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Abstract Biodiversity loss is extreme in amphibians. Despite ongoing conservation action, it is difficult to determine where we stand in overcoming their extinction crisis. Among the most threatened amphibians are the 131 Neotropical harlequin toads. Many of them declined since the 1980s with several considered possibly extinct. Recently, more than 30 species have been rediscovered, raising hope for a reversing trend in the amphibian extinction crisis. We use past and present data available for harlequin toads (Atelopus), to examine whether the amphibian extinction crisis is still in an emergency state. Since 2004 no species has improved its population status, suggesting that recovery efforts have not been successful. Threats include habitat change, pathogen spread and climate change. More mitigation strategies need implementation, especially habitat protection and disease management, combined with captive conservation breeding. With harlequin toads serving as a model, it is clear that the amphibian extinction crisis is still underway.

Here, the authors investigate the aboveground carbon sink efficiency of Andean forests. The study shows the high potential of these forests to serve as future carbon refuges, and urges to reduce deforestation and increase restoration.

Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, but faces severe pressures and threats to its natural ecosystems. Numerous species have declined and require to be objectively evaluated and quantified, as a step towards the development of conservation strategies. Herein, we present an updated National Red List Assessment for amphibian species of Ecuador, with one of the most detailed and complete coverages for any Ecuadorian taxonomic group to date. Based on standardized methodologies that integrate taxonomic work, spatial analyses, and ecological niche modeling, we assessed the extinction risk and identified the main threats for all Ecuadorian native amphibians (635 species), using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Our evaluation reveals that 57% (363 species) are categorized as Threatened, 12% (78 species) as Near Threatened, 4% (26 species) as Data Deficient, and 27% (168 species) as Least Concern. Our assessment almost doubles the number of threatened species in comparison with previous evaluations. In addition to habitat loss, the expansion of the agricultural/cattle raising frontier and other anthropogenic threats (roads, human settlements, and mining/oil activities) amplify the incidence of other pressures as relevant predictors of ecological integrity. Potential synergic effects with climate change and emergent diseases (apparently responsible for the sudden declines), had particular importance amongst the threats sustained by Ecuadorian amphibians. Most threatened species are distributed in montane forests and paramo habitats of the Andes, with nearly 10% of them occurring outside the National System of Protected Areas of the Ecuadorian government. Based on our results, we recommend the following actions: (i) An increase of the National System of Protected Areas to include threatened species. (ii) Supporting the ex/in-situ conservation programs to protect species considered like Critically Endangered and Endangered. (iii) Focalizing research efforts towards the description of new species, as well as species currently categorized as Data Deficient (DD) that may turn out to be threatened. The implementation of the described actions is challenging, but urgent, given the current conservation crisis faced by amphibians.

The tadpole of Cochranella resplendens is described and that of Hyalinobatrachium aureoguttatum is redescribed; information on their ontogenetic variation also is included. Cochranella resplendens is characterized by having a non-emarginated oral apparatus and an upperjaw sheath nearly straight with a smooth arch in the middle. Hyalinobatrachium aureoguttatum has an emarginated oral apparatus with a characteristic M-shaped upper jaw sheath and bears few (1–5) submarginal papillae on the upper labium. Although the two species show few changes in the oral apparatus during their development(except for changes in Gosner Stages 24 and 42 in C. resplendens and 23–24 in H. aureoguttatum), there are major ontogenetic changes in size and coloration.

Recently, Valencia et al. [1] we described a new species of Pristimantis from the northwestern foothills of Ecuador. However, we made a mistake in using a specific epithet previously occupied for a frog of eastern and western foothills of Antioquia, Colombia [2]. Under Chapter 12, Article 53.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ICZN, Pristimantis viridis Valencia, Yánez-Muñoz, Betancourt-Yépez, Terán-Valdezy Guayasamin, 2010 is considered a junior homonym.To solve this problem, and following the provisions of Art. 60.3 of ICZN [3], we propose the name Pristimantis rufoviridis nomen novum replacing Pristimantis viridis Valencia, Yánez-Muñoz, Betancourt-Yépez, Terán-Valdez y Guayasamin. The specific epithet rufoviridis comes from the combination of words in Latin rufus (red, reddish) and viridis (green), and refers to the greenish color with red spots on the back of this frog. The rufoviridis epithet is used as a noun in apposition.Although the color pattern is green in the two species, P viridis has a pale green or “apple green” immaculate without obvious stains [2], as opposed to P rufoviridis which has obvious reddish spots. As P rufoviridis, P viridis has no clear phylogenetic position within the genre Pristimantis [2].

We describe a new species of the diverse genus Pristimantis. The new species is characterized by having a green dorsum with reddish marks, acuminate snout with papilla at tip, conical ulnar and tarsal tubercles, and by lacking cranial crests. The new species inhabits the northwestern Andean slopes of Ecuador.

Patterns of species diversity have been associated with changes in climate across latitude and elevation. However, the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying these relationships are still actively debated. Here, we present a complementary view of the well-known tropical niche conservatism (TNC) hypothesis, termed the multiple zones of origin (MZO) hypothesis, to explore mechanisms underlying latitudinal and elevational gradients of phylogenetic diversity in tree communities. The TNC hypothesis posits that most lineages originate in warmer, wetter, and less seasonal environments in the tropics and rarely colonize colder, drier, and more seasonal environments outside of the tropical lowlands, leading to higher phylogenetic diversity at lower latitudes and elevations. In contrast, the MZO hypothesis posits that lineages also originate in temperate environments and readily colonize similar environments in the tropical highlands, leading to lower phylogenetic diversity at lower latitudes and elevations. We tested these phylogenetic predictions using a combination of computer simulations and empirical analyses of tree communities in 245 forest plots located in six countries across the tropical and subtropical Andes. We estimated the phylogenetic diversity for each plot and regressed it against elevation and latitude. Our simulated and empirical results provide strong support for the MZO hypothesis. Phylogenetic diversity among co-occurring tree species increased with both latitude and elevation, suggesting an important influence on the historical dispersal of lineages with temperate origins into the tropical highlands. The mixing of different floras was likely favored by the formation of climatically suitable corridors for plant migration due to the Andean uplift. Accounting for the evolutionary history of plant communities helps to advance our knowledge of the drivers of tree community assembly along complex climatic gradients, and thus their likely responses to modern anthropogenic climate change.