The reserve houses a
tropical dry forest ecosystem, within the reserve the
flora consists of over 500 species of plants and tropical dry trees, such as
pochote, black rosewood,
mahogany,
hogplum and guacuco, as well as a large variety and amount of
orchids. The
fauna consists of mammals such as
variegated squirrels,
opossums,
anteaters,
pacas,
jaguarundis,
howler and
white-faced capuchin monkeys. As well as a variety of reptiles such as
green iguanas and
common boas. Over 230 species of birds have been documented in the reserve,
oropendolas,
falcons,
hummingbirds, and 65 species of migratory birds are present. Two-hundred twenty species of
butterflies have been documented in the reserve, including 25 first records for Nicaragua and dozens of
mollusks. Lake Apoyo also contains a variety of
fish species, including six
endemic species of
cichlids in the genus
Amphilophus. One of these species is the arrow cichlid (
Amphilophus zaliosus), described in 1976. Three additional species were described in 2008, by the multinational research team directed by the Nicaraguan NGO, FUNDECI/GAIA, which manages a research station on the shore of the lake. The remaining two cichlids were only described in 2010. In addition to the endemics, three cichlids (
Parachromis managuense,
Oreochromis aureus, and
O. niloticus) are found in the lake, but these were
introduced by humans. ==Tourism==