Resources
Resources
to learn about the Centinela region
This page brings together the scientific outputs of the Centinela project — peer-reviewed publications, field reports, and datasets produced from more than a decade of botanical research in the Montañas de Ila of western Ecuador.
Field reports and datasets will be added as they become available. For questions about data access or collaboration, contact us.
2025 Guevara-Andino, J. E., White, D. M., Pitman, N. C. A., Cerón, J.-C., Fernández, A., Navas-Muñoz, D., & Alverson, W. S. Phragmotheca centinelensis (Malvaceae), a newly-discovered, endangered canopy tree species from a cloud forest in Pacific Ecuador. PhytoKeys, 254, 41–59. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.254.143106
2024 White, D. M., Pitman, N. C. A., Feeley, K. J., Rivas-Torres, G., Bravo-Sánchez, S., Sánchez-Parrales, F., Clark, J. L., Ulloa Ulloa, C., Cornejo, X., Couvreur, T. L. P., Peñafiel, M., Benavides, G., Bonifaz, C., Cerón, J. C., Fernández, A., Fortier, R. P., Navas-Muñoz, D., Rojas M, V., Zapata, J. N., … Guevara-Andino, J. E. Refuting the hypothesis of Centinelan extinction at its place of origin. Nature Plants, 10(11), 1627–1634. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-024-01832-7
Clark, J. L., Fernández, A., Zapata, J. N., Restrepo-Villarroel, C., White, D. M., & Pitman, N. C. A. Amalophyllon miraculum (Gesneriaceae), an exceptionally small lithophilous new species from the western Andean slopes of Ecuador. PhytoKeys, 242, 307–316. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.242.118069
Fernández-Alonso, J. L., & Cornejo, X. Quararibea centinelae (Malvaceae), una nueva especie endémica de Centinela, occidente de Ecuador. Harvard Papers in Botany, 29(1), 79–85. https://doi.org/10.3100/hpib.v29iss1.2024.n9
2023 Cornejo, X. Eschweilera podoaquilae: A new species of Lecythidaceae from northwestern Ecuador. Phytotaxa, 579(2). https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.579.2.8
2022 Pitman, N. C. A., White, D. M., Guevara Andino, J. E., Couvreur, T. L. P., Fortier, R. P., Zapata, J. N., Cornejo, X., Clark, J. L., Feeley, K. J., Johnston, M. K., Lozinguez, A., & Rivas-Torres, G. Rediscovery of Gasteranthus extinctus L.E. Skog & L.P. Kvist (Gesneriaceae) at multiple sites in western Ecuador. PhytoKeys, 194, 33–46. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.194.79638
Cornejo, X., & Hagsater, E. Epidendrum monicarmasiae. Icones Orchidacearum, 19(2). (No DOI available)
Reports and supporting documents from the 2023–2025 floristic inventory and seed collection project, conducted with support from Fondation Franklinia, the Mohammed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Surveys covered 17 forest fragments across the Centinela region; over 1,113 voucher specimens are deposited at the Herbario Nacional del Ecuador (QCNE).
Floristic Inventory Report A full report on the Centinela floristic inventory detailing survey methods, species coverage across 17 forest fragments (8–500 ha), and conservation recommendations. Over 500 plant species catalogued. [Download]
— 2026 Addendum: Bosque Polanco and Bosque Protector Murocomba [Download]
Dossier on 34 Threatened Tree Species Targeted for Population Enrichment Detailed accounts of population sizes, distributions, microhabitat observations, reproductive methods, and life history data for 34 threatened tree species. [Download]
Results of Seed and Propagule Collection by Species and Locality (2024–2025) Data on 2,737 seeds and saplings collected from 21 endangered tree species across the Centinela region. [Download]
Analysis code — Nature Plants (2024) R scripts for spatial analysis of the Centinela flora, including species range modeling, collection intensity analyses, and IUCN threat assessments. Archived on Zenodo; repository maintained on GitHub.
GitHub: https://github.com/Erythroxylum/centinela
Zenodo archive: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13890689
Last updated March 2026. For data requests or collaboration inquiries, contact the project team.