|Scientific Name:||Drepanosticta austeni Lieftinck, 1940|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) B1ab(ii,iii)+2ab(ii,iii) ver 3.1|
|Reviewer(s):||Clausnitzer, V. & Suhling, F. (Odonata Red List Authority)|
Not found since its description, more than 60 years ago. Even at the time of description the appropriate habitats in wider surroundings of Passara were very scarce and fragmented. The species may already be extinct. It is not present in any of the large odonatological collections from the island made by entomologist over the last 50 years (NHM Basle (Switzerland); NMNH - Smithsonian Institution (USA); Lund University (Sweden); and University of Vienna (Austria)). Also, it was not found during the assessor's surveys in recent years (in 1995, 2001 and 2003). Since no exhaustive odonatological faunistic surveys, covering appropriate localities in different seasons, have been made by odonatologists in order to find any remaining populations, the species does not yet qualify as Extinct (EX). More field research is urgently needed.
|Range Description:||Endemic to Sri Lanka. Only known from the type locality (Passara, Uva Province).|
Possibly extinct:Sri Lanka
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Population:||The species may already be extinct.|
|Current Population Trend:||Unknown|
|Habitat and Ecology:||The species inhabits small streams and springs in primary rainforest.|
|Major Threat(s):||Available habitat type is under great pressure mainly due to destruction of natural forests. Even at the time of its description the appropriate habitats in the wider surroundings of Passara were very scarce and fragmented. Destruction of primary and secondary rainforests, destruction of forest corridors along streams, pollution and other pressures on streams and rivers in the southwestern and central parts of Sri Lanka are the major threat for the exceptionally rich endemic dragonfly fauna of the island (Bedjanič 2004).|
Apart from general conservation guidelines no site specific “single-species-oriented” conservation measures can be proposed for the moment. General guidelines for protection of rich endemic dragonfly fauna of Sri Lanka include: (1) establishment of network of new small protected areas and corridors in the Wet zone; (2) conservation of forest corridors along streams and rivulets outside protected areas in the Wet zone; and (3) effective execution of appropriate nature conservation measures in partly damaged declared protected areas (Bedjanič 2004).
Knowledge on distribution, biology and taxonomy of several endangered endemic dragonfly species from Sri Lanka is very poor or insufficient. In the future, special attention should be devoted to work dealing with taxonomy of larval forms and adults. Serious odonatological faunistic mapping should cover the whole island and should be urgently focused on still preserved and protected areas. Simultaneously also the research of biology and ecology of selected endangered species should be carried out.
Regarding habitat and potential area of occurrence, the Sri Lankan Moist Forests (Ecoregion 21: Sri Lanka lowland rain forests (IM0154)) and South-western Sri Lanka Rivers and Streams (Ecoregion 172) are included in WWF’s global 200 list of the earth’s most biologically outstanding habitats. The conservation status of the ecoregions is judged as critical/endangered (Ecoregion 21) and vulnerable (Ecoregion 172) (Olson et al. 2000).
|Citation:||Bedjanič, M. 2006. Drepanosticta austeni. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2006: e.T59722A12003238.Downloaded on 25 February 2018.|
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