A preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor for protecting potential Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) habitat in southern Mexico

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo MENDOZA ◽  
Trevon L. FULLER ◽  
Henri A. THOMASSEN ◽  
Wolfgang BUERMANN ◽  
Diana RAMÍREZ-MEJÍA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Assessment ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Biological Corridor ◽  
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor

scholarly journals Land use and cover change scenarios in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor-Chiapas, México

2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Ramírez-Mejía ◽  
Gabriela Cuevas ◽  
Paula Meli ◽  
Eduardo Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Temperate Forests ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Biological Corridor ◽  
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor ◽  
Land Use And Cover

<p><strong>Background</strong>. Human impact over natural ecosystems located in Southern Mexico is increasingly evident. We generated a spatially explicit land use and cover change (LUCC) model to assess current and potential impact of human activities and to identify the influence of variables such as:  distance to paved and unpaved roads, human settlements, rivers, slope and protected areas.</p><p><strong>Study site.</strong> Mesoamerican Biological Corridor located in the state of Chiapas (MBC-Ch), Mexico.</p><p><strong>Methods.</strong> We calibrated a model for the period 1993-2002 and ran a simulation for 2007 which we compared against the real 2007 land use and cover map to evaluate model’s performance. We then projected LUCC to 2030 under three different scenarios: 1) Agriculture and Livestock (AGL), 2) Business As Usual (BAU) and, 3) Conservation (CON).</p><p><strong>Results.</strong> Proximity to roads and settlements increased deforestation probabilities whereas the presence of natural protected areas had the opposite effect. The AGL scenario predicted a reduction of 43 % and 41 % in the extent of closed tropical and temperate forests, respectively. In comparison, the BAU scenario predicted a reduction of 19.5 % in the area covered by closed tropical forest and of 30.1 % in temperate forests. The extent of land destined to farming and forestry increased by 22 % and 15 % in the AGL and BAU scenarios, respectively. In contrast, the CON scenario predicted slight changes in the landscape.</p><p><strong>Conclusions. </strong>Our simulations indicate that it is highly probable to see a marked decay in the extent (and likely integrity) of natural habitats in the MBC-Ch region if a comprehensive series of management actions are not urgently implemented.</p>

Willingness to Coexist with Jaguars and Pumas in Costa Rica

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Jennifer Rebecca Schauer
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Outreach Program ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Biological Corridor ◽  
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor

Abstract Shrinking habitat, depleted prey sources, and hunting increase conflict between humans and jaguars in Latin America. Participant observation was used for 131 open-ended interviews in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor of Costa Rica to describe and provide recommendations for Panthera’s rancher outreach program. Changing husbandry practices is different than wanting to relocate jaguars or pumas, which suggests willingness to coexist is based on geo-physical proximities. Further, perceived attacks on livestock may be unreliable creating a perception of more predation, villainizing large felines, and challenging coexistence. This study urges wildlife managers to evaluate the effectiveness of relocation; suggests systematic recordkeeping of jaguar and puma attacks; encourages researchers to measure willingness to co-exist with large carnivores based on geo-physical distance; suggests strategies of coexistence may have both cultural and regional differences; and recommends a communication strategy through a citizen science approach, in order to educate ranchers and create social investment among communities.

A PRELIMINARY CHECKLIST OF THE VASCULAR PLANTS OF THE CHIQUIBUL FOREST, BELIZE

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 269-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. M. BRIDGEWATER ◽  
D. J. HARRIS ◽  
C. WHITEFOORD ◽  
A. K. MONRO ◽  
M. G. PENN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Plants ◽  
National Park ◽  
New Records ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Red List ◽  
Forest Reserve ◽  
World Conservation ◽  
Biological Corridor ◽  
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor ◽  
History Of

