La guacamaya roja y las estrategias de manejo y conservación en Reforma Agraria, Chiapas, México

Introducción: las poblaciones de la guacamaya roja (Ara macao) en México han disminuido o se han extinguido en algunas regiones. Debido a esto, en Reforma Agraria, Chiapas, México se han implementado diferentes estrategias de manejo para su conservación. El objetivo de este estudio fue describir el proceso y la implementación de las estrategias de manejo y conservación para la guacamaya roja (Ara macao) e indagar como han impactado estas actividades en sus poblaciones. Método: se realizaron 20 entrevistas semiestructuradas a los prestadores de servicios ecoturísticos, a los socios de la Cooperativa Ara macao y a ejidatarios para registrar los procesos de la implementación de las estrategias de manejo y las percepciones sobre estas actividades. La primera parte de esta herramienta consistió en los datos demográficos de las personas, y en la segunda parte se establecieron cuatro categorías para describir: a) la organización social: origen, proceso de la organización, ordenamiento del área del ejido y del Centro Ecoturístico; b) las actividades económicas; c) las estrategias de manejo y conservación para la guacamaya roja, y d) obstáculos para la conservación. Los datos se sistematizaron mediante la conceptualización, la organización de ideas y se estructuraron cronológicamente. Asimismo, se analizó la base de datos de registros de guacamayas de eBird y se realizaron muestreos en el ejido para registrar a las guacamayas en dos transectos lineales y dos puntos elevados de observación a principios de 2020. Resultados: se identificaron algunas estrategias de manejo y conservación, como son la instalación de cajas para anidación, el establecimiento de Unidades de Manejo para la Conservación de Vida Silvestre, Áreas Destinadas Voluntariamente a la Conservación y el ecoturismo. Este último se identificó como una actividad económicamente relevante por un 63 % de los entrevistados, en comparación con la agricultura, ganadería y carpintería. El análisis de la base de datos de eBird mostró una media de 5.3 registros y no varió en los 5 años analizados (P = 0.65). En este estudio se registraron 81 guacamayas rojas en los transectos lineales, con un índice de abundancia estimado de  = 2.95 ± 2.51 ind/km recorrido. Con la metodología de puntos elevados de observación se registraron 90 guacamayas rojas, con un número máximo también de 19 aves por muestreo; y con un índice de abundancia estimado de  = 3.55 ± 2.39 ind/h. Las iniciativas para la conservación de la guacamaya roja que se han implementado en la comunidad por medio de la organización ejidal y la consolidación del Centro Ecoturístico Las Guacamayas han sido fundamentales localmente para el mantenimiento de las guacamayas en el área. Discusión o conclusión: las iniciativas, compromisos y gobernanza propia en el ejido Reforma Agraria han permitido mantener estas estrategias de conservación en pro de las poblaciones de la guacamaya roja en Chiapas.

Riqueza y abundancia de aves en áreas verdes en la ciudad de San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México

Las áreas verdes en las ciudades se han considerado elementos importantes para la conservación de la avifauna. En este estudio se presentan estimaciones de riqueza y abundancia de aves, así como su relación con las áreas verdes en la ciudad de San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México. Identificamos un total de 75 especies de aves en diez áreas verdes de diferente tamaño de febrero a julio de 2016 y relacionamos su presencia con variables ambientales a dos escalas geográficas (local y de paisaje). Se utilizaron análisis no paramétricos para comparar la riqueza y abundancia de las aves entre áreas verdes y categorías de tamaño. El porcentaje de superficie total ocupada por vegetación fue la variable más importante al correlacionarse positivamente con la riqueza y abundancia de las aves. Mientras que el porcentaje de cobertura de dosel, de construcciones, de pavimento y de áreas verdes muestreadas se correlacionaron negativamente con la riqueza y abundancia de aves. La heterogeneidad espacial de la estructura vegetal vertical en las áreas verdes fue importante para incrementar la diversidad de la avifauna. El mantenimiento e incremento de áreas verdes en ciudades es significativo para proteger y aumentar la diversidad de aves en áreas urbanas.

Organochlorine Pesticides in the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) in Chiapas, Mexico

Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides were quantified in samples of feathers (n = 17) and blood (n = 15) of the ferruginous pygmy owl (Glaucidium brasilianum). The individuals were captured near the Protected Natural Area Cerro Sonsonate, Chiapas, Mexico, between February and June 2014. In both tissues, pesticides belonging to seven organochlorine chemical families were detected. However, the organochlorine pesticide concentrations differed between feathers and blood. The highest concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexanes were found in feathers (0.63 ± 0.89 μg/g), whereas the highest concentrations of ΣDrines were found in blood (0.31 ± 0.47 μg/mL). By using the summed concentrations for each of the seven families of pesticides found in feathers, we did not find any significant correlation between the pesticides and pectoral muscle or body weight (p > 0.15). The ΣDDT group was the only pesticide family that showed a positive correlation with owl body weight (r = 0.60, p = 0.05); the concentrations of these pesticides were also high in feather and blood tissues (r = 0.87, p = 0.02). Our results confirm that ferruginous pygmy owls in the study area are exposed to these pesticides.

