1136 ECUADOR Entomopathogenic FUNGI of the Rio Napo Lowlands

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

1136 ECUADOR Entomopathogenic FUNGI of the Rio Napo Lowlands Sani Isla Community, Rio Napo, Sucumbios, ECUADOR 1 Entomopathogenic FUNGI of the Rio Napo Lowlands (Ecuadorian Amazon) Susanne Sourell, João P.M. Araújo, Tatiana Sanjuan, Priscila Chaverri and Julia Simon Cardoso Sani Isla Community is located on the borders of the Yasuní National Park and Cuyabeno Natural Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. The Sani Isla Forest consists of 42,000 hectares of primary moist lowland Amazonian rainforest with an annual rainfall of!∼3,200 mm. Soils are mostly geologically young, fluvial sediments from erosion of the Andes. The forests in this area are heavily endangered by human activities such as drilling for oil and deforestation. Photos by S. Sourell, except where indicated. Produced by: S. Sourell with support from Rich C. Hoyer, Carlos Hualinga, Danny Gualinga, Cesar Licuy, Franklin Licuy and The Field Museum, Chicago, USA. [[email protected]] [fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org] [1136] version 1 3/2019 Hymenoptera (Formicidae) - Ants - Fungi are grouped by the insect hosts’ common English name 1 Ophiocordyceps sp. 2 Ophiocordyceps 3 Ophiocordyceps 4 Ophiocordyceps Hirsutella group australis complex australis complex camponoti-atricipis 5 Ophiocordyceps kniphofio- 6 Ophiocordyceps kniphofio- 7 Ophiocordyceps 8 Ophiocordyceps lloydii 9 Ophiocordyceps lloydii ides Polycephalomyces infected ides Polycephalomyces infected kniphofiodes group var. binata var. binata 10 Ophiocordyceps 11 Ophiocordyceps 12 Ophiocordyceps 13 Ophiocordyceps 14 Ophiocordyceps lloydii ponerinarum ponerinarum unilateralis group 1 unilateralis group 2 Coleoptera - Beetles - 15 Polycephalomyces 16 Polycephalomyces 17 Nigelia 18 Nigelia formicarum cff. formicarum cff. martiale (©TL) martiale (©DW) Sani Isla Community, Rio Napo, Sucumbios, ECUADOR 2 Entomopathogenic FUNGI of the Rio Napo Lowlands (Ecuadorian Amazon) Susanne Sourell, João P.M. Araújo, Tatiana Sanjuan, Priscila Chaverri and Julia Simon Cardoso Sani Isla Community is located on the borders of the Yasuní National Park and Cuyabeno Natural Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. The Sani Isla Forest consists of 42,000 hectares of primary moist lowland Amazonian rainforest with an annual rainfall of!∼3,200 mm. Soils are mostly geologically young, fluvial sediments from erosion of the Andes. The forests in this area are heavily endangered by human activities such as drilling for oil and deforestation. Photos by S. Sourell, except where indicated. Produced by: S. Sourell with support from Rich C. Hoyer, Carlos Hualinga, Danny Gualinga, Cesar Licuy, Franklin Licuy and The Field Museum, Chicago, USA. [[email protected]] [fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org] [1136] version 1 3/2019 19 Nigelia 20 Ophiocordyceps 21 Ophiocordyceps 22 Ophiocordyceps 23 Ophiocordyceps martiale curculionum s.l. (©DW) curculionum complex gracilioides (©TL) melolonthae (©CP) Diptera - Flies - 24 Ophiocordyceps melo- 25 Ophiocordyceps 26 Ophiocordyceps 27 Ophiocordyceps aff. lonthae complex (©CP) dipterigena (©TL) dipterigena dipterigena Orthoptera - Grasshoppers / Locusts - 28 Beauveria 29 Beauveria 30 Beauveria 31 Beauveria acridophila acridophila locustiphila locustiphila Lepidoptera -Moths / Butterflies- 32 Ophiocordyceps 33 Ophiocordyceps 34 Akanthomyces cf. 35 Akanthomyces amazonica amazonica pistillariiformis tuberculatus s.l. Sani Isla Community, Rio Napo, Sucumbios, ECUADOR 3 Entomopathogenic FUNGI of the Rio Napo Lowlands (Ecuadorian Amazon) Susanne Sourell, João P.M. Araújo, Tatiana Sanjuan, Priscila Chaverri and Julia Simon Cardoso Sani Isla Community is located on the borders of the Yasuní National Park and Cuyabeno Natural Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. The Sani Isla Forest consists of 42,000 hectares of primary moist lowland Amazonian rainforest with an annual rainfall of!