds, bats, dung beetles, jewel scarab beetles, Sphingidae and Saturnidae moths, and bromeliad associated invertebrates). These monitoring data are combined with analysis of satellite imagery to produce an 'Annual State of the Cusuco National Park' report. Volunteers can do multiple weeks of this option, which gives the opportunity to visit camps at different altitudes where the fauna are very different. Although there are a number of research scientists at each camp and it is possible to work on a range of projects during the week, it is better if you can concentrate on helping the researchers on one taxonomic group for most of your time in order to gain more in-depth understanding and develop specialist skills. If concentrating on one group, you can still join other teams when you are free. Activities include helping to set up and empty invertebrate pitfall traps, flight intercept traps, light traps, searches for tarantulas, performing timed searches with the herpetofauna team, point counts and mist netting with the bird team, forest structure and botany surveys, mist netting with the bat team and working with the genetics team. There is plenty of opportunity to be busy on this option! Note if you want to specialise in bats and learn how to handle the animals you will need a full course of rabies vaccinations before joining the expedition.

If you are interested in working with this team then you will need to have a high level of fitness and a lot of stamina. The large mammal monitoring project involves searching the park for signs of large mammals, including tracks, vocalisations and faecal matter. The main focus is on two specific types of mammal. One is Baird's Tapir, classified Endangered by the IUCN. This has a small population in Cusuco National Park that is threatened by hunting. Faecal and other samples are collected for DNA extraction and work on the population genetics of this species is currently under way. The other main focus is on the three primate species found in the park. While mantled howlers appear to be reasonably widespread, the white-faced capuchin and Central American spider monkey continue to persist in the park in small numbers, threatened by hunting and habitat alteration. To date, the team has found evidence of 15 different large mammal species, including small cats, wild pigs and deer. Multi-season analysis using presence/absence data will help to evaluate population changes in response to hunting, habitat change and management policy. In weeks 1 and 2 a small number of volunteers will be needed each night to help the team attempting to dart a tapir so a daily diary data logger can be fitted.

The primate survey teams are based in the lowland Rancho Manacal, outside Cusuco National Park. Here there is a small area of forest where there is a strict protection policy to safeguard primate populations within the property. There are eight different troops of howler monkeys within the forest and the howler monkey population level in Manacal is extremely high in relation to population densities at other sites. This allows intensive, detailed studies of primate behaviour, activity budgets, diet, vocalisation and troop interaction. Research Assistants will be involved in GPS mapping of howler monkey home ranges, habitat assessment, identifying preferred food sources and collection of vocalisation data. Through observation of the monkeys you will gain an understanding of behavioural data collection methods. In addition you will be able to help the researchers with scan and focal behavioural sampling of monkey troops.

The single most important reason for the need for effective conservation of the Cusuco National Park is the importance of this cloud forest for amphibians. There are 6 species of amphibians found only in the Cusuco Park comprising two tree frogs (Plectrohyla exquisita & Plectrohyla dasypus), one bromeliad frog (Isthmohyla melacaena), two arboreal salamanders (Bolitoglossa diaphora & Cryptotriton nasalis) and one ground dwelling salamander (Oedipina thomasi ). In addition there are another 10 species that are found in Cusuco but which are endangered under the IUCN categories. Of these, two tree frogs (Duellmanohyla soralia & Bromeliohyla bromeliacea) have their largest remaining populations in Cusuco, two tree frogs(Craugastor coffeus & Ecinimiohyla salvaje) and one salamander (Nototriton barbouri) are known from only one other site other than Cusuco. To add even greater urgency these small populations are now under threat of infection from amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) which is causing catastrophic amphibian population declines throughout Mesoamerica. Chytrid fungus appears to have reached the Park at least 15 years ago and has caused significant declines in these isolated mountain top amphibians.. Data are urgently needed to identify the distributions of each of the cloud forest amphibian species and the catchments in which each occur. Surveyors on this project will be trekking up rivers to survey frog and salamander species in a range of remote sites to obtain as complete a coverage of the Park as possible. This will involve day time surveys for tadpoles and night time river treks to complete spotlight surveys and to listen for calls. The position of trees with bromeliad frogs calling will be marked and the Canopy Access team organised to climb the trees to recover bromeliad frogs. All frogs sampled will be swabbed for the presence of chytrid fungus. In addition genetic samples will be taken for bar coding.

HM105 Developing an aquatic biotic water quality index (Weeks 2-8: Training - need to have completed HM001 Jungle Training and Neo-tropical Forest Ecology)

The Cusuco National Park, as with many other cloud forest Parks in Honduras, was declared a Park not because of its biodiversity, but mainly because of its function in protecting river water quality in the headwaters of the catchment. Despite this acknowledged importance in protecting river water quality there is only a very limited river monitoring programme mainly because Honduras does not have a biological water quality index such as those that are used widely in western Europe and north America. Biotic indices are a cost effective way of assessing water quality since the invertebrate communities present in the river are affected by the levels of pollution and are a reflection of the worst quality conditions that have occurred over the previous weeks, thus identifying whether any episodic pollution events have occurred. In 2009 and 2010 aquatic macro-invertebrate communities were sampled in a range of streams in different catchments to examine the effect of factors such as altitude, stream order, flow rates, habitat, shade, etc., on the communities. This has been input to an initial typological classification of the watercourses based on macro-invertebrates, allowing selection of potential indicators for the development of the index that is being developed. However, many more samples are needed from as wide a range of river systems as possible.