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  • Overview
  • Objectives
  • Costs to Consider
  • Site Conditions

Cusuco National Park hosts a wonderful diversity of bats. Mist-net surveys in the National Park have been conducted annually since 2006, resulting in the detection of over 60 species. Bats are parasitized by many groups of arthropods, including mites and ticks, fleas, bugs, and flies. The bloodsucking bat flies are most common and best studied. Bat flies themselves can be parasitized by ectoparasitic microfungi. Students joining this project will assist in the mist-netting efforts, collect bat ectoparasites, and screen collected flies for the presence of microfungi. This research project aims to add to taxonomy (description of new species of microfungi), disentangle host specificity patterns at different trophic levels, and examine how altitude and level of disturbance affect parasitism. Depending on their interest, students can work on either of these topics. This dissertation project is part of a larger multi-site, multi-year initiative.

Extended Summary

If you would like to do a dissertation or thesis with us but your university hasn’t started dissertation planning or the project selection process, that’s no problem. You can cancel your expedition with zero cancellation charges up until the 15th of April of if you provide documentation from your university saying that they won’t support completing a dissertation project with us.

Honduras Terrestrial Research Objectives

The forests of Central America are some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world, partly because they are the meeting point of two great faunas – those from North America and those from South America – which have evolved separately. Many of these ecosystems have been badly degraded but there is a proposal to join currently discontinuous areas of forest into a continuous Mesoamerican forest corridor running from the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico (where there are other Opwall teams) to Panama. Part of this corridor will encompass the cloud forests of Cusuco National Park in Honduras – a site rich in endemics and endangered species yet threatened by unchecked illegal deforestation. The Opwall survey teams have been working in Cusuco since 2003 and the data produced has resulted in the Park being listed as one of the top 50 most irreplaceable protected areas in the world (based on a review of 173,000 sites worldwide). As well as underlining the biological value of Cusuco, the datasets collected by the Opwall teams are also being used to make an application for funding through a carbon credit scheme and for a UK govt grant for conservation of this region. Funding obtained in this way will then be used to manage and protect the park and the many unique species it supports.

  • Opwall fee.
  • Cost of international flights into and out of San Pedro Sula.
  • Cost of internal travel to and from the start and end point of the expedition, plus any hotels you might require. The standard package costs around £180 or $198 on average.
  • Extra nights’ accommodation in San Pedro Sula costs around £115 or $127 (breakfast included).
  • Park entrance fees are £23 or $25.
  • Vaccinations and prophylactic medicines – cost can vary depending on your healthcare provider.
  • Optional canopy access course – £110 or $170 (Book here)
  • All prices in GBP or USD unless specified.
  • Standard travel insurance – cost can vary, for 2 weeks it can range anywhere from £40-80 or $40-150.

Most of our volunteers fundraise for their expedition costs. Find out more.

Climate
In the cloud forest of Cusuco National Park it can get warm in open areas (temperatures up to 20 degrees Celsius) but much cooler in the shade of the forest. Overnight the temperature can drop below 10 degrees Celsius at higher altitudes. It rarely rains in the morning but it regularly rains late in the afternoon and overnight.

Fitness level required
Medium – High. You will need to hike from camp to camp for up to 5 hours over steep terrain with your backpack.

Creature comforts
Facilities in Cusuco are very basic (tents, hammocks, river showers, basic trench toilets). There is no cell phone signal in Cusuco National Park and very limited satellite internet available through a communal laptop at Base Camp.

Locations

  • Honduras
  • Base Camp
  • Buenos Aires
  • Satellite Camps

Want to get involved with this project?

Preparation

Want to get involved with this project?

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