∼3,200 mm. Soils are mostly geologically young, fluvial sediments from erosion of the Andes. The forests in this area are heavily endangered by human activities such as drilling for oil and deforestation. Photos by S. Sourell, except where indicated. Produced by: S. Sourell with support from Rich C. Hoyer, Carlos Hualinga, Danny Gualinga, Cesar Licuy, Franklin Licuy and The Field Museum, Chicago, USA. [[email protected]] [fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org] [1136] version 1 3/2019 Hemiptera Auchenorrhyncha - Planthoppers/ Leafhoppers / Cicadas - 36 Akanthomyces 37 Blackwellomyces 38 Cordyceps 39 Calcarisporium sp. tuberculatus s.l. cardinalis (©JP) tenuipes Hemiptera Sternorrhyncha - Scale insects - 40 Ophiocordyceps sp. 41 Ophiocordyceps 42 Ophiocordyceps aff. 43 Ophiocordyceps aff. Hirsutella group fulgoromorphila fulgoromorphila fulgoromorphila 44 Hyperdermium 45 Hypocrella 46 Moelleriella 47 Moelleriella 48 Moelleriella bertonii hirsuta cf. cornuta evansii disjuncta Arachnida - Spiders / Harvesters - 49 Moelleriella 50 Moelleriella 51 Moelleriella 52 Cordyceps ochracea phyllogena turbinata caloceroides (©JP) Sani Isla Community, Rio Napo, Sucumbios, ECUADOR 4 Entomopathogenic FUNGI of the Rio Napo Lowlands (Ecuadorian Amazon) Susanne Sourell, João P.M. Araújo, Tatiana Sanjuan, Priscila Chaverri and Julia Simon Cardoso Sani Isla Community is located on the borders of the Yasuní National Park and Cuyabeno Natural Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. The Sani Isla Forest consists of 42,000 hectares of primary moist lowland Amazonian rainforest with an annual rainfall of!∼3,200 mm. Soils are mostly geologically young, fluvial sediments from erosion of the Andes. The forests in this area are heavily endangered by human activities such as drilling for oil and deforestation. Photos by S. Sourell, except where indicated. Produced by: S. Sourell with support from Rich C. Hoyer, Carlos Hualinga, Danny Gualinga, Cesar Licuy, Franklin Licuy and The Field Museum, Chicago, USA. [[email protected]] [fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org] [1136] version 1 3/2019 53 Cordyceps 54 Cordyceps 55 Cordyceps 56 Gibellula 57 Gibellula caloceroides nidus nidus leiopus cf. pulchra Phasmatodea - Stick bugs - 58 Ophiocordyceps 59 Ophiocordyceps 60 Torrubiella 61 Beauveria engleriana engleriana gonylepticida diapheromeriphila Hymenoptera (Vespidae) - Wasps - 62 Beauveria 63 Ophiocordyceps 64 Ophiocordyceps sp. 65 Ophiocordyceps sp. diapheromeriphila humbertii (©CP) Hirsutella group Hirsutella group Acknowledgements We would like to express our thanks to Nigel Hywel-Jones for the identifications contributed, Jens Petersen (JP), Thomas Laessoe (TL), Daniel Winkler (DW) and Carlos Padilla (CP) to permit use of their pictures. Further we are grateful to Rich C. Hoyer, Carlos Hualinga, Danny Gualinga, Cesar Licuy and Franklin Licuy for the assistance in the field as well as the team of Sani Lodge and Mercedes Rivadeneira for the great hospitality. Notice None of the fungi in this guide were analyzed microscopically 66 Ophiocordyceps 67 Sani Isla Forest 68 Sani Isla Forest 69 Rio Napo river and identification of genus and sphecocephala group Parque Nacional Yasuní species were based on photographs..
