This species is known from only three localities in the upper Río Papallacta Valley, in Napo Province, Ecuador, from 2,160-2,750m asl. It probably occurs a little more widely.
Habitat and Ecology
Individuals have been found on bushes, and in bamboo at the edges of small cascading streams at night in upper humid montane forest. It has not been recorded from secondary forest. It breeds by direct development.
Very little is known of this species' current population status, but it is a rare species at the Estacion Biólogica Yanayacu (where it was collected as recently as 2003).
The major threat to the species is habitat loss due to agricultural activities and logging. Some other species of Eleutherodactylus that are associated with streams have undergone dramatic declines and disappearances, possibly due to chytridiomycosis.
It is not known from any protected areas in Ecuador, although it has recently been collected from the Estacion Biólogica Yanayacu near Cusunga. Protection of montane forest habitat in the range of this species is recommended, and further survey work is needed to monitor the population status of this species, particularly given the potential threat of chytrid.
Luis A. Coloma, Santiago Ron, Diego Almeida, Fernando Nogales 2004. Pristimantis ignicolor. In: IUCN 2014