The diets of the variable hawk ( Geranoaetus polyosoma ) and the barn owl ( Tyto furcata ) have been previously reported for the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. However, their ecological interactions and their role in the control of invasive species are unknown. In this work, the diet and competitive interaction of both raptors in an agricultural landscape were evaluated. Both species consume a high proportion of rodents (26.3% and 63.3% respectively), particularly Rattus sp . (20.8% and 30.0% respectively), which represent the highest contribution to the biomass consumed (67.9% and 60.2% respectively). Geranoaetus polyosoma consumes reptiles such as Microlophus yanezi (11.7%) and invertebrates (42.7%), mainly Coleoptera (30.7%) and Decapoda (7.11%). On the other hand, Tyto furcata consumed native rodents as Oligoryzomys flavescens (7.13%) and Auliscomys boliviensis (6.22%) and marine birds nesting in the desert, as Oceanodroma markhami (0.55%). Both raptors hunt over wide geographic ranges from the coast to the highlands, in wetlands, agricultural and desert areas. Despite sharing 44% of the prey consumed, there is only moderate interspecific competition. We discuss the possible role of both raptors as controllers of the exotic invasive Rattus sp.

Abstract Biodiversity conservation is a complex and transdisciplinary problem that requires engagement and cooperation among scientific, societal, economic, and political institutions. However, historical approaches have often failed to bring together and address the needs of all relevant stakeholders in decision‐making processes. The Tropical Andes, a biodiversity hotspot where conservation efforts often conflict with socioeconomic issues and policies that prioritize economic development, provides an ideal model to develop and implement more effective approaches. In this study, we present a co‐design approach that mainstreams and improves the flow of biodiversity information in the Tropical Andes, while creating tailored outputs that meet the needs of economic and societal stakeholders. We employed a consultative process that brought together biodiversity information users and producers at the local, national, and regional levels through a combination of surveys and workshops. This approach identified priority needs and limitations of the flow of biodiversity information in the region, which led to the co‐design of user‐relevant biodiversity indicators. By leveraging the existing capacities of biodiversity information users and producers, we were able to co‐design multiple biodiversity indicators and prioritize two for full implementation ensuring that the data was findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable based on the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles. This approach helped address limitations that were identified in the stakeholder engagement process, including gaps in data availability and the need for more accessible biodiversity information. Additionally, capacity‐building workshops were incorporated for all producers of biodiversity information involved, which aimed to not only improve the current flow of biodiversity information in the region but also facilitate its future sustainability. Our approach can serve as a valuable blueprint for mainstreaming biodiversity information and making it more inclusive in the future, especially considering the diverse worldviews, values, and knowledge systems between science, policy, and practice.

La conservación de la biodiversidad es un problema complejo y transdisciplinario que requiere el compromiso y la cooperación entre instituciones científicas, sociales, económicas y políticas. Sin embargo, los enfoques tradicionales/convencionales a menudo no logran reunir y abordar las necesidades de todos los actores relevantes en los procesos de toma de decisiones. Los Andes tropicales, un área clave de biodiversidad donde los esfuerzos de conservación a menudo entran en conflicto con cuestiones socioeconómicas y políticas que priorizan el desarrollo económico, proporcionan un modelo ideal para desarrollar e implementar enfoques más efectivos. En este estudio, presentamos un enfoque co-diseño que integra y mejora el flujo de información sobre biodiversidad en los Andes tropicales, creando resultados personalizados que satisfacen las necesidades, tanto económicas como sociales, de las partes interesadas. Empleamos un proceso de consulta que reunió a usuarios y productores de información sobre biodiversidad a nivel local, nacional y regional, a través de encuestas y talleres. Este enfoque ha permitido identificar necesidades prioritarias y limitaciones del flujo de información sobre biodiversidad en la región; lo cual llevó al codiseño de indicadores de biodiversidad relevantes para los usuarios. Aprovechando las capacidades existentes de los usuarios y productores de información sobre biodiversidad, pudimos co-diseñar múltiples indicadores de biodiversidad y priorizar dos de estos para su implementación completa, asegurando que los datos sean localizables, accesibles, interoperables y reutilizables, según los principios FAIR. Este enfoque ayudó a abordar las limitaciones que se identificaron en el proceso de participación de las partes interesadas; incluidas las brechas en la disponibilidad de datos y la necesidad de información sobre biodiversidad más accesible. Además, se incorporaron talleres de desarrollo de capacidades para todos los productores de información sobre biodiversidad involucrados, los cuales apuntaron no sólo a mejorar el flujo actual de información sobre biodiversidad en la región, sino también facilitar su sostenibilidad futura. Nuestro enfoque puede servir como un modelo valioso para incorporar la información sobre biodiversidad y hacerla más inclusiva en el futuro; especialmente si consideramos las diversas perspectivas globales, valores y sistemas de conocimiento implicados en las interacciones entre la ciencia, la política y su aplicación práctica.

