{"id":172,"date":"2023-09-12T17:55:59","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T20:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/?p=172"},"modified":"2024-04-26T03:42:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T06:42:21","slug":"el-proyecto-lagartijas-frias-esta-a-bordo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/el-proyecto-lagartijas-frias-esta-a-bordo\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cool Lizards Project began!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In 2021, a new research project that will be carried out in the Ecuadorean Andes for the next three years, joined the \u2018Animal Behaviour Group\u2019 (ABG<\/a>) at La Trobe University in Australia. This study is focused on analyzing the thermal ecology of six species of the genus Stenocercus<\/em>also known as whorl-tail iguanas, to understand the impacts of climate change on their populations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first fieldwork of this research project, I visited El Gullan Scientific Station, owned by Universidad del Azuay. This place is characterized by the presence of pine plantations, pastures, crops, and areas of natural vegetation. Additionally, since it is located above 2500 meters above sea level (m a.s.l.), the average air temperature fluctuates between 6 and 15 \u00b0C, with fogs and cold winds being common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this place occurs the species Stenocercus festae<\/em>, commonly known as Peracca's whorltail iguana, which is categorized as vulnerable by the Internationa Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), due to the continuous decline in the quality of its habitat. This species is endemic of the Andes of southern Ecuador and can be found active at the base of small shrubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once we noose-captured a lizard, we took it to our base camp to measure morphological traits and mark it with temporary bee tags to identify it during behaviour observations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A male basking on a branch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A female warming out on a fern leaves.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Late in the afternoon we found this male in a coiled position, probably to keep himself warm until the next day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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To measure the preferred temperature, we use wood enclosures with a thermal gradient where the lizard can freely move.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The keeper of El Gullan Scientific Station is a lovely and hard-worker local woman whose name is Rosita. She is the one taking care of the alpacas, sheeps and guinea pigs that live in the station. One day, while we were working, she surprised us with her unique homemade bread cooked in a wood oven. This is a family tradition when her son travel from Quito to visit her. Our happy faces are the evidence that it was a delight!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This ecosystem shows an impressive biodiversity of fauna and flora. In the next photos I show you a glimpse of what you could find besides lizards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With this sunset, I bid farewell and invite you to stay tuned for updates on the \u2018Cool Lizard Project\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Estefany S. Guerra-Correa<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new research project based in the Ecuadorian Andes joined ABG in 2021. This study focuses on exploring the thermal ecology of six closely related lizard species of the genus Stenocercus, also known as whorl-tail iguanas.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"\n

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Un nuevo proyecto de investigaci\u00f3n radicado en los Andes ecuatorianos se uni\u00f3 a ABG en el a\u00f1o 2021. Este estudio se enfoca en explorar la ecolog\u00eda t\u00e9rmica de seis especies de lagartijas cercanamente relacionadas del g\u00e9nero Stenocercus<\/em>, tambi\u00e9n conocidas como \u201cguagsas\u201d. En cada poblaci\u00f3n de estudio, examinamos aspectos de comportamiento y fisiolog\u00eda t\u00e9rmica, as\u00ed como la variaci\u00f3n clim\u00e1ticas en su h\u00e1bitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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En octubre de 2021, visitamos la Estaci\u00f3n Cient\u00edfica El Gull\u00e1n, propiedad de la Universidad del Azuay, para realizar el primer trabajo de campo de este proyecto. La vegetaci\u00f3n presente de este lugar est\u00e1 compuesta por plantaciones de pino, pastos, cultivos y \u00e1reas de vegetaci\u00f3n natural. Dado que se encuentra por encima de los 2500 metros sobre el nivel del mar (m.s.n.m), la temperatura promedio del aire fluct\u00faa de 6 a 15\u00b0C, y es com\u00fan que se presenten nieblas y vientos fr\u00edos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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En este lugar se encuentra la especie Stenocercus festae, com\u00fanmente conocida como guagsa del austro, la cual se encuentra evaluada como vulnerable por la Uni\u00f3n Internacional para la Conservaci\u00f3n de la Naturaleza (UICN) debido a la continua disminuci\u00f3n de la calidad de su h\u00e1bitat. Esta especie es end\u00e9mica de los Andes del sur de Ecuador y se encuentra frecuentemente en la base de peque\u00f1os arbustos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Una vez capturada una lagartija, usando una ca\u00f1a e hilo de pescar, la trasladamos a nuestro campamento base para medir sus rasgos morfol\u00f3gicos y la marcamos con etiquetas temporales, no invasivas, para identificarla durante las observaciones de comportamiento.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Un macho tomando el sol en una rama<\/strong><\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Una hembra calent\u00e1ndose en las hojas de un helecho.<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A \u00faltima hora de la tarde encontramos a este macho en una posici\u00f3n enrollada, probablemente para mantenerse caliente hasta el d\u00eda siguiente.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Para medir la temperatura de preferencia, utilizamos pistas de madera con gradiente t\u00e9rmico, donde la lagartija puede moverse libremente.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rosita es la cuidadora de la Estaci\u00f3n Cient\u00edfica El Gull\u00e1n, una mujer encantadora y trabajadora. Ella es quien cuida de las alpacas, ovejas y cuyes que viven en la Estaci\u00f3n. Un d\u00eda, mientras trabaj\u00e1bamos, nos sorprendi\u00f3 con su singular pan casero cocinado en horno de le\u00f1a. Esta es una tradici\u00f3n familiar cuando su hijo viaja desde Quito para visitarla. \u00a1Nuestras caras de felicidad son la evidencia de que fue una delicia!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Este ecosistema muestra una impresionante biodiversidad de fauna y flora, y aqu\u00ed te muestro lo que puedes encontrar adem\u00e1s de lagartijas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finalmente, te dejo con este incre\u00edble atardecer desde el mirador de la Estaci\u00f3n y te invito a seguir pendiente de las actualizaciones del proyecto 'Lagartijas fr\u00edas'.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Estefany S. Guerra-Correa<\/strong><\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":529,"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions\/529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esguerracorrea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}