Brief Note: Food Habits of the Coyote in the Vizcaíno Desert, México

Author Institution: Oficina Secretaria de Desarrollo Socal, Avenida Marcelo Rubio SN, Guerrero Negro, B.C.S., Mexico, and Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del NoroesteWe studied the food habits of the coyote (Cams latrans) through stomach contents analysis, in the Vizcaino Desert, Baja California Sur, Mexico, from January to March 1984. Thirty stomachs were analyzed, and their contents identified. Rodents and plants are the most frequent foods consumed. Taking into account the mass of food items ingested, rodents (JDipodomys and Thomomys} were the main prey items consumed. There was no evidence of domestic livestock ingestion

Maricultura en la Bahía de La Paz, B.C.S., México: impacto socioeconómico de los cultivos de atún y camarón

Los océanos han sido considerados fuente ilimitada de recursos, capaces de alimentar a la población mundial, pero la demanda alimentaria se ha incrementado a tal grado que supera el aporte de los mares. Sin embargo, las políticas de manejo en el sector pesquero, no logran asegurar el beneficio social. Existe una tendencia a la pobreza, principalmente entre los pescadores ribereños, por la disipación de la renta, cuya causa, entre otras, es el acceso abierto a los recursos. La acuicultura contribuye a garantizar la seguridad alimentaria generando empleos y divisas, ya que es la industria alimentaria que ha tenido la mayor tasa de crecimiento en los últimos años. No existe ningún estudio concerniente a la participación de los cultivos de atún y camarón en el desarrollo económico y social de la región tampoco un estudio de la cadena de valor de la producción, que permita cuantificar la participación de la población y y los beneficios a ésta, de tal manera que se den las condiciones para incentivar el desarrollo de la región. El presente trabajo ofrece un panorama del impacto socioeconómico que ejerce la maricultura en la Bahía de la Paz

Brief Note: Cactus Growth Changes as an Effect of Wind in Baja California Sur, México

Author Institution: Centro de Inverstigaciones Biologicas del NoroesteAt Natividad Island, Baja California Sur, Mexico, we sampled a Ferocactus fordii var. grandiflorus population. All 50 individuals recorded in the northeast part of the island exhibited different degrees of prostration, directly related to their size and the direction of prevailing winds. Prostration was always oriented away from the direction of the dominant winds blowing over the island. There are essentially no previous publications of the effects of wind on the cactus growth form

Economy and Environmental Problems in the Mexican Coastal States

A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) for environmental and economic variables was performed for 17 Mexican coastal states. The ordination method allowed us to identify three groups, namely hydroelectric energy generation (I), pollution (II) and harbours (III), which were associated to different human activities. Furthermore, CCA is efficient to help us generate hypotheses for future research. It is therefore advised that CCA should be used for routine analyses into economics.Coastal States of Mexico, Canonical Correspondence Analysis, Diversity Index, Economic Development, Environmental Variables.

Can the Vaquita Be Saved From Extinction?

The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is considered the world’s most endangered marine mammal. It is the smallest member of the porpoise family endemic to the upper part of the Gulf of California. The current population is estimated at less than 30 individuals. The primary reasons for the species decline includes limited habitat and incidental mortalities associated with illegal gillnet fishing activities. Since 2008, the Mexican government has taken environmental and economic actions to protect the vaquita’s focusing in reducing by-catch deaths to zero. In 2015, a federal Agreement decreed by the Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA in Spanish) prohibited the use of any fishing gillnets for two years, affecting severely the local human communities because in the region the coastal fisheries represent 40% of the regional PIB, besides that 50% of the local inhabitants are devoted to this activity. Recently, an economical compensation is giving to the fishing permits owners if they do not continue with their fishing activities. However none of this actions and agreements have considered social and economic solutions for the local inhabitants of this region, which includes three communities: San Felipe, Golfo de Santa Clara and Puerto Peñasco. If there is not enacted a change of paradigm of the conservation programs, focusing in the wellbeing of the local fishing communities then the vaquita could be the second marine mammal species to disappear due to human activities

Fisheries and Biodiversity in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico

The Upper Gulf of California (UGC) has been recognized by its high primary productivity and abundant fishing (Aragon-Noriega & Calderon-Aguilera, 2000). Sediments and nutrients from the Colorado River, and complex hydrodynamics render this as an Important site for spawning, mating and nursing for numerous species of commercial and ecological importance (Cudney & Turk, 1998; Ramirez-Rojo & Aragón-Noriega 2006). Temperature, salinity and abundance of nutrients in this region vary depending on fresh water runoff from the Colorado River (Alvarez-Borrego et al., 1975; Hernández-Ayón et al., 1993; Lavín & Sánchez, 1999). Commercial fishing of high market value resources such as shrimp takes place in the UGC by artisanal or small scale, and industrial fishing. Artisanal fishing is done on relatively small (30 feet) fiber glass boats or artisanal boats with outboard motors, usually operated by two fishers; their primary fishing gear is drift gillnets, which they use to catch croakers, Spanish mackerel and even shrimp. This type of fishing is carried out by cooperatives and individual fishers from the three ports of the UGC: Puerto Peñasco and El Golfo de Santa Clara, in the State of Sonora, and San Felipe, in Baja California. Because marine resources in the region are migratory, fisheries are seasonal generating bursts of accumulated fishing effort over a few months depending on availability of species (see Cudney & Turk 1998). Increasing demand of economically important species has motivated a steady rise in fishing effort and use of gear and fishing practices jeopardizing critical species such as totoaba, Totoaba macdonaldi, an endemic croaker declared under risk of extinction (Cisneros-Mata et al., 1995), and the rare vaquita, Phocoena sinus. Vaquita are accidentally caught in all kinds of gillnets used in the Upper Gulf (D’Agrosa et al., 1995; Blanco 2002)

Minería versus conservación de servicios ecosistémicos: el caso de Sierra La Laguna

Se ofrece una valoración económica de la pérdida de servicios ecosistémicos asociada a la operación de un proyecto minero a tajo abierto en la Reserva de la Biósfera Sierra La Laguna, que dejaría un inmenso beneficio económico con-centrado en pocos agentes fuera del país, a cambio de costos ambientales sustanciales en México durante varias generaciones, evidencia de que en las estimaciones de la minería es indispensable considerar los costos ambientales. La valoración de servicios ecosistémicos debe soportar la toma de decisiones, que es muy importante para instalar políticamente el debate de los pasivos ambientales que genera la actividad