Centro de Investigación de la Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático

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Universidad Indoamérica

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Compiling and analyzing the non-native flora of a megadiverse Neotropical country: a new catalogue for continental Ecuador
(2025)
Ileana Herrera
;
Anahí Vargas
;
Kimberly Rizzo
;
Zhofre Aguirre
;
Isabella Dillon
In this study, we provide a comprehensive and updated inventory of the non-native vascular flora of continental Ecuador and analyze its key biogeographic and ecological attributes to inform biological invasion management. We recorded 486 non-native wild plant taxa, 52% of which are naturalized and 48% casual. This inventory was primarily based on secondary data (published literature, scientific reports, and online databases) and enriched through fieldwork and expert consultations. It includes information on taxonomy, life form, lifespan, origin, first year of record, and spatial-temporal distribution. The most represented families were Poaceae (16%), Asteraceae (10%), and Fabaceae (9%). About 60% of the taxa originated from Asia and/or Africa, and 67% are herbs. The earliest introductions date back to the late 18<jats:sup>th</jats:sup> century, with an exponential increase beginning in ca. 1915. Only 13% of the taxa have a minimum residence time exceeding 125 years. The Andes accounted for the highest number of taxa (93%, including taxa shared with other regions). Nearly 80% of the non-native taxa have documented uses, most commonly ornamental (42%) and medicinal (38%). Naturalized taxa tended to have longer residence times and more frequently reported uses than casual ones, suggesting these traits may influence naturalization likelihood. Due to limited systematic sampling across the country, particularly outside the Central Andes, some spatial bias may exist. However, the integration of citizen science-derived data, a methodological innovation in our study, proved to be a promising approach for addressing knowledge gaps and improving detection efforts in regions with limited research capacity. Our findings offer a foundation for advancing the management of biological invasions in Ecuador through early detection, rapid response (EDRR), and species prioritization. Finally, we provide a practical, adaptable and replicable framework, based on citizen science and appropriate statistical analyses, for developing national inventories of non-native plant species in data-deficient countries.
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From smartphones to satellites: Integrating citizen science and high-resolution environmental data for mapping plant invasions in urban mountain landscapes
(Elsevier BV, 2026-11)
Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
;
Salazar-Valenzuela, David
;
Oleas Gallo, Nora Helena
;
Buenaño, María Belén
;
Quijano-Abril, Mario
Predicting the distribution of invasive species in urban mountain ecosystems is important for biodiversity conservation and effective management. We developed a sequential two-stage species distribution modelling framework to characterize habitat suitability for the invasive vine Thunbergia alata in the Metropolitan District of Quito and to evaluate the contribution of citizen science records, systematic field surveys, and multi-source environmental data. In the first stage, 637 iNaturalist occurrence records retained after quality control were combined with 12 bioclimatic variables from WorldClim to develop a preliminary MaxEnt model. The resulting habitat suitability map was classified into five categories and used to design a stratified field survey across the predicted suitability gradient. We sampled 1009 locations, obtaining 450 confirmed presences and 559 independent absence records. In the second stage, the field-derived occurrence data were used to develop a refined MaxEnt model incorporating the bioclimatic variables together with elevation, slope, land cover, VIIRS nighttime lights, NDVI, and the red spectral band. Environmental predictors were standardized to a common 5 m. spatial resolution and screened for multicollinearity. Both models were evaluated using receiver-operating characteristic analyses and AUC, with 10 replicate runs and 25% of occurrence records withheld for testing. Mean AUC values were 0.851 ± 0.012 and 0.902 ± 0.008 for the preliminary and refined models, respectively. In the preliminary model, habitat suitability was primarily associated with broad-scale climatic variables, particularly precipitation seasonality and temperature-related variables. In the refined model, nighttime light intensity and elevation showed the highest contributions and permutation importance, while NDVI and climatic variables also contributed to model predictions. Independent field validation showed that 47.2% of absence observations occurred in the two lowest suitability classes, whereas 33.5% occurred in areas classified as highly or very highly suitable. The refined model therefore captured substantial spatial variation in habitat suitability while also revealing areas of mismatch between predicted suitability and field observations. These results demonstrate the value of sequentially integrating citizen science, systematic field observations, and fine-resolution environmental predictors to improve invasive species mapping. This framework provides a practical approach for supporting targeted monitoring and management of invasive plants in complex urban mountain ecosystems. © 2026 The Authors.