Recommended publications
  • The Amazon Sacred Headwaters: Indigenous Rainforest “Territories for Life” Under Threat
    The Amazon Sacred Headwaters: Indigenous Rainforest “Territories for Life” Under Threat Imminent new oil drilling in the western Amazon threatens the most biodiverse rainforest in the world, survival of indigenous peoples, and climate stability 2 Table of contents 5 Executive Summary 8 Introduction 10 The Amazon: A Biome on the Brink 12 The Amazon Sacred Headwaters 16 The Climate Cost of Amazon Drilling Credits 17 Rights vs. Reality lead author Kevin Koenig / Amazon Watch 20 Oil in the Amazon: A Toxic Legacy editing 23 A New Oil Boom Where the World Tyson Miller / Stand.earth Can Least Afford It Tegan Hansen / Stand.earth 30 Earth Defenders on the Frontlines photos Ivan Kashinsky 32 China’s Amazon Footprint Santiago Cornejo Caroline Bennet 33 The California Connection Bejat McCracken Lou Dematteis 34 The Banks Joke Baert Philip Godencki 38 Conclusion: A Bold Vision for A Critical Region on Our Planet report design Erika Rathje 41 References “We, the Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador and Peru together with our allies, call on the global community for solidarity, as our very survival depends on the survival of the Amazon rainforest which is under constant and unprecedented attack. While the world has awakened to the terrible fires in the Amazon, many do not know that there are also destructive plans for expanding extractive industries within the area known as the Amazon Sacred Headwaters. These plans represent an imminent threat not only to our survival, but also to global climate stability.” Indigenous Peoples’ Declaration for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters 4 Executive Summary The Amazon in Crisis exploration, while pursuing a just transition away In the summer of 2019, fires raged across the Amazon from fossil fuel dependency, to post-petroleum econ- from Brazil to Bolivia, ravaging an ecosystem already omies that elevate indigenous solutions and respect close to collapse from threats including deforestation, their rights and autonomy.
    [Show full text]
  • FROM: Scientists Concerned for Yasuní National Park TO
    FROM: Scientists Concerned for Yasuní National Park TO: Ingeniero Lucio Gutiérrez President of the Republic of Ecuador Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva President of the Federative Republic of Brazil José Eduardo de Barros Dutra President and CEO of Petrobras CC: Ingeniero Eduardo López Minister of Mining and Energy, Republic of Ecuador Dr. Fabián Valdivieso Minister of the Environment, Republic of Ecuador Sebastiao Manchineri President, COICA Leonidas Iza President, CONAIE Juan Enomenga President, ONHAE Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund The Courts of the Republic of Ecuador, including the Constitutional Tribunal of Ecuador RE: Proposed Petrobras road into Yasuní National Park DATE: November 25, 2004 Distinguished Leaders: We respectfully write you to express our opposition to the approved Petrobras plan to construct a 54-kilometer road from the Napo River into Yasuní National Park to facilitate oil extraction. Yasuní is the largest national park in Ecuador, and has been internationally recognized for its importance, receiving designation as a UNESCO Man and The Biosphere Reserve in 1989. The road will extend 24 kilometers into one of the most intact portions of the park. We represent leading scientists of Yasuní National Park, and other tropical researchers concerned for the future of Yasuní. We come from Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Scotland, Spain, and from across the United States including Puerto Rico. Together we have well over 100 years of experience conducting research in the park. We have studied many aspects of its biodiversity — plants, amphibians, insects, birds and mammals — as well as the impacts of the Maxus Road, which was built in 1994 into northwest Yasuní for petroleum activities.
