Scientific Research
The Andean Bear
FCT´s Don Oso Research Initiative is a holistic, long-term approach
toward working with local communities to integrate
community-based training and education programs with
sound scientific research to conserve the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus), within and near the southern
boundary of Sangay National Park. Initiated in 2002, the Don Oso
Program includes four major initiatives which engage
local landowners and communities in efforts to study
and protect the bear:
1) Environmental education/bear
awareness; 2) Scientific research on bear biology; 3)
Capacity building for locals as para-biologists; and 4)
Interventions to reduce human/wildlife conflicts.
Since 2002, the Don Oso program has worked with
school-age children in the communities of Colepato
and Dudas to teach them about bear conservation
using games, puppet shows, and field trips.
Beginning in 2004, the Don Oso program sought
collaborations with field researchers investigating: i)
habitat and resource use, ii) vegetation and land
use classification, iii) an Andean bear habitat
suitability model; iv) individual identification of
bears and site occupancy and v) community
perceptions of bears.
Currently FCT is working directly with landowners to mitigate bear/cattle conflicts in areas with repeated attacks. Individual landowners are creating mitigation management plans and will soon be installing deterrent devices to prevent future cattle losses. Concurrent research led by FCT researchers and regional park guards aims to increase our understanding of bear habitat suitability throughout the entire Nudo del Azuay region using indirect sign surveys and camera trapping.
Hydrological monitoring and modeling
FCT will complete installation of an automated hydrological
monitoring station, four upstream weirs and a weather statation in early 2010. 
This stream monitoring network will measure
sediment loads and surface-water run-off in the upper Mazar watershed. FCT installed this network in the forested upper Mazar watershed and aims to better understand annual changes in peak/minimum waterflows as well as sediment contribution to downstream reservoirs in well-conserved forested areas.
Studies of regeneration in burned páramo
In late November 2009, a planned burn escaped and burned nearly 100 hectares of páramo in the upper Dudas watershed. This ¨accident¨ provided ideal conditions to study páramo regeneration following a burn. FCT researchers established transects throughout the study area to investigate the impact of fire on vegetative diversity. In conjunction with community park guards, FCT will monitor long-term vegetation dynamics.