Cusuco National Park, Honduras 2012 status report Steve Green, Kathy Slater, Oliver Burdekin and Peter Long EXPEDICIONES Y SERVICIOS AMBIENTALES CUSUCO 1 Contact Dr Steve Green1, Dr Kathy Slater1, Oliver Burdekin1, Dr Peter Long2 1 Operation Wallacea, Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Spilsby, Lincolnshire, PE23 4EX, UK +44 (0)1790 763 194
[email protected] 2 Oxford Long-term Ecology Laboratory, Biodiversity Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK +44 (0)1865 281 321
[email protected] Contributing Scientists (Team Leaders) Jocque Merlijn, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Reid Neil, Queens University Belfast, Kolby Jon, James Cook University, Creedy Thomas J., University of Oxford/Imperial College London, Rodríguez Fabiola, UNAH, Bohn Kirsten, Florida International University, Longhorn Stuart, University of Oxford, McCravy Kenneth, Western Illinois University, 2 Introduction Operation Wallacea is an international conservation research organization, specializing in tropical forest and coral reef ecology and conservation. Operation Wallacea has been monitoring cloud forest biodiversity in Parque Nacional Cusuco (PNC) since 2006 using standardized methods to investigate abundance, diversity and distribution of species, and to monitor the effects of habitat degradation and anthropogenic disturbance on biodiversity over time. Each year, research is conducted over a two month period from mid June to mid August. The research is lead by university academics, each specializing in specific taxa. These academics are joined by Honduran and international field assistants who are generally graduate students with experience working on tropical expeditions and research experience with their chosen taxa. Collectively, these academics and graduate assistants make up the science staff.