The Wayqecha Biological Station is a tropical ecological research station near

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

's Manú National Park. This research station is located (13°10'38.06"S, 71°36'16.36"W) in the upper reaches of the river Cosñipata, an affluent of the

Madre de Dios River The Madre de Dios River () is a river shared by Bolivia and Peru which is homonymous to the Peruvian region it runs through. On Bolivian territory it receives the Beni River, close to the town of Riberalta, which later joins with the Mamore Rive ...

, in the Paucartambo Province,

Cusco Region Cusco, also spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu suyu ), is a department and region in Peru and is the fourth largest department in the country, after Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It borders the departments of Ucayali on the north; Madre de D ...

. The station ranges from 2200 to 3700 m in elevation and includes several Andean

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s, such as montane forests, elfin forests, montane scrub and high-Andean grassland ( puna). These ecosystems are connected by a series of trails and by the road Paucartambo-Shintuya. The station was established in 2005 and is managed by two non-governmental organizations: the Peruvian NGO Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA) and the US-based

Amazon Conservation Association Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working to conserve the biodiversity of the Amazon basin through the development of new scientific understanding, sustainable resource management and rational land-use poli ...

(ACA), which also manages the Los Amigos Biological Station in the lowland rainforest of southeastern Peru. Current research at Wayqecha includes a multidisciplinary project studying

carbon cycling The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component ...

in soils and montane forests and their response to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, and studies of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

and animal diversity patterns along the Andean elevational gradient. Wayqecha hosted a field course of the

Organization for Tropical Studies The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), founded in 1963, is a non-profit consortium of over 50 universities and research institutions based in the United States, Latin America, and South Africa. OTS manages a network of ecological research s ...

in 2007.

Access

Wayqecha is located along the Paucartambo-Shintuya road, approximately 1 hour east of Paucartambo and 4–5 hours east of

Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...

, the nearest city.

Gallery

image:cabfacwayqecha.jpg, Wayqecha Biological Station image:monforwayqecha.jpg, Montane forest at 3200 m elevation image:haleniamanu.jpg, A Gentian flower in the Andean grassland above Wayqecha, ''

Halenia ''Halenia'' (spurred gentian) is a genus of plant in family Gentianaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete): * '' Halenia alleniana'', Standl. ex Wilbur * '' Halenia aquilegiella'', Standl. * '' Halenia brevico ...

'' sp. image:episecwayqecha.jpg, ''

Epidendrum secundum ''Epidendrum secundum'', one of the crucifix orchids, is a poorly understood reed stemmed species, which Dressler (1989) describes as "the ''Epidendrum secundum'' complex." According to Dressler, there are dozens of varieties, some of which appe ...

'', a common orchid at Wayqecha Image:Wayqechasign.JPG, Welcome sign to the station

References

* De la Riva I., Chaparro J.C. 2005. A new species of tree frog from the Andes of southeastern Peru (Anura : Hylidae : ''Hyla''). ''Amphibia-Reptilia'' 26: 515-521

External links

Wayqecha home page

Amazon Conservation Association

Botanical Research Institute of Texas on Wayqecha

Research institutes in Peru Biological stations Cusco Region {{Peru-org-stub

Access

Gallery

See also

References

External links