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Initial Analysis of Coastal Ecuadorian Herpetofauna of Dry and Moist Forests

Abstract:

Few places in the world represent a greater crisis for biodiversity than the coastal forests of Ecuador. Named as part of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena ‘biodiversity hotspot’(Conservation International 2006) for its combination of great biodiversity as well as conservation threats, these forests are less than 10% intact (Dodson and Gentry 1991). The coastal deciduous and semi-deciduous forests in particular are only represented by 2% of the original intact forest cover (Dodson and Gentry 1991). Indeed, the coastal forests of all of Latin America are in peril (Murphy and Lugo 1986, Bullock et al. 1995). Once comprising at least 60% of the forested tropics, only a few percent remain. One of the biggest challenges in tropical biodiversity conservation today is to explore and protect those neotropical coastal forests in most peril of disappearing, the remaining dry forest fragments.