Documenting temporal trends in the extent of ecosystems is essential to monitoring their status but combining this information with the degree of protection helps us assess the effectiveness of societal actions for conserving ecosystem diversity and related ecosystem services. We demonstrated indicators in the Tropical Andes using both potential (pre-industrial) and recent (~2010) distribution maps of terrestrial ecosystem types. We measured long-term ecosystem loss, representation of ecosystem types within the current protected areas, quantifying the additional representation offered by protecting Key Biodiversity Areas. Six (4.8%) ecosystem types (i.e., measured as 126 distinct vegetation macrogroups) have lost >50% in extent across four Andean countries since pre-industrial times. For ecosystem type representation within protected areas, regarding the pre-industrial extent of each type, a total of 32 types (25%) had higher representation (>30%) than the post-2020 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) draft target in existing protected areas. Just 5 of 95 types (5.2%) within the montane Tropical Andes hotspot are currently represented with >30% within the protected areas. Thirty-nine types (31%) within these countries could cross the 30% CBD 2030 target with the addition of Key Biodiversity Areas. This indicator is based on the Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) and responds directly to the needs expressed by the users of these countries.

Liolaemus represents the most diverse group of saurians in South America. The species ofthis genus, inhabit different ecosystems characterized by their endemism, whose taxonomicknowledge increased from 1837 to date, mainly in Argentina and Chile, while in the PlurinationalState of Bolivia (Bolivia) the taxonomic and phylogenetic knowledge of the genus began to haverelevance from 2002 to date, properly guiding the real wealth that the country has. However, inBolivia, studies of population density, diet and reproduction began to be reported in the 1980s,studies of potential distribution began in 2007 and those related to thermal ecology began in2015. There is no doubt that taxonomic studies are strengthening the knowledge of the genusin Bolivia, which allows a precise understanding of the areas of endemism, important for biogeographicanalysis or modeling studies of potential distribution of species, thus prioritizingtheir conservation status. The lack of a comparative and taxonomic review of the specimensdeposited in scientific collections and the lack of information in areas where no prospectingwas carried out throughout the distribution of the genus in Bolivia, prolonged for a long timethe description of species that are waiting to be formally reported to the scientific communityand society, and then face studies in different disciplines. This work presents an update of thegenus Liolaemus richness in Bolivia, emphasizing the main works and advances in the lasteighteen years.

Taxonomic lists are important tools for understanding biodiversity and they provide informationat different scales about the species distributed within a region; as such, they allow us tounderstand the identities of the species that compose a given supra-specific taxon. While listsof the species of the genus Liolaemus have been published over the past few decades, providingtaxonomic and systematic information, these lists are now outdated and the number of validspecies within the genus has fluctuated rapidly over time and many taxonomic changes havegone unregistered. Although there are alternative means to consult this information, thesesources have suffered from a number of involuntary errors as well as some arbitrary omissionsor inclusions that have affected the dynamics of species inventories. In this work, we presentthe most complete taxonomic enumeration of the species of Liolaemus to date, including theavailable names for all of the valid and invalid species associated with these taxonomic changes.We recognize a total of 283 valid species in Liolaemus, along with another 65 invalid names.Fifteen taxa are recognized as species inquirenda, eight as nomina dubia, and two as nomina nuda.We hope that the careful review of each case and the exhaustive literature review will make thiswork a primary reference on South America's most speciose lizard genus.

A new lizard of the genus Liolaemus is described from the Tacna region of southern of Peru. This species belongs to the L. montanus group and was initially thought to be L. poconchilensis and L. insolitus. However, a series of diagnostic characters differentiate it consistently from these two species and all other species of the genus. To determine the taxonomic status of these lizards, their phylogenetic relationships were analyzed, as well as their morphological and ecological characteristics. The results of the analysis support the conclusion that this population of lizards represents a new species to science, and that the new species is related to L. nazca and L. chiribaya. The new species has sexual dimorphism and is known from elevations of ca. 1,000 m above sea level in the hyperarid Pacific deserts, which are populated by scattered Ephedra americana and Poissonia sp. Due to its highly restricted range and observed habitat loss, we recommend this species be categorized as Critically Endangered.

