On May 22nd, every year we celebrate the International Day of Biodiversity, a day to recognize and raise awareness of the biological diversity of our planet and the threats that biodiversity is facing due to our actions and activities. Every one of us can do small actions and activities to reduce our individual impact on the biodiversity loss crisis. From pressure on our local, regional and national governments to take action to reduce the impact of our development project up to small action such as recycling, sustainable use of natural resources, protecting water sources, reducing waste, among others.

Colombia is a privilege country, home of a high diversity of birds, mammals, including primates, reptiles and amphibians, fish and invertebrates. Knowing what we have is the first step to take care of that high biodiversity. Our geography is part of the reasons for that high diversity that includes animals and plants adapted to different altitude and weather conditions making us one of the hot spots for biodiversity globally.

Zocay Project study area is an incredible area in which many animals and plants live and as part of our activities we look for ways in which cattle ranching areas can maintain biodiversity while meeting their productive goals. Living fences allow wildlife in these transformed areas to move between forest fragments while reducing their exposure to predators and even find food. Cattle ranching water sources as well as artificial lagoons help wildlife during dry season when natural streams and rivers reduce their flow, allowing them to find water without having to travel longer distances. Occasionally, we plant native fruit trees to increase connectivity in some of the reserves and farms in which we work. We continue learning about how these highly fragmented areas affect monkeys’ lives and how they cope with all the changes that human activities make in their environment. So, today we celebrate their resilience and flexibility to live in small and medium size forest fragments surrounded by human productive activities.

If you want to support our activities, please visit https://fineartamerica.com/art/xyomara+carretero or get in contact with us at xcarretero@gmail.com if you want to collaborate, donate or volunteer in our activities. You can also support our activities by buying our ornate titi monkeys stuff dolls https://www.instagram.com/p/Ctm_sEORvk8/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== and our new journals in Amazon https://www.amazon.com/X-Carretero/dp/B0CWD1DBJM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?© Copyright Disclaimer. Pictures in this post are protected with copyrights to Francisco Gomez y Xyomara Carretero-Pinzón. All pictures used on this web page are protected with copyrights to Xyomara Carretero-Pinzón. If you want to use any of these pictures, please leave a message on the website or contact xcarretero@gmail.com

In today’s post, we continue with our series of articles based on information we had been collecting in the study area over the past 20 years. We are going to talk about an article from 2018 in collaboration with one of my mentors, Dr. Thomas Defler. Thomas is an incredible researcher that although was born in US, came to Colombia following his passion for monkeys and the tropical forest and became a Colombian.

This paper put together observations from both of us in the Colombian Llanos and Tom’s observations from his years in the Orinoquian and Amazon forest in the departments of Vichada, Amazonas and Vaupes in Colombia. This paper showed that three species of titi monkeys, ornate titi monkeys (Plecturocebus ornatus, before called Callicebus ornatus), yellow-handed titi (Cheracebus lucifer, before called Callicebus torquatus lucifer), and white-chested titi (Cheracebus lugens, before called Callicebus lugens) have higher densities on forest edges compared with interior areas in large fragments (> 1000 ha) and in continuous areas. For example, in continuous forests like the ones in Amazonas and Vaupes, densities of titi species in these areas (Cheracebus lucifer and Cheracebus lugens) were higher in the forest near to rivers than in more interior areas present in these large tracks of forest. In the Colombian Llanos, large forest fragments (> 1000 ha) also showed higher densities in the edges of the fragment compared with the interiors, this information was taken during almost 9 years working in a private reserve in San Martin area, part of Proyecto Zocay. If you want to read more, please find the article here.

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Otro artículo colaborativo, esta vez sobre la preferencia del mono zocay por hábitats de borde de bosque.

En este blog, continuamos con nuestra serie sobre artículos basados en la información que hemos estado colectando en el área de estudio en los últimos 20 años. Vamos a hablar de un artículo del 2018 en colaboración con uno de mis profesores, el Dr. Thomas Defler. Thomas es un investigador increíble que, aunque nació en Estados Unidos, vino a Colombia siguiendo su pasión por los monos y los bosques tropicales y se nacionalizó como colombiano.

Este artículo combina las observaciones de ambos en los llanos de Colombia y las observaciones de Thomas de sus años en los bosques de la Orinoquia y Amazonas en los departamentos de Vichada, Amazonas y Vaupés en Colombia. Este artículo mostro que tres especies de titis, mono zocay (Plecturocebus ornatus, antes llamado Callicebus ornatus), titi de manos amarillas (Cheracebus lucifer, antes llamado Callicebus torquatus lucifer), y mono viudita o zogui zogui (Cheracebus lugens, antes llamado called Callicebus lugens) tienen altas densidades en los bordes de bosque comparado con áreas del interior en fragmentos grandes (> 1000 ha) y en áreas continuas. Por ejemplo, en los bosques continuos como los de Amazonas y Vaupés, las densidades de especies de viuditas (Cheracebus lucifer y Cheracebus lugens)en estas zonas fueron más altas en bosques cerca a los ríos comparado con áreas más en el interior en estas grandes zonas de bosque. En los llanos colombianos, los fragmentos más grandes (> 1000 ha) también mostró densidades más altas en los bordes del fragmento comparado con el interior, esta información fue tomada durante casi 9 años trabajando en una reserva privada en el área de San Martin, parte del Proyecto Zocay. Si desea leer más, por favor encuentre el artículo aquí.

If you want to support our activities, please visit https://fineartamerica.com/art/xyomara+carretero or get in contact with us at xcarretero@gmail.com if you want to collaborate, donate or volunteer in our activities. You can also support our activities by buying our ornate titi monkeys stuff dolls https://www.instagram.com/p/Ctm_sEORvk8/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== and our new journals in Amazon https://www.amazon.com/X-Carretero/dp/B0CWD1DBJM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?© Copyright Disclaimer. Pictures in this blog post are protected with copyrights to Xyomara Carretero-Pinzón and Francisco Gomez. All pictures used on this web page are protected with copyrights to Xyomara Carretero-Pinzón. If you want to use any of these pictures, please leave a message on the website or contact xcarretero@gmail.com