Beyond the immediate mortality of seabirds observed along the nation's coastlines, the most critical and silent toll driven by El Niño conditions strikes marine wildlife reproductive cycles. Faced with the deepening of prey fish and the depletion of surface nutrients, adult birds endure negative energy balances that compromise colony viability.
Guayaquil encompasses at least six protected forests and hills—including Cerro Blanco, Cerro Colorado, and Cerro Paraíso—that function as urban green lungs and natural barriers against unplanned urban sprawl.
During his remarks, Julián Pérez Correa, specialist at FLS-ESPOL, emphasized the biological richness concentrated within these ecosystems:
As part of the hands-on curriculum for the Oceanic and Continental Waters course, Biology students participated in a field trip to the Playa El Pelado area in the General Villamil (Playas) canton.
The activity was led by professor and researcher Félix Morales, Ph.D., with logistical support and coordination from Biology student Josué Romero. During the session, students surveyed and analyzed various coastal profile zones, including:
The emergence of disoriented, dead, or severely emaciated seabirds across both the beaches of Tumbes (Peru) and the coastline and urban areas of Ecuador has raised alarms among the scientific community and environmental authorities. The phenomenon is linked to ocean thermal anomalies and conditions associated with El Niño, which force forage fish away from surface waters or drive them into deeper layers of the water column.
Anomalous sea surface warming along the Ecuadorian coastline and the insular region continues to disrupt prey availability and marine wildlife behavior. In this context, the unusual arrival of seabirds in coastal and urban areas has raised concerns among local communities and conservation experts alike.
With a steadfast commitment to generating real scientific solutions for the global agricultural sector, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) hosted the 3rd Latin American Symposium on Biological Control. This major international gathering brought together scientists, students, professionals, technicians, farmers, and representatives from private companies and public entities in the city of Guayaquil.
Sudden temperature changes, flooding, and rainwater stagnation resulting from climate events such as El Niño create the ideal environment for vector proliferation and the rise of transmissible diseases. In light of this reality, research professors from the Faculty of Life Sciences (FLS) analyze current epidemiological risks and emphasize the importance of community prevention.
In the framework of World Environment Day commemorations, research professors from the Faculty of Life Sciences (FLS) provided their technical perspectives in a television report focused on the urgency of curbing carbon emissions and protecting ecosystem services in the country.
Given the unusual temperatures that have affected various cities across the country, reaching peaks of up to 35.8 °C and heat indices close to 40 °C, Edwin Jiménez, Eng., a research professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences (FLS), highlights the creation of community nurseries as a viable and sustainable alternative to balance climatic conditions.
A recent scientific study has revealed a silent threat to Guayaquil's biodiversity: the sale and use of exotic ornamental plants, specifically from the genus Thunbergia, which act as invasive species. Julián Pérez, a research professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences (FLS), emphasizes the urgent need to regulate irresponsible landscaping that is "planting an ecological time bomb" in the region.
