Mexican Fauna in the Anthropocene

593 Pages·2023·39.707 MB·English

by  Robert W. Jones, C. Patricia Ornelas-García, Rubén Pineda-López, Fernando Álvarez

Robert W. Jones
C. Patricia Ornelas-García
Rubén Pineda-López
Fernando Álvarez   Editors
Mexican Fauna in
the Anthropocene
Mexican Fauna in the Anthropocene
Robert W. Jones • C. Patricia Ornelas-García
Rubén Pineda-López • Fernando Álavarez
Editors
Mexican Fauna in
the Anthropocene
Editors
Robert W. Jones C. Patricia Ornelas-García
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales Colección Nacional de Peces
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Instituto de Biologia
Querétaro Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Juriquilla, Mexico Ciudad Universitaria
Ciudad de México, Mexico
Rubén Pineda-López
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales Fernando Álavarez
Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro Colección Nacional de Peces
Juriquilla, Querétaro, Mexico Instituto de Biologia
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Ciudad Universitaria
Ciudad de México, Mexico
ISBN 978-3-031-17276-2 ISBN 978-3-031-17277-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17277-9
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2023
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Foreword
The Anthropocene is known as the geological epoch whose main characteristics of
change are the results of human activity, from the origin of agriculture to the present
day, and we do not know for how much longer this perturbation can no longer
be sustainable for the human race. It is a time marked by technological advances
that have generated huge imbalances in ecosystems, fragmenting, polluting, and
destroying them. Human intelligence and its capacity to modify the environment are
outstanding, but this capacity has not been accompanied by an awareness of the
long-term consequences of these modifications. In the same way that we build cit-
ies, we annihilate natural spaces and extirpate plants and animals. We have polluted
the oceans, cleared much of our forests, caused faunal extinction (defaunation), and
in general depleted the natural resources. All this started with apparently simple and
innocuous actions by a very small human population a few thousand years ago,
which has been accelerated in the last hundred years, putting all life on Earth at risk.
Some of the consequences are the drastic environmental imbalances in natural
ecosystems, global warming, and the effects of pollution by agrochemicals, plastics,
and microplastics. The present great threats to biodiversity include an increasing
number of species in danger of extinction combined with the decline in the abun-
dance of populations of many animals due to the loss of their habitats. This repre-
sents by some the sixth great mass extinction event of the planet. Significant
decreases in abundance have been detected in many animal groups. Besides the
well-known threats to large vertebrates, now even many small-sized fauna, such as
insects and other arthropods, are recognized as threatened. Their reduction of popu-
lations causes important effects on ecosystem functions, such as pollination and the
reduction of population control of pest species. Whole ecosystems are being threat-
ened, such as coral reefs and tropical forests. Additionally, in marine ecosystems,
decreases have been observed in useful species for man and for the maintenance of
ecosystems, such as sharks and many fish species. For birds, losses of 30% in their
abundance have been estimated in the last 50 years, and the impact on ecosystems
is clearly significant but difficult to determine.
v
vi Foreword
The present book has 27 chapters written by national and international authors
examining the actual state, threats, and future of Mexican fauna in the face of the
various and current ecological, social, and economic threats unique to the country.
It presents not only a panorama of the present state and threats to distinct faunal
taxonomic groups, but their associated ecosystems and processes associated with
human impacts; a work that elucidates the details and magnitude of the problems
and provides guidelines to carry out actions to reduce the consequences for the
fauna of Mexico.
Teresa García Gasca
Rectora
Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro,
Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, México
Contents
Part I Introduction
1 The Mexican Fauna in the Anthropocene, Where Do We
Go from Here? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Robert W. Jones, C. Patricia Ornelas-García, Rubén Pineda-López,
and Fernando Álvarez
Part II Faunal Groups
2 The Fauna of Arachnids in the Anthropocene of Mexico . . . . . . . . . . 17
Javier Ponce-Saavedra, María Luisa Jiménez,
Ana F. Quijano- Ravell, Margarita Vargas-Sandoval,
David Chamé-Vázquez, Carlos Palacios-Cardiel,
and Juan Maldonado-Carrizales
3 Mexican Insects in the Anthropocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Benigno Gómez Gómez, Ek del Val de Gortari, and Robert W. Jones
4 Threats and Conservation Status of Freshwater Crayfish
(Decapoda: Cambaridae) in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Carlos Pedraza-Lara, José Luis Villalobos, and Fernando Álvarez
5 The Freshwater Mollusks of Mexico: Can We Still Prevent
Their Silent Extinction? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Alexander Czaja, Alan P. Covich, Jorge Luis Becerra-López,
Diana Gabriela Cordero-Torres, and José Luis Estrada-Rodríguez
6 Amphibians and Reptiles of Mexico: Diversity
and Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Ireri Suazo-Ortuño, Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista,
and Javier Alvarado-Díaz
vii
viii Contents
7 Mexican Freshwater Fishes in the Anthropocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Rosa Gabriela Beltrán-López, Ana Berenice García-Andrade,
