An introduction to the botany of the los amigos conservation area  (Page 2/3)

Initiation of the botany of the los amigos conservation area project

Several major projects are being implemented at the Los Amigos Conservation Area. Louise Emmons is initiating studies of mammaldiversity and ecology in the Los Amigos area. Other projects involve studies of the diversity of arthropods, amphibians, reptiles, andbirds. Robin Foster has conducted botanical studies at Los Amigos, resulting in the labeling of hundreds of plant species along twokilometers of trail in upland and lowland forest. Los Amigos has also been a major field site for Robin's rapid identification laminatedphotographic field guides to tropical plants. Michael Goulding is leading a fisheries and aquatic ecology program, which aims todocument the diversity of fish, their ecologies, and their habitats in the Los Amigos area and the Madre de Dios watershed in general.

With support from the Amazon Conservation Association, and in collaboration with US and Peruvian colleagues, the Botany of the LosAmigos project has been initiated. At Los Amigos, we are attempting to develop a system of preservation, sustainability, and scientificresearch; a marriage between various disciplines, from human ecology to economic botany, product marketing to forest management. Thecomplexity of the ecosystem will best be understood through a multidisciplinary approach, and improved understanding of thecomplexity will lead to better management. In essence, we must be informed to make wise management decisions about Amazonian forests.These forests hold the greatest number of species on our planet and are an irreplaceable resource for present and future generations. Thefuture of these forests will depend on sustainable management and development of alternative practices and products that do not requireirreversible destruction.

The botanical project will provide a foundation of information that is essential to other programs at Los Amigos. By combining botanicalstudies with fisheries and mammology, we will better understand plant/animal interactions. By providing names, the botanical programwill facilitate accurate communication about plants and the animals that use them. Included in this scenario are humans, as we willdedicate time to people-plant interactions in order to learn what plants are used by people in the Los Amigos area, and what plantscould potentially be used by people.

To be informed, we must develop knowledge. To develop knowledge, we must collect, organize, and disseminate information. In this sense,botanicalinformation has conservation value. Before we can use plant-based products from the forest, we must know what species areuseful. We must know what their names are in order to be able to communicate accurately about them. We must be able to identify them,to know where they occur in the forest, how many of them exist, how they are pollinated and when they produce fruit (or other usefulproducts). Aside from understanding the species as they occur locallyat Los Amigos, we must have information about their overall distribution in tropical America in order to better understand andmanage the distribution, variation, and viability of their genetic diversity and germplasm. This involves a more complete understandingof the species through studies in the field and herbarium.