    [Show full text]
  • Wildlife Without Borders-Latin America and the Caribbean Program Summary of Projects from Fiscal Year 2009
    Wildlife Without Borders-Latin America and the Caribbean Program Summary of Projects from Fiscal Year 2009 33 Grants Total FWS: $1,107,277 Total Leveraged Funds: $2,332,026 Argentina (3 Grants) LAC 09-015: Building Capacity for Management of the Payunia-Auca Mahuida Guanaco Corridor in Patagonia. In partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society. The purpose of this project is to strengthen the ability of local communities and government agencies to effectively manage the Payunia and Auca Mahuida reserves. The project will emphasize reducing the negative impacts of extractive industries and unsustainable livestock husbandry on guanacos, rheas, and native carnivores. Capacity building will focus on empowering the Payún Matrú Cooperative to conduct ecologically and economically sustainable live shearing of wild guanacos. FWS: $23,715 Leveraged funds: $24,977 LAC 09-036: International Conservation College-Argentina. In partnership with the International Conservation Caucus Foundation. The purpose of this project is to support the development and implementation of a 4-6 day course in tropical conservation and policy for a minimum of 4 Members of the U.S. Congress. The course will be held in Argentina. Topics will include challenges and solutions related to biodiversity and habitat loss, deforestation and climate change impacts, overdevelopment and natural resource degradation, and unsustainable production and fishery practices. The course will be developed in close cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Latin America and Caribbean Branch. FWS: $24,520 Leveraged funds: $69,710 LAC 09-095: Movements and Resource Utilization of Ducks in Central-Eastern Argentina. In partnership with Centro de Zoologia Aplicada en la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina (the Center for Applied Zoology at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina).
    [Show full text]
  • The Yasuni-ITT Initiative: an International Environmental Equity Mechanism?
    The Yasuni-ITT Initiative: an international environmental equity mechanism? Lavinia Warnars Master thesis Social and Political Sciences of the Environment Radboud University January 2010 The Yasuni-ITT Initiative: an international environmental equity mechanism? Colophon Master thesis Political and Social sciences of the Environment School of Management Radboud University Nijmegen Author Lavinia Warnars Student number: 0550728 Supervisors Prof. P. Leroy (RU, The Netherlands) Prof. C. Larrea Maldonado (UASB, Ecuador) January, 2010 „Environmental quality is a central aspect of wellbeing for individuals and communities, and it is therefore a critical question for justice‟ (Low and Gleeson, 1998, p. 102). “The earth is not dying, she is being killed. And the people who are killing her Have names and addresses.” -U. Utah Philips III Preface Throughout this study, I have learned much about myself, my interests, the environment and people. My experience during studying at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, USA, has inspired me for the topic of this research: critical theory and environmental equity. This inspiration came through Professor Michael Skladany and his course of Power and Society in which the radical prison, black, and environmental justice movements were discussed in relation to theories of Marx and Foucault. I became aware of the fact that in the USA, racism was still apparent, and has shaped environmental related issues. Back in the Netherlands, I remained interested in power and justice related issues. It was clear: I needed to do my masters research related to a global scale, climate change, power and justice. Fortunately I was able to contact a person who is familiar with such issues, especially with the latter: Roldan Muradian.
