Biodiversity is vital for the stability of the planet; its ecosystem services provide essential elements for our survival and well-being. This review analyzes the national biodiversity policies and describes the main strategies for biodiversity conservation in Ecuador, one of the “mega-diverse” countries in the world with the highest species density. It deepens an analysis of in-situ and ex-situ conservation processes. Ecuador has six clear policies for biodiversity conservation. These policies strengthen biodiversity conservation through mechanisms that improve the well-being of wildlife by ensuring human, wildlife and ecosystem health. It promotes actions for the welfare of wildlife, through technical, administrative and legal tools. The National System of Protected Areas, with 60 protected areas, is the most effective in-situ conservation instrument at the country level. Several ex-situ conservation and management means for the conservation of wild species are being utilized, including nurseries, botanical gardens, zoos, germplasm banks, aquariums, species reproduction and rehabilitation centers. Ecuador is making slow progress on ex-situ conservation despite the availability of a sound policy framework, possibly due to financial, infrastructural, and/or technological challenges, and knowledge gaps. We propose fostering international research collaborations and establishing fully funded small-scale captive breeding programs at zoos, aquariums and university research facilities to help recovery of at-risk species of reptiles, amphibians, fish and species beyond Galapagos region. We recommend utilizing citizen science programs to fill the gaps of biodiversity information and increasing efforts to revive the ex-situ conservation strategies in protecting the unique biodiversity of Ecuador.

A new species of Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 is described from Nilgala Savannah Forest in Sri Lanka. The new species is diagnosed from all other congeners by the following suite of characters: small body size (SVL< 33 mm), dorsal scales on trunk homogeneous, one pair of post mentals separated by a single small chin scale, ventral scales on trunk smooth, subimbricate, 17–19 scales across the belly. Subdigitals scansors smooth, entire, unnotched; lamellae under digit IV of pes 17 –18. Males with femoral pores on each thigh but lacking precloacal pores. Median row of subcaudals smooth, subimbricate, enlarged and in an irregular series of subhexagonal scales. This new species had been previously confused with Cnemaspis alwisi Wickramasinghe & Munidradasa, 2007. The new species differs from Cnemaspis alwisi by having 122–129 ventral scales (versus 146–152), 7–8 supralabials (versus 8–10), and relatively shorter SVL ranging between 31.5–32.9 mm (versus 37.8–39.9 mm). Further, the new species is genetically divergent from Cnemaspis alwisi, the species that it closely resembles by 13.5% and 7.8% from its sister species in the ND2 gene. The present discovery highlights the need for dedicated herpetofaunal explorations in Sri Lanka, especially the intermediate bioclimatic zone and associated cave systems and rock outcrops.

Summary1. Although largely ignored, coexistence of native species with non-native species is the rule rather than the exception in the contemporary world. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that facilitate coexistence of native species with non-native invasive species is critical in implementing effective management strategies to conserve native biodiversity. 2. We conducted field mesocosm experiments to study reciprocal predation between an invasive fish species (Western mosquitofish Gambusia affinis) and an endangered fish species (Mohave tui chub Siphateles bicolor mohavensis). Additional predation vulnerability modelling was conducted to assess the vulnerability of a given prey population to predation by a gapesize limited predator population. 3. Adult mosquitofish reduced Mohave tui chub recruitment through predation on tui chub larvae. Reciprocally, adult tui chubs limited the population growth of mosquitofish through predation on adult mosquitofish, providing evidence for intraguild predation (IGP). Mohave tui chub predation on adult mosquitofish was apparently gape-size limited and larger female mosquitofish avoided tui chub predation. 4. Vulnerability modelling provided additional information on gape-size limited reciprocal predation between these two fish species and insights on the effects of such IGP on persistence of Mohave tui chub in the presence of invasive mosquitofish. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results collectively show size-structured intraguild predation (IGP) between a native endangered fish and an invasive fish species, which may facilitate coexistence of these species. Invasive species often prey on native species, thus IGP may be a common but neglected phenomenon for invaded systems. Therefore, understanding the complex interactions among native and non-native species in the whole-ecosystem context may help conservation practitioners identify novel management strategies. This may be especially necessary when natural, uninvaded habitats for native species become increasingly scarce due to alterations resulting from multiple forms of human impact.

Intraguild predation (IGP) is a mechanism that may facilitate the co-existence of native species with non-native invasive species. We conducted laboratory predation trials to assess the role of predator gape-limitation in the context of IGP between the endangered Mohave tui chub (Siphateles bicolor mohavensis) and invasive western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis). Larval tui chubs had significantly lower (v 2 = 74.74; P < 0.001) survival in the presence of female mosquitofish (10.0%) than in the presence of male mosquitofish (73.3%). Reciprocally, adult tui chubs preyed upon adult mosquitofish, causing a significantly lower (v 2 = 11.33; P < 0.001) survival for male mosquitofish (60%) compared to female mosquitofish survival (96.7%). Vulnerability modelling revealed that mosquitofish with a body depth < 4.6 mm and a larval tui chub with a body depth < 1.2 mm were completely vulnerable to predation by adult Mohave tui chub and adult mosquitofish, respectively. IGP in this study system is size-structured based on gape-size limitation and may have some conservation implications for the recovery of endangered Mohave tui chub. Our findings also provide an important caveat to the dogmatic view of mosquitofish as a threat whenever they invade. It is important to note that many previous studies that reported negative impacts of mosquitofish involved native species with relatively small body sizes, often the same size as mosquitofish.

Mortality of wildlife due to vehicular traffic is among the direct impacts when natural habitats are dissected with roads. This study presents the herpetofaunal mortality on a 3km stretch of a highway crossing Nilgala Forest Area (NFA), a savanna dominated forest in Nilgala, eastern Sri Lanka. A total of 72 species of herpetofauna including 53 reptiles and 19 amphibians were recorded as road kills of which 19 species (26.3%) are endemic to Sri Lanka and 22 species (30.5%) are threatened nationally. A total of 552 road killed individuals (23.6% of tetrapod reptiles, 40.2% of serpentoid reptiles and 36.2% amphibians) were recorded over 48 days.