U A L Deshan Rupasinghe’s scientific contributions

Basic ecological information is of critical importance for the development of conservation strategies for endangered amphibian species. The Gannoruwa Shrub Frog (Pseudophilautus zorro) is an endangered endemic and a geographically restricted frog found in mid elevations of the central highlands of Sri Lanka whose ecology is little known. We assessed: (1) aspects of microhabitat associations; (2) the realized niche to identify potential areas of occupancy using Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM); and (3) estimated the Extent of Occurrence (EOO) and Area of Occupancy (AOO) of P. zorro with new locality data and predicted data. The results indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between leaf litter thickness and number of individuals of P. zorro in quadrats and a significant relationship between percentage of canopy cover and number of individuals of P. zorro in quadrats. Pseudophilautus zorro is more abundant in broad-leaf forests than pine forests. ENM predicted highly suitable areas (suitability > 80%) in the Kandy, Matale, and Kegalle districts in Sri Lanka. The EOO and AOO of P. zorro with new occurrence data was 558 km 2 and 9 km 2 , and with predicted data, 2,374 km 2 and 612 km 2 respectively, indicating an increase in EOO and AOO. The data on microhabitat preferences and predicted habitats will be invaluable to formulate in-situ and ex-situ conservation strategies for this species.

Nannophrys marmorata is a critically endangered species of frog known only from a few locations in the Knuckles Conservation Forest (KCF) in the Knuckles mountain range of Sri Lanka. Here, we report new localities outside its known range in the KCF and examine the distribution of N. marmorata providing the most extensive distribution map for this species. Furthermore, using the distribution information, we model the fundamental ecological niche of this species through Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM) to predict suitable habitats and fine-scale distribution patterns. ENM predicted eastern slopes of the Knuckles mountain range in central Sri Lanka as areas with high habitat suitability (suitability >75%) for N. marmorata. Predicted Extent of Occurrence for N. marmo-rata was 831 km 2 and predicted Area of Occupancy was 275 km 2. We discuss these findings in light of conservation for this species threatened with extinction.