    [Show full text]
  • The Yasuní ITT Initiative and the Creation of Global Green Sovereignty
    The Yasuní ITT Initiative and the Creation of Global Green Sovereignty ©2018 By MarlaRose Gridley A thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for completion Of the Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies at the Croft Institute for International Studies The University of Mississippi University, Mississippi May 2018 Approved by: Advisor: Dr. Marcos Mendoza Reader: Dr. Oliver Dinius Reader: Dr. Simone Delerme ABSTRACT The Yasuní-ITT Initiative was an international financing scheme in which the Ecuadorian government agreed to forgo drilling in the park in exchange for foreign compensation in the amount of $3.6 billion USD over 12 years. Embedded in a global framework of revenue redistribution for development, the Yasuní-ITT Initiative established a model of global environmental care based on global North-South difference and historical ecological debt. In doing so, it impacted, through prospective flows of aid, the conceptualization of Ecuadorian sovereignty. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 4 2. Literature Review ....................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 General History: Protectionism, Neoliberalism, 21st Century Socialism ................................ 6 2.2
    [Show full text]
  • Oil Exploitation in the Yasuní National Park and the Rights of Nature Carlos Larrea
    Oil Exploitation in the Yasuní National Park and the Rights of Nature Carlos Larrea Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet, with the largest number of vertebrates per square kilometer in the world . The country is among the top ten international positions by number of amphibians, birds and butterflies, and holds second place for the number of orchids ( Josse, 2001 , Hassler and Rheinheimer , 2013) . Yasuni National Park has been considered the most biodiverse place in the Western Hemisphere . It was created in 1979 and declared a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 1989. It includes 982,000 hectors in the upper Napo basin in the western Amazon. Its strategic location close to the Equator and the Andes mountain range, provides unique climatic conditions in the Amazon, with relatively uniform temperature and high humidity. Scientists agree the only value of the Park is for its extraordinary biodiversity, conservation status and cultural heritage. With 2,274 species of trees and shrubs, the park hosts up to 655 species in a single hectare, most of all native tree species in the United States and Canada. It has 593 species of birds and 80 species of bats, 150 amphibians and 121 reptiles and over 4,000 species of vascular plants per 1,000 km2 hectares. The number of insect species estimated at 100,000 ha, is the largest on the planet. Among these species there is a high degree of endemism. The park has the highest density of species of amphibians, mammals , birds and plants in the Amazon. In addition , the temperature rise due to climate change will be comparatively moderate , giving it a strategic importance for the future conservation of species.
    [Show full text]
  • FROM: Scientists Concerned for Yasuní National Park TO
    FROM: Scientists Concerned for Yasuní National Park TO: Ingeniero Lucio Gutiérrez President of the Republic of Ecuador Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva President of the Federative Republic of Brazil José Eduardo de Barros Dutra President and CEO of Petrobras CC: Ingeniero Eduardo López Minister of Mining and Energy, Republic of Ecuador Dr. Fabián Valdivieso Minister of the Environment, Republic of Ecuador Sebastiao Manchineri President, COICA Leonidas Iza President, CONAIE Juan Enomenga President, ONHAE Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund The Courts of the Republic of Ecuador, including the Constitutional Tribunal of Ecuador RE: Proposed Petrobras road into Yasuní National Park DATE: November 25, 2004 Distinguished Leaders: We respectfully write you to express our opposition to the approved Petrobras plan to construct a 54-kilometer road from the Napo River into Yasuní National Park to facilitate oil extraction. Yasuní is the largest national park in Ecuador, and has been internationally recognized for its importance, receiving designation as a UNESCO Man and The Biosphere Reserve in 1989. The road will extend 24 kilometers into one of the most intact portions of the park. We represent leading scientists of Yasuní National Park, and other tropical researchers concerned for the future of Yasuní. We come from Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Scotland, Spain, and from across the United States including Puerto Rico. Together we have well over 100 years of experience conducting research in the park. We have studied many aspects of its biodiversity — plants, amphibians, insects, birds and mammals — as well as the impacts of the Maxus Road, which was built in 1994 into northwest Yasuní for petroleum activities.