and C. Patricia Ornelas-García
8 Mexican Avifauna of the Anthropocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
David A. Prieto-Torres, Leopoldo D. Vázquez-Reyes, Lynna Marie
Kiere, Luis A. Sánchez-González, Rubén Pineda-López, María del
Coro Arizmendi, Alejandro Gordillo-Martínez, R. Carlos Almazán-
Núñez, Octavio R. Rojas- Soto, Patricia Ramírez-Bastida,
A. Townsend Peterson, and Adolfo G. Navarro-Sigüenza
9 Marine Birds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Yuri V. Albores-Barajas, Enriqueta Velarde, Cecilia Soldatini,
Juan Esteban Martínez-Gómez, José Alfredo Castillo-Guerrero,
Horacio de la Cueva, Reese Brand Phillips, Eduardo Palacios,
and Dan Anderson
10 Mexican Terrestrial Mammals in the Anthropocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Nalleli E. Lara Díaz, Jorge L. Reyes Díaz,
Mircea G. Hidalgo Mihart, and Carlos A. López González
11 Mexican Bats: Threats in the Anthropocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Romeo A. Saldaña-Vázquez, María Cristina MacSwiney G.,
Beatriz Bolivar- Cimé, Rafael Ávila-Flores, Emma P. Gómez-Ruiz,
and Issachar L. López-Cuamatzi
Part III Ecosystems
12 Impacts of Land Use and Cover Change on Land
Mammal Distribution Ranges Across Mexican Ecosystems . . . . . . . . 269
Eduardo Mendoza, Roger Guevara, and Rodolfo Dirzo
13 Anchialine Fauna of the Yucatan Peninsula: Diversity
and Conservation Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Fernando Álvarez, Brenda Durán, and Samuel Meacham
14 Mezcal Boom and Extinction Debts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Alfonso Valiente-Banuet
15 Deep-Sea Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Elva Escobar Briones
16 Mexican Fauna in Agroecosystems: Challenges, Opportunities and
Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Juan Fernando Escobar-Ibáñez, Johnattan Hernández-Cumplido,
William D. Rodríguez, Romeo A. Saldaña-Vázquez,
and Veronica Zamora-Gutierrez
17 The Amphibians of the Mexican Montane Cloud Forest . . . . . . . . . . 357
Angel F. Soto-Pozos, M. Delia Basanta, Mirna G. García-Castillo,
and Gabriela Parra-Olea
Contents ix
18 Human Impacts on Mexican Caves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
William R. Elliott, José G. Palacios-Vargas, Rodrigo A. Medellín,
and Omar Calva
19 Fauna of Inland Waters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Javier Alcocer and Verónica Aguilar-Sierra
Part IV Processes
20 Contemporary Climate Change Impacts on Mexican Fauna . . . . . . . 437
Enrique Martínez-Meyer and Julián A. Velasco
21 Invasive Alien Species of Invertebrates and Fishes Introduced
Into Mexican Freshwater Habitats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
José Luis Bortolini-Rosales and Hugo Enrique Reyes-Aldana
22 Patterns of Distribution in Helminth Parasites of Freshwater
Fish of Mexico: Can We Detect Hotspots of Richness and
Endemism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Benjamín Quiroz-Martínez and Guillermo Salgado-Maldonado
23 Comparison of Biomass of Exotic and Native Mammals Between
Temperate and Tropical Forests of Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Mariana Munguía-Carrara, Michael F. Schmidt, Raúl Sierra,
Juan Carlos López, and David Valenzuela-Galván
24 Pollination by Wild and Managed Animal Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Lislie Solís-Montero, María del Coro Arizmendi,
Alejandra Martínez de Castro Dubernard, Carlos H. Vergara,
Miguel Ángel Guzmán Díaz, and Rémy Vandame
25 Origins and Coadaptation of Insect Pests from Wild
to Domesticated Host Plants: Examples from Maize, Cotton,
and Prickly Pear Cactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
Robert W. Jones, Julio S. Bernal, Ek del Val de Gortari,
and Uriel J. Sánchez-Reyes
26 The Potential of the Parasite Fauna as an Indicator
of Ecosystem Health in the Anthropized Environments
of Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
Norma Hernández-Camacho and Salvador Zamora-Ledesma
27 Citizen Science for Deep Ocean Biodiversity: A Crowdsourcing
Tool in Support of Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
Elva Escobar-Briones and León Felipe Álvarez-Sánchez
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
Contributors
Verónica Aguilar-Sierra Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la
Biodiversidad, México City, Mexico
Yuri V. Albores-Barajas Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología/ Universidad
Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz, B.C.S, Mexico
Javier Alcocer Grupo de Investigación en Limnología Tropical, FES Iztacala,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Estado de México, México
R. Carlos Almazán-Núñez Laboratorio Integral de Fauna Silvestre, Facultad de
Ciencias Químico-Biológicas, Chilpancingo de los Bravo, Guerrero, México
Javier Alvarado-Díaz Instituto de Investigaciones sobre los Recursos Naturales,
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, Michoacán, México
Fernando  Álvarez Colección Nacional de Crustáceos, Instituto de Biología,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
León F. Álvarez-Sánchez Unidad de Informática Marina, Instituto de Ciencias del
Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de
México, México
Dan Anderson University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Rafael Ávila-Flores División Académica de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad
Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Villahermosa, Tabasco, México
M. Delia Basanta Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad
Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, México
Jorge L. Becerra-López Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Juárez del
Estado de Durango, Gómez Palacio, Durango, México
xi