Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L. 1753) is a plant of great cultural, economic and ecological importance globally. By its structure and function maintains a wide variety of animal species. In Latin America, their crops are being affected by the disease called ‘frosty pod rot of cocoa’ caused by the fungus Moniliophthora roreri (Cif & Par) Evans. 2007, considered as the most destructive disease that attacks cocoa and kills it. The increase of temperature or precipitation because of warming global climate change could favor the fungus expansion to areas previously unaffected. We modeled the potential distribution for M. roreri and T. cocoa using MaxEnt and circulation model general HADCM3, A2a scenario with climatic variables for the present and the future (5, 35 and 65 years), in order to find sites suitable for monitoring to prevent the fungus spread, and to identify which variables determine the presence of M. roreri. The suitable areas for both species overlap from present to 2050, while they are different in 2080. M. roreri could extend from southern Ecuador to Venezuela, spread to westernmost Amazon, southwest Peruvian Amazon, and to the Peruvian-Bolivian border and the adjacent areas of Brazil. In both taxa the most influential variable seems to be precipitation of the wettest month. The Brazilian Amazon is the areas of South America with the largest plantations of T. cocoa, and therefore the most sensitive to the presence and proliferation of the fungus. For this reason we recommend to set up a monitoring system allowing early warning and control of incipient outbreaks that could eventually destroy Bolivian and Brazilian cocoa plantations.

An analysis of different geosites as territories of high geo-biodiverse value located within the Metropolitan District of Quito (DMQ) in Ecuador is performed based on the geoscientific inventory of thirty-six territorial zones and their geological history, cultural, and biological wealth. This is based on years of research and was complemented with the Geosites Assessment Model (GAM) methodology, the application of the criteria of which results in an impartial quantitative evaluation of each of these geosites, resulting in the determination of geographic areas with high tourist, archeological, and social potential. It also establishes a baseline to generate conservation strategies, scientific dissemination, and the determination of priorities in the management of the conservation of the geological heritage of the DMQ in Ecuador. The geological and geomorphological evolution of the DMQ grants this region a variety of sites formed by mainly cretaceous and quaternary volcanic and sedimentary deposits, geological faults, and other remarkable formations or sequences, which, together with the geoarchaeological sites, give a unique geohistorical value to the DMQ. In this context, the protection of each of the regionally important study sites for their scientific, educational, and cultural value in the geological area, as well as their scenic beauty and biodiversity, is essential. All of these attributes will be input to the future sustainable development approaches of the proposed UNESCO-DMQ Global Geopark by academic experts and researchers working in this territory. Additionally, this study also defines the need for the protection of each study area. The results of the evaluation will help to plan the effective management of the geosites based on their strengths and weaknesses and thus promote the Global Geopark. In this context, the value of the geodiversity of the DMQ has been recognized in this research, specifically for each of the geosites proposed as part of the UNESCO Global Geopark; the DMQ project, highlighting this geological and biodiverse heritage, contributes to direct benefits for the community and at an international level.

Based on the concept of presenting exceptional and extraordinary sites for protection or preservation for humanity, the current research proposes two different Ecuadorian caves as exceptional candidates for the World Heritage List of the UNESCO. The first cave named Tayos, is a typical 5 km long, karstic cave situated in the Amazonian lowland, being composed predominantly of chemical and clastic sediments of Triassic age. The cave exhibits clear signs of structural fragmentation and some folding. The second cave, named Triple Volcano, is a volcanic cave in form of volcanic conduct, situated in the outer part of the Sierra Negra shield volcano, at Isabela Island in the Galapagos. So far, its the deepest mapped structure of the entire Galapagos archipelago. This cave represents an exceptional nice preserved multi-colored magma chamber of a parasitic volcanic cone, which has been situated very close to the surface. Both caves are remote of human settlings and of difficult, vertical access. The research has been based on an intensive inventory of existing speleological literature of Ecuador in all types of aspects, including mapping, culture, geology, flora and fauna as well as documents based on many books and filmography, besides various own expeditions. The high amount of existing material, specially of the tayos cave, has been earned on the worldwide interest based on a variety of legends mianly due to the unusual inner landscape. In popular culture, these myths revolve around the arrival and existence of extraterrestrials and intraterrestrials, the supposed discovery of metal plates or books and various other treasures, such as golden statues, hieroglyphs and prehistoric antiquities unknown to mankind. The two studied caves are presented and described in detail. Both geosites, Triple Volcano as well as Tayos cave are recognized to be extraordinary candidates for the World Heritage List, as they accomplish various of the given ten criterias of the UNESCO, for their potential inclusion. Both caves contribute positively to the World Natural Heritage designation as examples of unique scenic beauty, scientific and cultural values as well as they constitute global hotspots of underground bio- and geodiversity.

