Rufford Grant Small Grant 2: Strengthening montane ecosystems conservation at Guatemala assessing it from leaf litter weevil diversity and endemism’s

SUMMARY

Northern Guatemala highlands are one of the most extensive mountain areas of Nuclear Central America and are comprised by at least eight mountain ranges. All of them have been described as important areas for conservation of endemic species of vertebrates and Passalid beetles but hyperdiverse groups such as weevils are mostly unknown. Within this project, leaf litter weevils of middle elevation forests of Guatemalan Northern ranges will be surveyed, important areas for leaf litter weevils conservation will be identified and a list endangered species of weevils will be generated and submitted to their inclusion in the Red List.

Rufford Small Grant: Assessing the conservation of montane ecosystems at the Guatemalan Volcanic Arc through leaflitter weevil’s species richness and endemism’s research

SUMMARY

The volcanic arc crosses Guatemala and extends from the Pacific Ocean up to 4,200 meters. Biologically, it is one of the most important montane massifs because its high biodiversity and endemism’s. Medium to highlands forests were legally protected since 1956, but the limits of the protected areas were not established causing the loss and degradation of montane habitats. The aims of this project is to determine the importance of montane ecosystems along an altitudinal gradient in the conservation of terrestrial arthropods through measuring species richness of leaf litter weevils and identifying sites with high richness and endemic species. 

During the project we collected more than 3,000 specimens from the leaf litter of montane ecosystems at the Guatemalan Volcanic Arc. The project contributed to record new localities of species distribution and several new species were collected, some of them are being described. We also contributed for establishing priority areas for conservation, especially during the preparation the proposal of conservation of Chingo's and Tecuamburro's volcanoes. 

We appreciate the funding of this project by The Rufford Foundation and we also thanks to Jorge Galindo and Mercedes Barrios from San Carlos University for their collaboration.