Open access solutions for biodiversity journals : Do not replace one problem with another

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Agricultural Land Degradation in Mexico

Mexico is one of the most diverse countries on Earth and is a centre of origin for many major global crops, including bean, cotton, chilli, pumpkin, and avocado. During the past decades, a growing demand for food has promoted clearing and conversion of Mexican forests to arable land, the irrigation of arid regions using limited water resources and the transition of traditional farming practices to more intensive agricultural practices. This rapid conversion of natural ecosystems and poor agricultural practices have caused a marked decline in the soil health, including physical and chemical degradation as well as water and wind erosion. This deterioration in soil health results in a loss of microbial biodiversity, organic and mineral nutrients and water. Here, we describe how different agricultural practices have impacted the range of soil types across the diverse Mexican ecoregions. Despite the negative impact, the Mexican government has proposed to expand and intensify agriculture to increase crop output. Unless new policy regulations, such as the supervision of chemical and fertilizer use, are urgently applied, this expansion and intensification in agriculture will further reduce soil health, resulting in further losses to biodiversity and environmental services upon which Mexican agriculture ultimately depends.No Full Tex

Are Private Reserves Effective for Jaguar Conservation?

We present the first study of density and apparent survival for a jaguar (Panthera onca) population in northern Mexico using 13 years of camera trap data from 2000 to 2012. We used the Barker robust design model which combines data from closed sampling periods and resight data between these periods to estimate apparent survival and abundance. We identified 467 jaguar pictures that corresponded to 48 jaguar individuals. We included camera type and field technician as covariates for detection probabilities. We used three covariates to evaluate the effect of reserve on jaguar apparent survival: i) private reserve creation ii) later reserve expansions, and iii) cattle ranches' conservation activities. We found that the use of digital cameras in addition to film cameras increased detection probability by a factor of 6x compared with the use of only film cameras (p = 0.34 ± 0.05 and p = 0.05 ± 0.02 respectively) in the closed period and more than three times in the open period (R = 0.91 ± 0.08 and R = 0.30 ± 0.13 mixed and film cameras respectively). Our availability estimates showed no temporary emigration and a fidelity probability of 1. Despite an increase of apparent survival probability from 0.47 ± 0.15 to 0.56 ± 0.11 after 2007, no single covariate explained the change in these point estimates. Mean jaguar density was 1.87 ± 0.47 jaguars/100 km2. We found that 13 years of jaguar population monitoring with our sampling size were not enough for detecting changes in survival or density. Our results provide a baseline for studies evaluating the effectiveness of protected areas and the inclusion of ranch owners in jaguar conservation programs and long-term population viability

Open access solutions for biodiversity journals: Do not replace one problem with another

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