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Compiling and analyzing the non-native flora of a megadiverse Neotropical country: a new catalogue for continental Ecuador
(2025)
Ileana Herrera
;
Anahí Vargas
;
Kimberly Rizzo
;
Zhofre Aguirre
;
Isabella Dillon
In this study, we provide a comprehensive and updated inventory of the non-native vascular flora of continental Ecuador and analyze its key biogeographic and ecological attributes to inform biological invasion management. We recorded 486 non-native wild plant taxa, 52% of which are naturalized and 48% casual. This inventory was primarily based on secondary data (published literature, scientific reports, and online databases) and enriched through fieldwork and expert consultations. It includes information on taxonomy, life form, lifespan, origin, first year of record, and spatial-temporal distribution. The most represented families were Poaceae (16%), Asteraceae (10%), and Fabaceae (9%). About 60% of the taxa originated from Asia and/or Africa, and 67% are herbs. The earliest introductions date back to the late 18<jats:sup>th</jats:sup> century, with an exponential increase beginning in ca. 1915. Only 13% of the taxa have a minimum residence time exceeding 125 years. The Andes accounted for the highest number of taxa (93%, including taxa shared with other regions). Nearly 80% of the non-native taxa have documented uses, most commonly ornamental (42%) and medicinal (38%). Naturalized taxa tended to have longer residence times and more frequently reported uses than casual ones, suggesting these traits may influence naturalization likelihood. Due to limited systematic sampling across the country, particularly outside the Central Andes, some spatial bias may exist. However, the integration of citizen science-derived data, a methodological innovation in our study, proved to be a promising approach for addressing knowledge gaps and improving detection efforts in regions with limited research capacity. Our findings offer a foundation for advancing the management of biological invasions in Ecuador through early detection, rapid response (EDRR), and species prioritization. Finally, we provide a practical, adaptable and replicable framework, based on citizen science and appropriate statistical analyses, for developing national inventories of non-native plant species in data-deficient countries.
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Upcycling the Banana Industry in Ecuador: A Methodology to Estimate Biowaste and Catalogue of Bioproducts
(2023)
Jiménez M.P.S.
;
Tobes, Ibon
Ecuador is the leading exporter of bananas globally. This industry generates a large amount of organic waste since the plant is cut down for every crop, but only the fruit bunch is used. These residues can be converted into sustainable environmental products that could replace polluting materials. This investigation presents a GIS-based methodology used to estimate the biomass of the residues of banana agriculture in Ecuador and to determine how much organic waste could be used as raw materials to manufacture new biodegradable products. We estimated that more than forty million metric tons of waste are produced every nine months. Our methodology can be a low-cost quantitative complement to the survey-based estimations conducted by the Ecuadorian government to evaluate banana production. Additionally, our work presents five products that could be manufactured with organic waste, like disposable plates, bioplastics for food utensils, cardboard covers, fibers for hydraulic cement, and wallpaper. Finally, we offer a product catalog developed as a technical guide for future bio-enterprises to elaborate biodegradable products inspired by a circular economy scheme. In light of the estimated amount of banana waste generated in the country, we consider that Ecuador has the potential to develop an industry based on this raw material to generate products such as those proposed in our review, shifting the banana industry to a more sustainable, profitable process, and generating new incomes and sources of employment. © 2023,. All Rights Reserved.