Cultural significance of wild mammals in Mayan and mestizo communities of the Lacandon Rainforest, Chiapas, Mexico

BACKGROUND

Several ethnobiology studies evaluate the cultural significance (CS) of plants and mushrooms. However, this is not the case for mammals. It is important to make studies of CS allowing the comparison of cultural groups because the value given to groups of organisms may be based on different criteria. Such information would be valuable for wildlife preservation plans. In this study, the most culturally significant species of mammals from the Lacandon Rainforest (Chiapas, Mexico) for people from two Mayan-Lacandon and mestizo communities were identified. The reasons behind the CS of the studied species were explored and the existence of differences among the cultural groups was evaluated.

METHODS

One hundred ninety-eight semi-structured and structured interviews were applied to compile socio-demographic information, qualitative data on CS categories, and free listings. Frequency of mention was a relative indicator to evaluate the CS of each species of mammal. Comparison of responses between communities was carried out through multivariate analyses. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the number of mentioned species by Lacandons and mestizos as well as different responses in the qualitative categories. A χ2 test was used to compare frequency of categories.

RESULTS

38 wild mammal species were identified. The classification and Principal Components Analyses show an apparent separation between Lacandon and mestizo sites based on the relative importance of species. All four communities mentioned the lowland paca the most, followed by peccary, white-tailed deer, armadillo, and jaguar. No significant difference was found in the number of mentioned species between the two groups. Eight CS categories were identified. The most important category was "harmful mammals", which included 28 species. Other relevant categories were edible, medicinal, and appearing in narratives.

CONCLUSIONS

The data obtained in this study demonstrates the existence of differential cultural patterns in the relationships that Lacandon and mestizo groups establish with mammals. Species are deemed important either because they are eaten of because of the harm they cause. We suggest the incorporation of local conceptions about wild animals in conservation frameworks for the fauna in the Lacandon Rainforest.

CracidMex1: a comprehensive database of global occurrences of cracids (Aves, Galliformes) with distribution in Mexico

Cracids are among the most vulnerable groups of Neotropical birds. Almost half of the species of this family are included in a conservation risk category. Twelve taxa occur in Mexico, six of which are considered at risk at national level and two are globally endangered. Therefore, it is imperative that high quality, comprehensive, and high-resolution spatial data on the occurrence of these taxa are made available as a valuable tool in the process of defining appropriate management strategies for conservation at a local and global level. We constructed the CracidMex1 database by collating global records of all cracid taxa that occur in Mexico from available electronic databases, museum specimens, publications, "grey literature", and unpublished records. We generated a database with 23,896 clean, validated, and standardized geographic records. Database quality control was an iterative process that commenced with the consolidation and elimination of duplicate records, followed by the geo-referencing of records when necessary, and their taxonomic and geographic validation using GIS tools and expert knowledge. We followed the geo-referencing protocol proposed by the Mexican National Commission for the Use and Conservation of Biodiversity. We could not estimate the geographic coordinates of 981 records due to inconsistencies or lack of sufficient information in the description of the locality. Given that current records for most of the taxa have some degree of distributional bias, with redundancies at different spatial scales, the CracidMex1 database has allowed us to detect areas where more sampling effort is required to have a better representation of the global spatial occurrence of these cracids. We also found that particular attention needs to be given to taxa identification in those areas where congeners or conspecifics co-occur in order to avoid taxonomic uncertainty. The construction of the CracidMex1 database represents the first comprehensive research effort to compile current, available global geographic records for a group of cracids. The database can now be improved by continuous revision and addition of new records. The CracidMex1 database will provide high quality input data that could be used to generate species distribution models, to assess temporal changes in species distributions, to identify priority areas for research and conservation, and in the definition of management strategies for this bird group. This compilation exercise could be replicated for other cracid groups or regions to attain a better knowledge of the global occurrences of the species in this vulnerable bird family.

[Hummingbird abundance and flowers use in a template forest from Southeast Mexico]

Hummingbird abundance varies with plant bloom phenology used for feeding. However, the information on hummingbird-flower interaction is limited for tropical mountain environments. We evaluated hummingbird abundance using mist nest and estimated monthly flowering phenology visited by hummingbirds in three different habitats (oak forest, cloud forest and bush) from January to August 2010 in Huitepec Ecological Reserve. We recorded four hummingbird species (Hylocharis leucotis, Lampornis amethystinus, Lamprolaima rhami and Eugenes fulgens), and their abundance varied among habitats (H3.8=14.8, p=0.001). Seven plant species were visited for hummingbirds and showed the highest number of flower species during dry season. Bush had the highest blossom. Fuchsia paniculata had the highest blossom period but only was visited by H. leucotis. Passiflora membranacea was the only species visited for all hummingbird species. The only positive association was E. fulgens abundance with P.a membranacea bloom (r(S)=0.93, p=0.02). Hummingbird abundance fluctuations in this study are determined for interactions with floral resources and their habitat distribution.