Covering an area of 177,000 hectares, the region known within Belize as the Chiquibul Forest comprises the country's largest forest reserve and includes the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, the Chiquibul National Park and the Caracol Archaeological Reserve. Based on 7047 herbarium and live collections, a checklist of 1355 species of vascular plant is presented for this area, of which 87 species are believed to be new records for the country. Of the 41 species of plant known to be endemic to Belize, four have been recorded within the Chiquibul, and 12 species are listed in The World Conservation Union (IUCN) 2006 Red List of Threatened Species. Although the Chiquibul Forest has been relatively well collected, there are geographical biases in botanical sampling which have focused historically primarily on the limestone forests of the Chiquibul Forest Reserve. A brief review of the collecting history of the Chiquibul is provided, and recommendations are given on where future collecting efforts may best be focused. The Chiquibul Forest is shown to be a significant regional centre of plant diversity and an important component of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.

scholarly journals Croton guatemalensis (Euphorbiaceae) phenology at the Zoque Tropical Forest Biological Corridor

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dulce María Pozo-Gómez ◽  
Carolina Orantes-García ◽  
Tamara Mila Rioja-Paradela ◽  
Rubén Antonio Moreno-Moreno ◽  
Arturo Carrillo-Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Reproductive Phenology ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Natural Protected Areas ◽  
Model Soil ◽  
Biological Corridor ◽  
Multipurpose Species ◽  
Significant Difference

Croton guatemalensis is a threatened and multipurpose species in communities of southeastern Mexico and Central America. For the first time, its reproductive phenology and its relationship with environmental variables present in four different natural protected areas of the Zoque Tropical Forest Biological Corridor was determined. Throughout a year the flowering and fructification of the species was monitored, the local environmental variables were recorded and fruits and seeds were collected to determine, under a random design, the germination of the seeds and the growth of seedlings in the laboratory and in nursery respectively. In all cases, flowering was presented from July to April, while fructification occurred from March to September, coinciding with the months where the rains diminish considerably. In terms of seed germination, it presented a statistically significant difference between seeds from the four protected areas. The most contrasting results were presented between La Pera and Area Villa de Allende (98% ± 3.84% and 6% ± 3.84% respectively). According to the generalized linear model, soil porosity was the only variable that influenced the germination of the species (the higher the porosity, the higher the percentage of final germination, t = 2.237, P = 0.0503). Because this is the first study on the ecophysiology of C. guatemalensis in southern Mexico, the importance of it becomes relevant when providing fundamental reproductive information for the generation of strategies for conservation, restoration and forest management of the species.

scholarly journals Human-wildlife conflicts and drought in the greater Calakmul Region, Mexico: implications for tapir conservation

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-563
Author(s):  
Jonathan Pérez-Flores ◽  
Sofía Mardero ◽  
Antonio López-Cen ◽  
Fernando M. Contreras-Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Annual Precipitation ◽  
Wildlife Species ◽  
Biological Corridor ◽  
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor ◽  
Alternative Water ◽  
Alternative Water Sources

Wildlife conservation efforts in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor have focused on reducing negative interactions between humans and charismatic species. In recent years, droughts have increased in frequency and intensity in southeastern Mexico exacerbating conflicts with wildlife as they compete with humans for limited water. In the Yucatan Peninsula, Greater Calakmul Region of southeastern Mexico, Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) are increasingly encroaching into local villages (ejidos) in search of water. This behavior could increase tapir mortality from hunting by Calakmul ejidos residents. We evaluated the trends between annual precipitation and tapir sightings near or within Calakmul ejidos from 2008 to 2019 to determine if the frequency of reported conflicts increased relative to decreased precipitation. In addition, with community participation, from 2016 to 2018 we monitored one of the ejidos where human-tapir conflicts were reported to be increasing to better describe the nature of conflicts. We did not find any relationship between the number of tapir sightings reported and annual precipitation. However, more tapirs were documented near ejidos in 2019, which is one of the years with the lowest rainfall (626.6 mm) in the last decade. Tapirs were reported as the most common wildlife species observed at waterholes (35.4%) and apiaries (32.1%). Our findings suggested that water scarcity has increased tapirs’ incursions into human-populated areas and subsequently the potential for human-tapir conflicts. We recommend that managers consider developing alternative water sources that could mitigate human-tapir conflicts and contribute to the long-term viability of other wildlife species that inhabit the Greater Calakmul Region of southeastern Mexico.

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