Due to lack of information about the precise type locality of Liolaemus andinus, and the subsequentloss of the type material, for a long-time various population of divergent morphologicalcharacteristics were assigned to this taxon, which caused the identification of the true L. andinusto become problematic. The present study started in 2004 and after sixteen years of research ofthe various populations assigned or related to this species, L. andinus is redescribed, a neotypeis assigned, and considerations on its probable provenance, and data on its biology and distributionare provided. Also, a hypothesis is presented on the provenance of L. andinus based onbiological and historical support evidence. The taxonomic position of populations that have beenassigned to and confused with L. andinus in the literature is determined, several of which haveaffinity with L. poecilochromus and L. rosenmanni. Morphology and molecular-based analysesperformed in this study allow us to describe two new Liolaemus species, previously confusedand identified as Liolaemus andinus. These new taxa inhabit the high Andes phytogeographicregion in Argentina, at altitudes above 3000 m a.s.l. One of these species is distributed in thesouthwest of Catamarca province and the other inhabits the central-western portion of LaRioja province. The most significant morphological differences between these new species andLiolaemus andinus are mainly the coloration pattern and some lepidosis characters related tonumber of scales.

The known diversity of the genus Liolaemus continues to increase, principally due to its great degree of endemism, the increasing number of researchers working on it, and advances in the taxonomic and phylogenetic knowledge of the genus. This diversity positions Liolaemus as the second most species-rich tetrapod genus. The present work adds to evidence for the great diversity of Liolaemus through the description of two new species, endemic to saline environments in the Argentinian Puna. Both species are members of the Liolaemus montanus group within the subgenus Eulaemus. To determine the taxonomic status of these lizards, we used integrative taxonomy as a tool, incorporating phylogenetic, morphological, and molecular genetic evidence, as well as the anatomy of hemipenes, statistical morphological analysis, and ecological characteristics. Our analyses supported the conclusion that both sampled populations of lizards are species new to science. One of these is found along the margins of the Antofalla salt flats in the Catamarca Province and the Hombre Muerto salt flats in the Salta Province. The other new species inhabits saline habitats vegetated by Lycium humile, principally between the salt crusts of the Antofalla salt flats. Both species are small to medium sized and can be distinguished from all other species of the L. montanus group by unique combinations of morphological characters, primarily pholidosis and dorsal and ventral colour patterns.urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:29B39613-3298-4B43-A13A-9F950051BD04urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:A97A5AA8-7295-4882-9809-CEFAD72E7202

The South American lizard genus Liolaemus comprises > 260 species, of which > 60 are recognized as members of the Liolaemus montanus group, distributed throughout the Andes in central Peru, Bolivia, Chile and central Argentina. Despite its great morphological diversity and complex taxonomic history, a robust phylogenetic estimate is still lacking for this group. Here, we study the morphological and molecular diversity of the L. montanus group and present the most complete quantitative phylogenetic hypothesis for the group to date. Our phylogeny includes 103 terminal taxa, of which 91 are members of the L. montanus group (58 are assigned to available species and 33 are of uncertain taxonomic status). Our matrix includes 306 morphological and ecological characters and 3057 molecular characters. Morphological characters include 48 continuous and 258 discrete characters, of which 70% (216) are new to the literature. The molecular characters represent five mitochondrial markers. We performed three analyses: a morphology-only matrix, a molecular-only matrix and a matrix including both morphological and molecular characters (total evidence hypothesis). Our total evidence hypothesis recovered the L. montanus group as monophyletic and included >= 12 major clades, revealing an unexpectedly complex phylogeny.

In his recent self-published book "Reptiles en Chile", Diego Demangel Miranda presented 13 taxonomic changes for liolaemid and tropidurid lizards. While these could be considered validly published according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, we show that these taxonomic propositions lack the necessary scientific rigor in terms of replicability, specimen work, lack of peer review and that they do not follow best practices accepted by the herpetological community. Therefore, we hereby invalidate all 13 taxonomic changes proposed in this book, leaving the taxonomy unaffected. Finally, we call attention to the potentially negative consequences of using these taxonomic changes in conservation and environmental impact studies as incorrect decisions might be taken in relation to the species involved.

