MEXICO: the privileges and challenges for a Megadiversity Country

José Sarukhán Mexican National Commission on Biodiversity (CONABIO) 18th May, 2009 The concept of biodiversity includes the variability of

Ecosystems Species Genes Diversity of communities and Number of species in all The genetic variability within ecological processes that taxonomic groups; also individuals. Genetic diversity occur at this level; also known known as “species exists within and between as ecological or community richness”. populations, as well as within diversity. species.

+ Life Of + Cultural the Past Diversity Biogeographic origins of the Mexican Biota • Mexico is one of the 4 or 5 countries with highest biodiversity in the World • It is also an important center of evolution and diversification of many groups of organisms; it also has close relations with major biogeographical areas • Three main areas : Neotropical, Boreal and Endemic • Other secondary areas: Caribbean, African, Eastern-Asiatic and Laurasian Biogeographical Regions of Mexico

Neartic Region

Neotropical Region

Compuesto de enero de 2000 sobre un modelo digital de terreno, Percepción Remota, CONABIO

Contrast between Montes Azules NPA and Ejidos (Marqués de Comillas, Chis). Río Lacantún. JME Alpine grassland, Nevado de Toluca, Mex., PRG Alpine Tundra 4,200 m.a.s.l., Iztaccihuatl- Popocatepetl Ntl Park Arid Dunes in Samalayuca, Chih., PRG Interior of a Tropical Rain Forest, PRG Cloud Forest, El Triunfo, Chis., PRG Low Deciduous Tropical Forest. Tabebuia palmeri, PRG Low deciduous tropical forest in the dry season PRG Arid shrubland in Baja California, Encelia farinosa, PRG MegadiverseMegadiverse countriescountries1 andand centerscenters ofof originorigin ofof cropscrops2

China

México India Colombia Indonesia Perú Brazil Madagascar Australia

Centers of plant domestication 1 Mittermeier & Goettsch, 1992 Areas of megadiversity 2 Fowler & Mooney, 1990

Megadiverse countries with highest number of plant species and endemisms

60000

50000

40000

30000

20000

Number of species of Number 10000

0 Brasil Colombia Indonesia México China

20000 18000 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Brasil Indonesia Colombia Sudáfrica PNG México

Fuente: Mittermeier y Goettsch, 1997. N° of known genera and species in the most common plant families of Mexico FAMILY N° of genera N° of species Compositae 402 3,084*

Leguminosae 130 1,800

Graminae 207 1,317

Orchidaceae 156 1,062

Cactaceae 76 836 Euphorbiaceae 56 816

Rubiaceae 94 639

Lamiaceae 42 530

Solanaceae 34 458 Where are the most endemic genera of plants in Mexico?

Vegetation types Endemics Tropical Rain Forest Sub deciduous Tropical Forest Low tropical dry forest XX Thorn Forest XXX Xerophytic scrubland XXXX Grasslands XXX Oak Forests XX Conifer Forests XX Cloud Forests

Fuente: Ramamoorthy et al,1993 The five megadiverse countries Number of species and endemism in selected vertebrate groups

4000 Mamíferos Aves 3500 Reptiles 3000 Anfibios

2500

2000 Number of of species Number 1500

1000

500

0 Colombia Brasil Indonesia México Australia

1600 Mamíferos 1400 Aves Reptiles 1200 Anfibios

1000

800

600

400

200

0 Australia Indonesia México Brasil Colombia

Fuente: Mittermeier y Goettsch, 1997. Green bushmaster Bothriechis ornatus, Chis., PRG Megadiverse countries with more reptiles and more endemic species

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

Number of species of Number 100

0 Australia México Colombia Indonesia Brasil

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0 Australia México Madagascar India Brasil

Fuente: Mittermeier y Goettsch, 1997. Allouatta palliata Los Tuxtlas, Ver. Megadiverse countries with more mammal and endemic species

540

520

500

480

460

440

420 Number of species of Number

400 Brasil Indonesia China Colombia México

250

200

150

100

50

0 Australia Indonesia México Brasil Filipinas

Fuente: Mittermeier y Goettsch, 1997. Lesser Field mouse Peromyscus sp. Eje Neovolcánico, PRG Fisher bat Noctilio leporinus, PRG Huichol, PRG Cultural Diversity of México

• Example of the relations between biological and cultural diversity • Depending on linguistic criteria, Mexico has between 60 and 300 languages (ethnic groups) • Mexico is one of the main world centres of plant domestication Edzná, Camp. Comparative linguistic diversity

STATE Families Languages

ALL MEXICO 14(21) 310 Veracruz 5 (6) 20 Puebla 3(5) 26 Guerrero 3 (5) 15 Oaxaca 5 (9) 157 Chiapas 3 28

GUATEMALA 3 56

HONDURAS 5 8

NICARAGUA 4 (5) 8

COSTA RICA 2 6

Fuente: A.. de Ávila, 2004, basado en Campbell, 1997 y Grimes & Grimes, 2002 Distribution of languages and indigenous groups in México