    [Show full text]
  • High Andes to Vast Amazon
    Tropical Birding Trip Report EASTERN ECUADOR October-November 2016 A Tropical Birding SET DEPARTURE tour EASTERN ECUADOR: High Andes to Vast Amazon Main tour: 29th October – 12th November 2016 Tropical Birding Tour Leader: Jose Illanes This Wire-tailed Manakin was seen in the Amazon INTRODUCTION: This was always going to be a special for me to lead, as we visited the area where I was born and raised, the Amazon, and even visited the lodge there that is run by the community I am still part of today. However, this trip is far from only an Amazonian tour, as it started high in Andes (before making its way down there some days later), above the treeline at Antisana National Park, where we saw Ecuador’s national bird, the Andean Condor, in addition to Ecuadorian Hillstar, 1 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Page Tropical Birding Trip Report EASTERN ECUADOR October-November 2016 Carunculated Caracara, Black-faced Ibis, Silvery Grebe, and Giant Hummingbird. Staying high up in the paramo grasslands that dominate above the treeline, we visited the Papallacta area, which led us to different high elevation species, like Giant Conebill, Tawny Antpitta, Many-striped Canastero, Blue-mantled Thornbill, Viridian Metaltail, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, and Andean Tit-Spinetail. Our lodging area, Guango, was also productive, with White-capped Dipper, Torrent Duck, Buff-breasted Mountain Tanager, Slaty Brushfinch, Chestnut-crowned Antpitta, as well as hummingbirds like, Long-tailed Sylph, Tourmaline Sunangel, Glowing Puffleg, and the odd- looking Sword-billed Hummingbird. Having covered these high elevation, temperate sites, we then drove to another lodge (San Isidro) downslope in subtropical forest lower down.
    [Show full text]
  • Profile-Protected-Area-Fund-Ecuador
    Protected Areas: The Constitution of the Re- public of Ecuador and the Convention on Biological Diversity Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador Article 86.- “The State shall protect the people’s right to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment that guarantees sustainable development. It shall provide over- sight to ensure that this right is not affected and shall gua- rantee the preservation of nature”. Numeral 3 of this article declares that the national protec- ted areas are of public interest and shall be regulated in accordance with the law: “A National System of Protected Areas shall be establis- 2 hed to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of ecological services in accordance with international agreements and treaties”. Convention on Biological Diversity Article 8. In-situ conserva- tion.- Each Contracting Party, as far as possible and as appropriate: “Shall establish a System of Protected Areas, or areas where special measures must be taken to conserve biological diversity.” 1 The National System of Protected Areas (NSPA) of Ecuador It has been determined that the main strategy countries should implement to conserve their biological diversity is to create protected area systems in territorial regions contai- ning a large concentration of plant and animal species. In 1976, Ecuador created the National System of Protected Areas (NSPA). The system currently encompasses 34 protec- ted areas covering 18.71% of the national territory. Due to their geographic location, climate zone and scenic beau- ty, these areas contain diverse ecosystems ranging from snow-capped mountains and Andean paramos to cloud forests, wet and dry forests, beaches and coral reefs.
    [Show full text]
  • Beijing, Banks and Barrels: China and Oil in the Ecuadorian Amazon
    BEIJING, BANKS AND BARRELS: CHINA AND OIL IN THE ECUADORIAN AMAZON March 2014 Overview China’s economy and its global influence are growing at gemony as largest producer and distributer of goods to a rapid rate. Nowhere is that growing influence clearer the global economy. than in Ecuador, a country that Beijing has lent nearly $9 billion and has promised $7 billion more in financing. Ecuador, on the other hand, was in need of liquidity. An Those loans and promises add up to nearly one fifth of OPEC member with a dollarized economy, it was shut Ecuador’s GDP, allowing—and in some cases forcing— out of markets after a 2008 default on global bonds. the nation to advance new infrastructure and energy Desperate for financing to keep its economy solvent, projects including massive oil, mining, and hydropower initial loans from China helped the small Andean nation projects in the Amazon. stay afloat. Subsequent loans are now helping finance the greatest expansion of public sector spending in This report aims to serve as an analysis of China’s grow- modern Ecuadorian history. By 2013, China provided an ing presence in Ecuador, to help shed light on Chinese estimated 61% of Ecuador’s financing needs.1 In ex- projects and loans in Ecuador with attention to the Ama- change, China will get nearly 90% of Ecuador’s oil—a zon region, and to offer insight into the significance of staggering monopolization of production from an OPEC Chinese geopolitical power in the region and its impli- member, and the first time Ecuador has provided crude cations for the future of the Amazon rainforest and its to a lender.
