Systematics, distribution and ecology of land snails in Ecuador

Ecuador is one of the 17 countries described as 'megadiverse'. The group of 'megadiverse' countries covers less than 10% of the Earth's surface, but supports more than 70% of the Earth's biodiversity. Apart from Indonesia, Ecuador is the only country to be entirely covered by parts of two of the 25 global 'biodiversity hotspots', the biologically richest and most threatened terrestrial ecoregions on Earth, where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are experiencing exceptional habitat loss, and an only slightly modified 'wilderness' ecosystem. The Tropical Andes separate the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena hotspot in the west from Amazonia, the world's most diverse wilderness area, in the east. The Tropical Andes themselves are the biodiversity hotspot with the highest diversity of plant and vertebrate species. However, little is known about the diversity and distribution of land snails in Ecuador. 

We will sample land snails in representative habitats in different ecosystems of Ecuador and will revise the systematics of problematic groups. We will update the list of land snail species known from Ecuador and document their distribution.

From 331 species of known Ecuadorian land and fresh water snails, 60 have  imprecise localities and 168 were not recorded in the last 50 years. Filling the missing knowledge, increasing the number of Ecuadorian species and assessing their distribution or abundance is needed to protect and conserve this important group.

Project results

Ramirez Perez, M. C. & Hausdorf, B. 2022. Low abundance but high land snail diversity in montane rainforests on the western slope of the Andes in Ecuador. J. Moll. Stud., 88: eyab048.