Forests are major sinks for atmospheric mercury (Hg) due to the efficiency of stomatal uptake and litter deposition. Tropical forests, highly productive ecosystems, remain understudied despite their pronounced climatic and phenological variability. We investigated whether seasonal rainfall regimes and associated tree adaptations regulate the Hg dynamics – its uptake by leaves, deposition through litter, and storage in soils– in secondary tropical moist broadleaf (TMBF) and tropical dry broadleaf (TDBF) forests from Costa Rica. Seasonality strongly controlled Hg sequestration in TDBF. Deciduous trees showed 4.7 times higher foliar Hg concentration in the wet season, when leaves were mature, compared to the dry season, when newly flushed leaves emerged after leaf shedding. Evergreen trees in TDBF demonstrated 2.3 times lower foliar Hg concentrations in the dry season than in the wet season (23 vs. 53 µg kg^-1), likely due to various associated physiological processes (e.g., leaf flushing). However, the primary mechanism remains unclear given the complex and unexplored Hg dynamics in TDBF. TMBF showed no clear seasonal variation in foliar Hg in either deciduous (dry: 48; wet: 54 µg kg^-1) or evergreen trees (dry: 57; wet: 53 µg kg^-1), likely due to longer leaf lifespan sustaining year-round transpiration and stomatal Hg uptake under high humidity. Atmospheric Hg concentrations in TDBF were two times higher than in TMBF (1.2 vs. 0.6 ng m^-3) across both seasons, likely reflecting greater Hg capture per unit area in TMBF due to denser vegetation and enhanced wet deposition via rainfall. Foliar Hg was not correlated with stomatal density or specific leaf area in either forest type. Soil Hg concentrations, however, were correlated with litter-derived inputs, supporting litter as the dominant Hg transfer pathway. Higher seasonally averaged Hg inputs via litter (34 μg m^-2) in TMBF than in the TDBF (19 μg m^-2) resulted in 3.4 times higher soil Hg concentrations (0–30 cm) in TMBF (115 µg kg^-1) than in TDBF (34 µg kg^-1). Soil Hg stocks were 2.6 times lower at a previously deforested TMBF site, indicating persistent disturbance effects despite almost three decades of reforestation. Overall, seasonality regulated Hg sequestration in TDBF, yet both TDBF and TMBF serve as important global Hg sinks with contrasting dynamics that are potentially sensitive to climate change.

The Los Ilinizas Ecological Reserve, due to anthropogenic impacts and deforestation, the forest area has been drastically decreasing due to a lack of education and environmental control. Therefore, this research seeks to estimate the deforestation rate of the Los Ilinizas Ecological Reserve and describe the change in land use in the 10-year period 2013-2023, using LANDSAT 8 satellite images taken on different dates, and analyzed by remote sensing and GIS, obtaining the deforestation rate and the change in land use in a period of 10 years. The images from 2013 and 2023 were obtained from the digital repository of the United States Geological Service (USGS). Using Catalyst software, the supervised classification process was carried out for the years 2013 and 2023, through the analysis of objects including 5 categories: Forest, Agricultural Land, Clouds, Cloud Shadow, and Bare Land. The information was processed with ArcGIS and QGIS, resulting in a deforestation rate of -2.60% in the period from 2013 to 2023, showing the decrease in forest cover in the reserve, duelargely to the expansion of the agricultural frontier, poor citizen education, and the lack ofenvironmental control by the authorities.