Diversity of spiders in the cloud forests of Ecuador
Ecuador is diverse in habitats but also rich in species, most of which remain unknown to science. The country is also part of a global biodiversity hotspot and faces a suite of serious environmental threads. The project “Diversity of spiders in the cloud forests of Ecuador” tries to fill in a critical gap through documenting the spider fauna of four Nature Reserves that represent distinct habitat types along an altitudinal gradient. We are collaborating with the Otonga Foundation in Ecuador to assess patterns of diversity in these four forests, describe the spider fauna, and recommend conservation measures for protecting this diversity.