Intelligence in Nature - Jeremy Narby [61]
the quintessential hotspot, placing this area at the very top of the list of global biodiversity conservation prioritiesâ (p. 69). Wilson (2002) writes: âThe record for ants is 365 species from 10 hectares (25 acres) in a forest tract of the upper Peruvian Amazon. I have identified 43 species from the canopy of a single tree in the same region, approximately equal to the ant fauna of all the British Islesâ(p. 20). Terborgh (1999) writes: âAs a repository of biodiversity, Manu National Park stands without peer. Its location on the western fringe of the Amazon basin puts it as the worldâs biodiversity epicenter. The parkâs biological value is further enhanced by its design, encompassing the entire watershed of the Manu River and its tributaries, from the 4,000-meter-high crest of the eastern Andes far out onto the lowland plain. By spanning such a broad range of environmental conditions, the Manu earns the distinction of holding more biodiversity than any other park in the world. Leading a litany of superlatives is a steadily expanding bird list of almost 1,000 species. (By contrast, only 650 species reside in all of North America north of Mexico.) In addition, more than 200 species of mammals, including 13 primate species, jaguars, pumas, ocelots, tapirs, capybaras, giant anteaters, and spectacled bears, live within the parkâs boundaries. Reptiles and amphibians provide another showcase of diversity. Every year, the list of species known to occur in the park notches upward. The parkâs lowlands can claim nearly 90 species of frogs and toads, a number surpassed only at one locality in Ecuador. Tree diversity in the Manuâs forests ranges from 150 to 200 species per hectare. In just one month, a team of expert lepidopterists documented more than 1,300 butterfly species at a single lowland site. I could undoubtedly go on and on with such boasts had other groups of organisms been so thoroughly inventoriedâ (pp. 23, 25). Environmental News Network (2001) writes: âA remote area of rain forest in northeastern Peru defined by three large rivers [Ucayali, Amazon and Yavari] appears to harbor more species of mammals than anywhere else on Earth. The mammal counts were published in two separate studies from different universities released at nearly the same timeâ¦. Valqui and Voss [two scientists who have been taking inventory of the areaâs mammals] both say this Amazon regionâs high diversity is biologically rich because it is a vast, uninterrupted rain forest. Also, the rapid rise of mountains in the Andes between three million and eight million years ago created ridges that isolated animals, allowing them to evolve into distinct species. In addition, Valqui said, water running off the mountains produces richer soils in the western Amazon, allowing higher populations of all species and fewer extinctionsâ (pp. 1â2). Gentry (1988) shows that 300 species of trees may be found in one hectare [2.47 acres] of Peruvian rain forest. He writes: âThe two plots from the everwet forests near Iquitos, Peru, are the most species-rich in the world, with roughly 300 species greater or equal to 10 cm diameter in single hectares; all of the Peruvian plots are among the most species-rich ever reported. Contrary to accepted opinion, upper Amazonian forest, and perhaps Central African ones, have as many or more tree species as comparable Asian forestsâ (p. 156). In comparison, there are roughly 250 tree species native to the entire European continent.
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P. 9: SOIL EATING (âGEOPHAGYâ) AS A DETOXIFICATION STRATEGY
Controlled laboratory experiments confirm the âdetoxifying strategiesâ of macaws. Birds fed with plant alkaloids mixed with clay have 60 percent less alkaloids in their blood three hours after ingestion than birds fed without clayâsee Gilardi et al. (1999), who also show that macaws choose among clays. They write: ââ¦we found that preferred soils of parrots in Peru were generally smooth in texture with a sand content mean of less than 5 percent, which strongly argues that birds do not eat soil to enhance the mechanics of digestion. Rather, the