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Path for recovery: an ecological overview of the Jambato Harlequin Toad (Bufonidae: <i>Atelopus ignescens</i>) in its last known locality, Angamarca Valley, Ecuador
(2024)
Mateo A. Vega-Yánez
;
Amanda B. Quezada-Riera
;
Blanca Rios-Touma
;
María del Carmen Vizcaíno-Barba
;
William Millingalli
The Jambato Harlequin toad (<jats:italic>Atelopus ignescens</jats:italic>), a formerly abundant species in the Andes of Ecuador, faced a dramatic population decline in the 1980s, with its last recorded sighting in 1988. The species was considered Extinct by the IUCN until 2016, when a fortuitous discovery of one Jambato by a local boy reignited hope. In this study, we present findings from an investigation conducted in the Angamarca parish, focusing on distribution, abundance, habitat preferences, ecology, disease susceptibility, and dietary habits of the species. In one year we identified 71 individuals at different stages of development in various habitats, with a significant presence in agricultural mosaic areas and locations near water sources used for crop irrigation, demonstrating the persistence of the species in a complex landscape, with considerable human intervention. The dietary analysis based on fecal samples indicated a diverse prey selection, primarily comprising arthropods such as Acari, Coleoptera, and ants. Amphibian declines have been associated with diseases and climate change; notably, our study confirmed the presence of the pathogen <jats:italic>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Bd</jats:italic>), but, surprisingly, none of the infected Jambatos displayed visible signs of illness. When analyzing climatic patterns, we found that there are climatic differences between historical localities and Angamarca; the temporal analysis also exposes a generalized warming trend. Finally, in collaboration with the local community, we developed a series of management recommendations for terrestrial and aquatic environments occupied by the Jambato.
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Phylogeny of Weinmannia (Cunoniaceae) reveals the contribution of the southern extratropics to tropical Andean biodiversity
(2025)
Ricardo A. Segovia
;
Eduardo Aguirre-Mazzi
;
Christine E. Edwards
;
Alexander G. Linan
;
Alfredo Fuentes
The Andes are a relatively young mountain range with impressive biodiversity, but the biogeographic processes underlying its hyperdiversity are still being unraveled. Novel mid- to high-elevation climates may have served as a biological corridor for the immigration of temperate-adapted lineages to more equatorial latitudes, contributing unknown levels of diversity to this region. We tested the hypothesis that Weinmannia is a lineage of extratropical origin that recently reached and then diversified extensively in the tropical Andes. Using a 2bRAD seq approach to generate a time-calibrated phylogeny for the genus, we found that extratropical species were placed as sister to the rest of Weinmannia and that younger clades were distributed towards more equatorial latitudes. Although Weinmannia exhibited low niche conservatism in elevation and latitude, trait reconstructions of climatic variables showed that the common ancestor of Weinmannia occupied cool climates, with high conservatism of thermal and water availability niche across the phylogeny. Thus, Andean uplift likely created habitats with suitable environmental conditions, providing a dispersal route for extant Weinmannia to colonize the tropical Andes from the southern extratropics. These southern lineages likely converged with those originating in other tropical and extratropical centers of diversification, providing multiple origins for the hyperdiversity in the modern montane forests of the tropical Andes.
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Genotyping‐by‐sequencing informs conservation of Andean palms sources of non‐timber forest products
(2024)
Nicolás Peñafiel Loaiza
;
Abigail H. Chafe
;
Mónica Moraes R
;
Oleas Gallo, Nora Helena
;
Julissa Roncal
Conservation and sustainable management of lineages providing non‐timber forest products are imperative under the current global biodiversity loss. Most non‐timber forest species, however, lack genomic studies that characterize their intraspecific variation and evolutionary history, which inform species' conservation practices. Contrary to many lineages in the Andean biodiversity hotspot that exhibit high diversification, the genus <jats:italic>Parajubaea</jats:italic> (Arecaceae) has only three species despite the genus' origin 22 million years ago. Two of the three palm species, <jats:italic>P. torallyi</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>P. sunkha</jats:italic>, are non‐timber forest species endemic to the Andes of Bolivia and are listed as IUCN endangered. The third species, <jats:italic>P. cocoides</jats:italic>, is a vulnerable species with unknown wild populations. We investigated the evolutionary relationships of <jats:italic>Parajubaea</jats:italic> species and the genetic diversity and structure of wild Bolivian populations. Sequencing of five low‐copy nuclear genes (3753 bp) challenged the hypothesis that <jats:italic>P. cocoides</jats:italic> is a cultigen that originated from the wild Bolivian species. We further obtained up to 15,134 de novo single‐nucleotide polymorphism markers by genotyping‐by‐sequencing of 194 wild <jats:italic>Parajubaea</jats:italic> individuals. Our total DNA sequencing effort rejected the taxonomic separation of the two Bolivian species. As expected for narrow endemic species, we observed low genetic diversity, but no inbreeding signal. We found three genetic clusters shaped by geographic distance, which we use to propose three management units. Different percentages of missing genotypic data did not impact the genetic structure of populations. We use the management units to recommend in situ conservation by creating new protected areas, and ex situ conservation through seed collection.