    [Show full text]
  • Yasuni: the Battle Over Oil and Biodiversity in Ecuador´S Amazon
    Yasuni: The Battle over Oil and Biodiversity in Ecuador´s Amazon: Pre-Trip Essay Assignments Students are to complete the assigned readings for this course and submit four 1000 word essays based on assigned study questions before arriving in Ecuador on December 27th, 2014. Send completed work in MS Word format to [email protected] All four essays should attempt to answer the assigned study questions through logic, illustrative examples from the text, and personal analysis. Each essay will (1) use at least five cited references from the assigned readings of which one must be from the UVM library, (2) refer to and outline the main ideas and arguments of readings, and (3) include questions, commentary, analysis, protests, opinions, or any combination of these. Students are free to use other cited sources as well. STUDY QUESTIONS (1000 words each; cite at least five sources from assigned readings for each essay of which one must be from the UVM library). How has the physical geography of Ecuador historically affected human and economic development patterns? How has the discovery of oil changed the economic and social development of Ecuador? What are the main tenets of the Yasuní ITT proposal? Discuss the reasons for, and arguments against, oil extraction within protected national park boundaries. ASSIGNED READINGS Readings available online: Lost In Translation: Justice for the Ecuadorian Villagers in Chevron's Retaliatory RICO Trial http://www.eartheconomics.org/Page126.aspx http://www.theamazonpost.com/wp- content/uploads/Southgate_Wasserstrom_Reider_LASA_2009.pdf http://www.teachinggeography.org/Ecuador%20Oil%20FINAL.pdf http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/125-yasuni-national-park/wallace-text http://www.sosyasuni.org/en/ The following academic articles are available at www.academia.edu under the search headings Yasuní National Park, Ecuador and Yasuní-ITT: The Slippery Slope of Tourism and Oil in the Amazon: The Story of Tena, Ecuador by Phyllis Enchill A New EJOLT Report: towards a Post-oil Civilization.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 HAS the WORLD FAILED ECUADOR? the CASE of the YASUNI ITT INITIATIVE Santiago Bucaram1, Mario Andres Fernandez2,* Current
    HAS THE WORLD FAILED ECUADOR? THE CASE OF THE YASUNI ITT INITIATIVE Santiago Bucaram1, Mario Andres Fernandez2,* Current version submitted for publication to Ecological Economics. All rights reserved Abstract In 2007 the Ecuadorian government announced the Yasuni ITT Initiative as an alternative to the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol for climate change mitigation. This Initiative proposed a moratorium on oil activities in a portion of the Yasuni National Park known as Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) in exchange of a compensation of 3.6 US billion dollars. The Initiative spurred significant support worldwide and led to the production of a significant amount of literature on the economics of climate change and other areas such as environmental justice. But in 2013 the Initiative was terminated on the grounds that the world had failed Ecuador by not providing sufficient funds to compensate for its resignation to revenues derived from oil exploitation in the ITT area. In this paper we provide a conceptual and empirical reasoning through which we prove that the Initiative was doomed to failure since its inception due to its numerous flaws such as the underestimation of the opportunity costs of oil activities and the omission of the discounts on the carbon credits price because of the Initiative’s uncertainty, non-additionality, leakage and non-permanency characteristics. On this basis, we find a probability of zero that the Government of Ecuador could have collected the compensation stated as a target in the ITT Initiative (i.e. US$3.6 billion). We also find that the funds pledged by world donors were motivated purely by altruism and beyond economic rationality, which leads us to conclude that the world did not fail Ecuador since they did more than expected given the Initiative defective features.
    [Show full text]