Fuente: Boege, 2005 Indigenous groups own a large part of natural ecosystems

Bars = % of total vegetation type, property of indigenous communities

Fuente: Boege, 2005 CONABIO

• A government interministerial commission • ~60% of budget from federal funds • Created by Presidential decree in 1992 to: – promote and coordinate actions oriented to the knowledge and sustainable use of Mexico’s biological richness – obtain, organize, analyze and make accessible the information about this richness – Serve as a “bridging institution” between academia- government-civil society Conceived as a: – organization carrying demand-driven research – promoter of basic (taxonomic, ecological, biogeographic, socio-economic…) research – Compiler, analyzer, of existing national and international biodiversity information on Mexico – generator of human capacity in informatics for biodiversity – An open resource of information to all society CONABIO’s philosophy • Generate national intelligence to help conserve and manage sustainably biodiversity, based on local actions carried out by local people • The central actors in conserving and managing sustainably Mexico’s ecosystems should be the owners of the country’s natural capital, since most of it is outside Natural Protected Areas CONABIO’s Headquarters in Mexico City Growth of information in the data base Specimens housed in herbaria and museums constitute the 1200 7,000,000 backbone of the bases de datos taxonómicas database. biogeográficas 6,000,000 1000 bases de datos ecológico-genéticas

5,000,000 800 fichas de especies

4,000,000 Registros curatoriales georreferidos 600

3,000,000

400 2,000,000

200 1,000,000

0 0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

The data base contains information on 6.5 million georeferenced specimens, which is used for applications within Mexico and will be an input to the newly-born Encyclopedia of life of which CONABIO is a contributor The Biodiversity World Information Network: Worldwide users

It is conformed by 32 nodes in six different countries: Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, Peru, the UK and the US. It links 123 collections and more than 6.5 million data from 170 countries. Remote sensing capabilities CONABIO receives daily up to 10 images AVHRR y MODIS of Mexico It has a large library of maps for all aspects of the territory GTI and Mexican scientific collections

Herbaria Zoological collections

specimens specimens

3,519,366 4,749,736 Estimated: 9.5 Million Estimated: 5.5 Million

Collections Herbaria

75 110

First GTI Assessment in Mexico 1995-1998 How CONABIO’s services and infromation is used for public policy and decision making The Virtual Herbarium of Mexico 1,256,293 registers of vascular plants from >80 Herbaria in Mexico, the U.S.A. and 25 other countries .

This represents a sampling intensity of only ~ 0.7 plant specimens/km2 ! Regional Prioritizations

•Provides an important tool for environmental decision making in issues related to management, protection and conservation.

•Most governmental and NGO programmes for NPA’s are based on this information Which is the potential area of distribution of a species?

Rhynchopsitta Species’ Predicted Distribution pachyrrincha from Museum specimen data Effects of C. cactorum in North America

climatic surface for C. cactorum. (obtained through FloraMap)

Species richness of Platyopuntia for North America (using 96 overlapping GARPS) Probable routes of entry into México Invasive species in Mexico

•CONABIO is the clearing-house for information on invasive species of Mexico (introduced weeds, vertebrates, insect pests) •Keeps a growing electronic library on the taxonomy, biology, sources of origins of invaders, etc. •It has a directory of world experts on the different groups Risk-assessment of GMO crop introductions to wild relatives Permission The case of Bt Permission Cotton

S# S#

No permission

SS## ## ###SS##S#S#S# SS S# S#SS##S#SSSS## SS## S# SS## S# S#S# S## S# S# S# S# # SS# S# S#S S# S# S# ## S# # SS S# S#S# SS## S S# S# S# S## # S# S S# S S# S# S# S# S# S# S# # # SS# S S# S# SS##SS## S# In six years, CONABIO has submitted No permission 1,150 case by case recommendations for Gossypium barbadense GMO experimental releases Prediction of climate change effects on future distribution of disease vectors Chagas disease

Triatoma spp.

Specimens analyzed for the prediction = 5,399 in 104 sites

Observed sites Low Probability Medium Probability High Probability Early warning for forest fires 10 yrs of observations Forest fires –Rapid response Program CONABIO detects daily thrugh remote sensing hot-spots with a high probability of being forest fires

Information is published daily in CONABIO’s web-page and are sent automatically to every state in the country to forest fire fighters. We also cover all of Central America. •The methodology has been adopted by Germany Forest fires –Rapid response Program

Quick view Hot-spots map

Vegetation and DTM Other elements of help

NDVI Ecosystem Monitoring: Mexican mangroves INEGI, CONAFOR, CONANP, INE, SEMAR, CIAD, UNAM, INECOL, UdG, UAT, UJAT

655,667 Ha Establishment of a Mexican Mangrove Monitoring Network Images at 1:50,000 Distribution Distribution of Samples Ceratozamia Genetic barcoding for priority Analysis Barcode species in database Sequencing Barcode

MicroArreglo identificar especiesbiológicas Estándar global para Población del centro de Veracruzdecentro delPoblación Dioonedule Cycas chamberlanii Xitilla,S.LP.) de Wilson(Población 1979 Ceratozamiahildae J. Lindley, Landry & M. & Landry CONABIO’s web site users 3,000,000

HITS 2,500,000

Broad-band 2,000,000 use

1,500,000

1,000,000

500,000

0

www.conabio.gob.mx - CONABIO’s web site received in 2008 an average of 64,838 hits per day, - Information stored on line = around 4 TB - Average broadband usage is 2 Mb per second Thank you very much for your attention

Domo arigatou gozaimasu!