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Systematics of south american snail-eating snakes (Serpentes, dipsadini), with the description of five new species from ecuador and peru
(2018)
Arteaga A.
;
Salazar Valenzuela, David
;
Mebert K.
;
Peñafiel N.
;
Aguiar G.
A molecular phylogeny of the Neotropical snail-eating snakes (tribe Dipsadini) is presented including 43 (24 for the first time) of the 77 species, sampled for both nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Morphological and phylogenetic support was found for four new species of Dipsas and one of Sibon, which are described here based on their unique combination of molecular, meristic, and color pattern characteristics. Sibynomorphus is designated as a junior subjective synonym of Dipsas. Dipsas latifrontalis and D. palmeri are resurrected from the synonymy of D. peruana. Dipsas latifasciata is transferred from the synonymy of D. peruana to the synonymy of D. palmeri. A new name, D. jamespetersi, is erected for the taxon currently known as Sibynomorphus petersi. Re-descriptions of D. latifrontalis and D. peruana are presented, as well as the first photographic voucher of an adult specimen of D. latifrontalis, along with photographs of all known Ecuadorian Dipsadini species. The first country record of D. variegata in Ecuador is provided and D. oligozonata removed from the list of Peruvian herpetofauna. With these changes, the number of Dipsadini reported in Ecuador increases to 22, 18 species of Dipsas and four of Sibon. © 2018, Pensoft Publishers. All rights reserved.
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A mouth full of blood – autohaemorrhaging in three Ecuadorian snakes (Squamata: Colubridae & Tropidophiidae)
(2023)
Rödel M.-O.
;
Loaiza-Lange A.
;
Penner J.
;
Neira-Salamea K.D.
;
Salazar Valenzuela, David
[No abstract available]
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First Insights into the Venom Composition of Two Ecuadorian Coral Snakes
(2022)
Hernández-Altamirano, J.A.
;
Salazar Valenzuela, David
;
Medina-Villamizar, E.J.
;
Quirola, D.R.
;
Patel, K.
Micrurus is a medically relevant genus of venomous snakes composed of 85 species. Bites caused by coral snakes are rare, but they are usually associated with very severe and life-threatening clinical manifestations. Ecuador is a highly biodiverse country with a complex natural environment, which is home to approximately 20% of identified Micrurus species. Additionally, it is on the list of Latin American countries with the highest number of snakebites. However, there is no local antivenom available against the Ecuadorian snake venoms, and the biochemistry of these venoms has been poorly explored. Only a limited number of samples collected in the country from the Viperidae family were recently characterised. Therefore, this study addressed the compositional patterns of two coral snake venoms from Ecuador, M. helleri and M. mipartitus, using venomics strategies, integrating sample fractionation, gel electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry. Chromatographic and electrophoretic profiles of these snake venoms revealed interspecific variability, which was ascertained by mass spectrometry. The two venoms followed the recently recognised dichotomic toxin expression trends displayed by Micrurus species: M. helleri venom contains a high proportion (72%) of phospholipase A2, whereas M. mipartitus venom is dominated by three-finger toxins (63%). A few additional protein families were also detected in these venoms. Overall, these results provide the first comprehensive views on the composition of two Ecuadorian coral snake venoms and expand the knowledge of Micrurus venom phenotypes. These findings open novel perspectives to further research the functional aspects of these biological cocktails of PLA2s and 3FTxs and stress the need for the preclinical evaluation of the currently used antivenoms for therapeutic purposes in Ecuador. © 2022 by the authors.
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