.png)
Biodiversity Conservation in the Cordillera de Colán
Rainforest Partnership supports biodiversity conservation in the Peruvian Tropical Andes. Through herpetological inventories in remote and unexplored places like the Cordillera de Colán, we document the diversity of amphibians and reptiles and their conservation status to provide basic scientific information for the conservation of these animals and their habitats.
Impact
Location
Between the Utcubamba and Chiriaco rivers in the Amazonas region of the Andean Mountain Range of northern Peru.
Impact
- Discovery and formal scientific description of five new species of frogs and six new species of lizards from remote forests in the Peruvian Tropical Andes
- Frogs: Gastrotheca flavodactyla, G. trachyplevra, Pristimantis kiruhampatus, P. paulpittmani, and Rhinella moralesi
- Lizards: Enyalioides feiruzae, Selvasaura evasa, Stenocercus asenlignus, S. leybachi, S. nigrocaudatus, and S. qalaywasi
- Collection of ecological and natural history data for more than 20 little-known known species of amphibians, some of them threatened by extinction, for inclusion in an open-access online portal
- Collection and storage of more than 800 DNA samples of endemic amphibian and reptiles from the Tropical Andes for future research
- Over 1,000 frogs sampled through skin swabs to screen for diseases like the infection by the pathogenic chytrid fungus (which is known to have decimated amphibian populations around the world) in the Cordillera de Colán
- Six publications in peer-reviewed journals resulting from expeditions, with more in the works
Project Overview
The Tropical Andes, considered a biodiversity hotspot, are known to be the most biologically diverse region on Earth. This region also faces many threats related to human activities including mining, logging, construction, agriculture, and cattle ranching.
Documenting the true depth of biodiversity in this little-explored area is a race against time due to accelerated deforestation and habitat loss in the region. Because of this, we are documenting the biological diversity of amphibians and reptiles in the Cordillera de Colán, a small isolated mountain range in the Andes of northern Peru, in the Amazonas region.
Rainforest Partnership’s herpetologist Pablo Venegas and his team conducted two expeditions to remote forests and páramos (grasslands of the Andean highlands) in 2021 and 2022, collecting information about the richness, ecology, natural history, health and conservation status of 33 species of amphibians and four species of reptiles. Of these, they documented 15 species of frogs and one species of lizard completely new to science and are in the process of creating their formal descriptions. They also collected information about natural history and population status of three threatened amphibian species: Hyloscirtus diabolus, Pristimantis serendipitus, and Rhinella arborescandens.
As a result of these expeditions, the team has been able to document that the level of endemic species (species found nowhere else on Earth) is high in the Cordillera de Colán. Rainforest Partnership is collaborating with government authorities in national parks and protected areas to use this information to improve conservation and land management in the Cordillera de Colán National Sanctuary and adjacent private conservation areas. All photos copyright Eduardo Quispe
Publications
Venegas, P.J., García Ayachi, L.A. & Catenazzi A. 2021. Two new species of Pristimantis (Anura: Strabomantidae) from Amazonas Department in northeastern Peru. Taxonomy 2022: 20–40.
Venegas, P.J., Chávez, G., García-Ayachi, L.A., Duran, V. & Torres-Carvajal, O. 2021. A new species of wood lizard (Hoplocercinae, Enyalioides) from the Río Huallaga Basin in Central Peru. Evolutionary Systematics 5(2): 263–273.
Lehr, E., Cusi, J.C., Rodríguez, L.O., Venegas, P.J., García-Ayachi, L.A. & Catenazzi, A. 2021. A new species of toad (Anura: Bufonidae: Rhinella) from northern Peru. Taxonomy 1: 210–225.
Echevarría, L.Y., Venegas, P.J., García-Ayachi, L.A. & Sales Nunes, P.M. 2021. An elusive new species of Gymnophthalmid lizard (Cercosaurinae, Selvasaura) from the Andes of northern Peru. Evolutionary Systematics 5(2): 177–187.
Echevarria, L.Y., Paluh D.J., Garcia-Ayachi L.A., Venegas P.J., Catenazzi A., Pradel R. & Castroviejo-Fisher, S. 2022. Two new species of marsupial frogs (Anura: Hemiphractidae) from the Central Andes of northern Peru. Salamandra 58: 1–23.
Venegas, P.J., Garcia-Ayachi, L.A., Chavez-Arribasplata, J.C. & Garcia-Bravo, A. 2022. Four new species of polychromatic spiny-tailed iguanian lizards, genus Stenocercus (Iguania: Tropiduridae), from Peru. Zootaxa 5115 (1): 1–28.
Partners
Hollomon Price Foundation, Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado (SERNANP), Instituto Peruano de Herpetología (IPH), International University of Florida, Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)
Current Actions on the Ground
Scientific documentation and description
- Creating formal scientific descriptions for 20 species of frogs and two species of lizards new to science discovered in the four last years
Scientific research publication
- Preparing scientific research papers about the distribution, natural history, and conservation status of two endangered species of frogs
Population health analysis
- Analyzing more than 1,000 skin swabs of frogs from Cordillera de Colán to evaluate the current status and health of amphibian populations in the area
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Conservation Strategies for Long-Term Impact
Heading
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Heading
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.