Expeditions

Expeditions into new areas

Expeditions are an extremely necessary endeavor to further our knowledge of biodiversity. We work in a unique a fragile ecosystem, and we must be as minimally invasive as possible. As such, we have to do our homework before hand, and design our expeditions and surveys to have maximum effect and minimal environmental impact. When combined with interviews and long term surveys, expeditions can become an amazing experience, filled with discovery and insights. Biokryptos makes target oriented searches in the form of expeditions based on the work we do with local people and collecting and refining infield data. Armed with new information and insight from camera traps and interviews, we tailor our expeditions to accomplish specific goals to increase scientific understanding of the areas we study. Our expeditions are open to interested parties who have a specific goal which is in line with ours. We invite and work with experts in a multidisciplinary setting to close research gaps, further conservation goals, and understand the changing structure of the natural world.
The thing to remember about Auyan Tepui is that it is like an enormous island above the rain forest, and this island has a few trails which have been navigated by humans since they were opened by G.H.H Tate in the 1930s and Alexander Laime in the 1950s. However, outside of these trails the entire plateau is virtually untouched. Scientific expeditions in the past have ventured briefly into remote parts of the tepui, aided by helicopter. Using research gap analysis we have identified locations to use of camera traps, as we conduct site surveys and transect surveys. In the future, we hope to use the emerging techniques of environmental DNA analysis (eDNA) to continue minimally invasive studies of the tepui and look for evidence of cryptic species on the plateau. to learn more about eDNA analysis and how it can aid our work at Biokryptos, check out our blog post on the subject.

2014 expedition to the Churum Falls.

The 2014 expedition to the summit of Auyan Tepui was the first major endeavor of Biokryptos to establish ourselves in the Kamarata Valley, and to conduct field work on a tepui summit. It was the result of hard work and dedicated planning on the part of Vittorio Assandria, Paul Stanley, Alberto Pomares, Daniel Abrigal, and our Pemon expedition leaders Santos and Arturo Berti. The purpose of the 2014 Auyan Tepui Expedition was to find and photograph the Churum Falls from the summit, a feat which has never before been accomplished. The expedition also served as a testing ground for the methodology established during the 2012 Auyan Tepui camera trapping study, which resulted in the identification of a crab-eating fox on the talus slopes of Auyan at Campo Guayaraca, and subsequent publication of that observation in the IUCN journal Canid Biology.
The 2014 Auyan Tepui expedition was a tremendous success; we obtained images of the Guiana Shield endemic possum Didelphis imperfectis at Campo Dragon, as well as photographs of mammal footprints in the same area. The ground work established during the 2014 expedition, including interviews with Pemon guides, paved the way for the establishment of Tepui Watch 2014. By establishing the technology for information exchange methodology, as well as developing interest in the Pemon community for using camera traps and GIS technology, we were able to start this momentous project. Through the continued support of our team members and Pemon experts, we plan to build on the success of Auyan Tepui 2014 with a larger expedition to more remote locations on Auyan in late 2015-early 2016, which we accomplished by placing camera traps at the lagoon which feeds Angel Falls.

Survey expeditions

Biokryptos is continually involved in survey expeditions undertaken by lead investigator Arturo Berti. Arturo is a skilled expedition leader, and a keen naturalist. As a member of the Pemon of the Kamarata Valley, he grew up with a knowledge of the terrain and environment which goes beyond the scope of western scientists and field researchers. We rely on his knowledge to identify new target areas, and review our research gap analysis. In combining cutting edge scientific knowledge with the traditional Pemon encyclopedic understanding of Auyan Tepui, Biokryptos can push survey expeditions into areas which are inaccessible to large institutions in the industrialized world. So far, Arturo has led three expeditions into previously unexplored areas of Auyan Tepui, and six expeditions into dense forests around Camp Lecho and Dragon.

Future Expeditions

At Biokryptos, we take expeditions very seriously. Our expeditions into Auyan and beyond are based on a variety of factors, and are conducted after extensive research and survey endeavors. While thrilling and somewhat romantic, expeditions are costly in terms of both gear, funds, and environmental impact. We balance our treks into pristine areas with the knowledge that we must leave no footsteps behind to contaminate the wild places of our planet. As such, our future expeditions are focused on determining both sum total biodiversity of Auyan, as well as determining how the lowland animals we have recorded are entering the plateaus summit. This means that we must examine both the western portions of Auyan, as well as the possible topographic connections along the talus slope.