MEXICO: the

privileges and

challenges for a

Megadiversity

Country

José Sarukhán

Mexican National

Commission on

Biodiversity

(CONABIO)

18th May, 2009

GenesThe genetic variability within individuals. Genetic diversity exists within and between populations, as well as within species.

SpeciesNumber of species in all taxonomic groups; also known as “species richness”.

EcosystemsDiversity of communities and ecological processes that occur at this level; also known as ecological or community diversity.

The concept of biodiversity includes the variability of

Life Of

the Past+ + Cultural

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

Neotropical

Region

Neartic

Region

Biogeographical Regions of Mexico

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

Megadiverse countriesMegadiverse countries1 1

andand centerscenters ofof originorigin ofof cropscrops22

1 Mittermeier & Goettsch, 19922 Fowler & Mooney, 1990

Indonesia

Australia

Brazil

Colombia

México

Perú

India

China

Madagascar

Centers of plant domestication

Areas of megadiversity

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

Brasil Colombia Indonesia México China

Nu

mb

er o

f sp

ecie

s

Megadiverse countries with highest number of plant species and endemisms

Fuente: Mittermeier y Goettsch, 1997.

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

20000

Brasil Indonesia Colombia Sudáfrica PNG México

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 countriesNumber of species and endemism in selected vertebrate groups

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Colombia Brasil Indonesia México Australia

Mamíferos

Aves

Reptiles

Anfibios

Fuente: Mittermeier y Goettsch, 1997.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Australia Indonesia México Brasil Colombia

Mamíferos

Aves

Reptiles

Anfibios

Num

ber

of s

peci

es

Green

bushmaster

Bothriechis

ornatus,Chis., PRG

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Australia México Colombia Indonesia Brasil

Megadiverse countries with more reptiles and more endemic species

Fuente: Mittermeier y Goettsch, 1997.

Nu

mb

er o

f sp

ecie

s

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Australia México Madagascar India Brasil

Allouatta palliata

Los Tuxtlas, Ver.

400

420

440

460

480

500

520

540

Brasil Indonesia China Colombia México

Nu

mb

er o

f sp

ecie

s

Megadiverse countries with more mammal and endemic species

Fuente: Mittermeier y Goettsch, 1997.

0

50

100

150

200

250

Australia Indonesia México Brasil Filipinas

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

Fuente: Boege, 2005

Distribution of languages and indigenous

groups in México

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

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

19931994

19951996

19971998

19992000

20012002

20032004

20052006

0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

bases de datos taxonómicas

biogeográficas

bases de datos ecológico-genéticas

fichas de especies

Registros curatoriales georreferidos

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

Specimens housed in herbaria and museums constitute the backbone of the database.

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

Herbaria

specimens specimens

Zoological collections

Collections

First GTI Assessment in Mexico 1995-1998

75110

3,519,3664,749,736

Estimated: 5.5 MillionEstimated: 9.5 Million

Herbaria

GTI and Mexican scientific collections

How CONABIO’s services and infromation is used for public policy and decision making

The Virtual Herbarium of Mexico1,256,293 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 !

•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

Regional Prioritizations

Which is the potential area of distribution

of a species?

Rhynchopsitta

pachyrrinchaSpecies’ Predicted Distribution

from Museum specimen data

Effects of C. cactorum in North America

Species richness of

Platyopuntia for North America (using 96

overlapping GARPS)

Probable routes of entry into México

climatic surface for C.

cactorum. (obtained

through FloraMap)

•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

Invasive species in Mexico

#S#S #S#S #S#S #S#S #S#S

#S#S #S#S #S#S #S#S#S #S#S#S #S #S#S#S#S#S #S#S #S#S#S#S #S#S #S#S

#S#S#S #S#S #S #S#S#S#S #S #S#S#S#S#S #S#S #S#S#S#S#S #S#S#S #S#S #S#S #S#S#S#S #S#S#S #S#S#S#S#S #S#S

#S#S#S#S

#S#S

Risk-assessment of GMO crop introductions to

wild relativesPermission

No permission

Permission

No permission

Gossypium barbadense

In six years, CONABIO has submitted

1,150 case by case recommendations for

GMO experimental releases

The case of Bt

Cotton

Prediction of climate change effects on future

distribution of disease vectors

Observed sites

Low Probability

Medium Probability

High Probability

Specimens analyzed for the prediction

= 5,399 in 104 sites

Chagas disease

Triatoma spp.

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

Hot-spots map Quick view

Vegetation and DTM Other elements of help

NDVI

Forest fires –Rapid response Program

Ecosystem Monitoring: Mexican mangrovesINEGI, CONAFOR, CONANP, INE, SEMAR, CIAD, UNAM, INECOL, UdG, UAT, UJAT

655,667 HaEstablishment of a

Mexican Mangrove

Monitoring Network

Images at 1:50,000

Sam

ples

Barcode

Analysis

Mic

roA

rreg

lo

Barcode

Sequencing

Ceratozamia hildae Landry & M.

Wilson 1979 (Población de

Xitilla, S.LP.)

Cycas chamberlanii

Dioon edule J. Lindley,

Población del centro de Veracruz

Distribution of CeratozamiaEstándar global para

identificar especies biológicas

Genetic barcoding for priority

species in database

- 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

CONABIO’s web site users

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

Broad-band

use

HITS

www.conabio.gob.mx

Thank you very much for your

attention

Domo arigatou gozaimasu!