This species is found in sub-páramo and páramo vegetation with extensive, deep moss mats, spongy soil, ferns, and small, isolated trees with arboreal bromeliads. Individuals were found both within bromeliads and under moss (Boza-Oviedo et al. 2012). It presumably breeds by direct development as with other species in the genus.

This species is endemic to Costa Rica, and is known only from the type locality on Cerro Apri and Cerro Utyum, Cordillera de Talamanca, just off the continental divide (Boza-Oviedo et al. 2012, E. Arias pers. comm. September 2019). All known individuals were recorded at 3,126 m asl (Boza-Oviedo et al. 2012). Its extent of occurrence (EOO) is estimated to be 108 km², and all individuals occur in a single threat-defined location.

Conservation Actions In-Place
Known records of this species are from Parque Internacional La Amistad.

Conservation Needed
Proactive, precautionary steps should be taken to detect the arrival of Bsal in Costa Rica and to establish a baseline by including the swabbing of salamanders encountered during routine amphibian monitoring activities in the country (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop 2019).

Research Needed
Further research into its distribution, ecology, abundance, and population trends is needed for this species (Chaves et al. 2014).