The Liolaemus montanus group is a diverse group of lizards that ranges from central Peru to southwestern Mendoza, Argentina, including much of the Plurinational State of Bolivia ("Bolivia") and Chile. The species of this group mainly inhabit high elevation areas with cold temperatures. In the last years, several species of this group have been described, mostly in Argentina and Chile. In Bolivia, there are at least thirteen valid species belonging to the L. montanus group. In this study, we describe a new species of the L. montanus group with a marked endemism in the Cordillera de Sama of the Tarija Department, Bolivia, and a combination of unique character states that allows its formal description as a new species. The phylogenetic relationships based on analysis of 159 morphological characters suggest that it belongs to the L. montanus group, and that it is closest to Liolaemus pulcherrimus, which is found allopatrically in a small area of the Jujuy Province, Argentina. The multivariate analyses of 66 morphological characters support the phylogenetic relationships. Statistical analyses of inter-species comparisons of morphological characters are not considered the only methods due to the non-independence of some characters states among species; thus, a phylogenetic analysis is recommended. The detailed revision of specimens of the L. montanus group held in the collections of Bolivia is filling major geographic gaps and improving our understanding of the phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships of this widely distributed group of South American lizards.

La revision exhaustiva en los ejemplares del grupo Liolaemus montanus depositados en la Coleccion Boliviana de Fauna permite ampliar la distribucion geografica de la especie Liolaemus pleopholis de oeste a este llegando a territorio boliviano y considerarla como un primer registro para el pais.

The purpose of this document is to provide clients-borrowers, project sponsors, and executing agencies-of the Inter-American Development Bank with guidance, in accord with Bank safeguard policies, to address the impacts of projects and programs on biodiversity. This document is a work in progress based on the safeguard policies of the Bank and best practices in the assessment and management of the impacts of development on biodiversity; it is a dynamic document that will be updated based on experiences in implementation.

The South American lizard genus Liolaemus has undergone a complex adaptive radiation that has resulted in the evolution of more than 200 species widely spread in an extraordinary diversity of environments, and forming a complex array of assemblages. This evolutionary complexity has puzzled systematists and taxonomists since the first species were described more than 150 years ago. Within this lineage, the Andean Liolaemus faunas have proven to be a major challenge for herpetologists. Therefore, intense research is needed in this area to clarify long-standing problems. After more than a century of taxonomic confusion, the identity of Liolaemus stolzmanni (Steindachner, 1891) is here restored as the name that must be applied to the lizards widely known as Phrynosaura (= Liolaemus) reichei Werner, 1907 from the low to midelevation deserts of Tarapacá, Chile. Since 1966, the name L. stolzmanni has been erroneously assigned to populations of Liolaemus from the high Andes of the Chile-Bolivia borderlands which, according to observations presented in this study, correspond to Liolaemus pachecoi Laurent, 1995. A lectotype and allotype for L. stolzmanni are designated and the type locality for L. stolzmanni (= L. reichei) is emended to “Deserts of Iquique, Tarapacá Region, Chile”. Furthermore, the recognition of L. pachecoi as a species distinct from L. jamesi is supported by mtDNA sequence divergence data despite the inconclusive meristic and morphometric data. In summary, I conclude that (i) the Chilean L. reichei is a synonym of L. stolzmanni, and hence, that L. stolzmanni is a species endemic to Chile, not an element of the fauna of present-day Peru and that (ii) the Chilean Altiplano populations currently recognized as L. stolzmanni are L. pachecoi, a species hitherto known only from Bolivia. Also, I report the first confirmed specimens of L. poconchilensis from Peru, a species previously known only from Chile and confused with L. reichei.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the respective roles of past changes in climate, geomorphology and human activities in shaping the present-day forest-savannah mosaic of the Bolivian Amazon, and consider how this palaeoecological perspective may help inform conservation strategies for the future. To this end, we review a suite of palaeoecological and archaeological data from two distinct forest-savannah environments in lowland Bolivia: Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (NKMNP) on the Precambrian Shield and the 'Llanos de Moxos' in the Beni basin. We show that they contain markedly contrasting legacies of past climatic, geomorphic and anthropogenic influences between the last glacial period and the Spanish Conquest. In NKMNP, increasing precipitation caused evergreen rainforest expansion, at the expense of semi-deciduous dry forest and savannahs, over the last three millennia. In contrast, pre-Hispanic indigenous cultures were instrumental in facilitating recent forest expansion in the Llanos de Moxos by building a vast network of earthworks. Insights from Mid-Holocene palaeodata, together with ecological observations and modelling studies, suggest that there will be progressive replacement of rainforest by dry forest and savannah in NKMNP over the twenty-first century in response to the increased drought predicted by general circulation models. Protection of the latitudinal landscape corridors may be needed to facilitate these future species reassortments. However, devising appropriate conservation strategies for the Llanos de Moxos will be more difficult due to its complex legacy of Palaeo-Indian impact. Without fully understanding the degree to which its current biota has been influenced by past native cultures, the type and intensity of human land use appropriate for this landscape in the future will be difficult to ascertain.