**2. Materials and methods**

The study area corresponds to the life zones of very humid tropical forest, humid tropical forest, and Andean brow [4], located between 750 and 2100 m above sea level. According to [5], it corresponds to the Pie montane evergreen forest, montane cloud forest, and montane evergreen forest vegetation formation of the Eastern Andes, where annual rainfall of 3000–4000 mm, a temperature ranging between 12 and 24°C and relative humidity of 80–90% is recorded.

Study area is conceived as a macro-thermal rainforest of the eastern region or Amazonian hylea [6], where average temperatures remain within 24°C and rainfall exceeds 6000 mm [6], being within one of the rainiest areas of Ecuador, due to the direct influence of high rainfall areas such as the Abitahua Protected Forest and the CELS.

*Conservation Status of Macro Mammals in the Llanganates-Sangay Ecological Corridor… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109332*

It is a transition zone between the Amazonian lowlands and the tropical Andes, forming part of the buffer zone of Llanganates National Park and Sangay National Park in the CELS. This geographical feature has given rise to a range of habitat types and microclimates within an altitudinal gradient that ranges from dense forest with sub-canopies below 15 m in the lowlands to open forest with emergent canopies of 20–30 m from 1000 m altitude.

As this is a foothill area of the eastern Andean range, there are buttresses with slopes of 60–70° and abundant bodies of water: springs, streams, and rivers that descend through the foothills of the mountain range. The main subbasins of the area correspond to the Pastaza River, which receives the waters of the Encanto, Topo, Zuñag, Tigre, and Alpayacu rivers, while the Anzu River flows north and empties into the Napo River in the province of the same name.

#### **2.1 Locations and sampling sites**

Fieldwork focused on six localities in three provinces, Morona Santiago, Pastaza, and Tungurahua, with emphasis on the subbasin of the Anzu River (**Table 1**), selected based on criteria of connectivity with protected areas, forest quality, as well as previous records or interviews on the presence of endangered species [7].

#### *2.1.1 Rio Encanto*

Located in the north-eastern buffer zone of Sangay National Park, Río Encanto protects an important area of evergreen piedmont forest between the provinces of Tungurahua and Morona Santiago. The area is a mosaic of several farm owners, the vast majority of whom have abandoned intensive agricultural activities for more than 40 years, which has kept the forest well preserved. There is a constant connectivity vegetation through the upper lands to Pastaza River's mouth (**Figure 1**).


*\*\*Universal Transverse Mercator, World Geodetic System, zone 18 South.*

#### **Table 1.**

*Location of study sites. Geographical coordinates collected by the authors in the field work.*

**Figure 1.** *Location of Río Encanto.*

**Figure 2.** *Location of San Jacinto las Palmas.*
