Jennifer McFarlane, Lauren Barnes, Lydia Crabtree and Alex Lowe

• BSc & MSci Biology (Ecology and Conservation) / BSc Applied Plant Science
• Newcastle University Peru Expedition 2019: Investigating the Flora and Fauna of Manu National Park

Aim: To deepen knowledge of key ecological processes and interactions to aid conservation challenges at Cocha Cashu biological station

Projects:

Jaguars: 20 camera traps were set up across the trail system to identify individual jaguars. Habitat attributes e.g. canopy density was measured to investigate factors affecting jaguar and prey species habitat use. Three jaguars, a mother and two cubs, were identified.

Strangler Fig Trees: The distribution of strangler figs were recorded across the trail systems. Factors such as diameter of the tree, canopy cover and height of host tree were recorded. The distribution of over 200 trees was plotted.

Insect Herbivory: 600 leaves were collected from ten plots in five different habitats. Types of insect herbivory damage e.g. leaf miner, hole feeding, window feeding, were categorised from each leaf collected, along with the leaf area index and the percentage of herbivory damage.

Palm Trees: The distribution of individuals from the family Arecaceae and forest trees above 10cm diameter (DBH) were mapped in 100m by 10m quadrats. The quadrats were randomly generated in three areas of different successional stages in the forest. Over 500 individuals were recorded.

Funding sources: University Expeditions Fund, Harry Collinson Travel Scholarship, Royal Geographic Society- Geographical Fieldwork Grant, Gilchrist Educational Trustand SNES Travel Award
Project supervisor: Dr Darren Evans, Dr Marion Pfeifer and Dr Ankush Prashar