Adaptability of the threatened jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi Schereber, 1777) to human-altered environments in San Luis Potosí, Mexico

La persistencia y recuperación de especies raras en regiones en desarrollo con áreas protegidas limitadas depende de su adaptabilidad a los hábitats alterados por el hombre. El jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) está clasificado como amenazado en México, y el conocimiento de su distribución y su correlación con el ambiente es necesario para los esfuerzos de recuperación informados. Sin embargo, poco se sabe sobre el hábitat o la distribución de jaguarundi en el interior de México, incluido el estado de San Luis Potosí (SLP). Realizamos 96 entrevistas semiestructuradas en comunidades, ejidos y ranchos a lo largo de SLP para obtener registros de la presencia de jaguarundi e identificar correlaciones ambientales y atributos de sitios asociados con su ocurrencia. Evaluamos las entrevistas utilizando criterios analíticos de credibilidad y recopilamos información sobre hábitats de 50 eventos confiables de tres de las cuatro regiones geográficas de SLP. En comparación con el paisaje de SLP, las ocurrencias de jaguarundi se ubicaron más cerca del agua, más cerca de las carreteras, a bajas elevaciones, marginalmente más cerca de las comunidades, y en áreas con mayor borde total, densidad de bordes y número de parches de paisaje. El jaguarundi mostró preferencia por los mosaicos de bosques tropicales, agrícolas, de pastizales y urbanos (es decir, cualquier comunidad). Coberturas de escondite relativamente denso o de emboscada generalmente estaban presentes en los sitios de ocurrencia. Colectivamente, el modelo de máxima entropía y el modelo de regresión logística predijeron una probabilidad similar y alta de presencia de jaguarundi en regiones caracterizadas por mosaicos de bosques tropicales, agricultura, pastizales o tipos de cobertura urbana <500 m en elevación y <2 km desde carreteras. Estos paisajes de mosaicos tendían a estar relativamente cerca de comunidades de densidades moderadas de población y agua, y generalmente soportan densidades de presas pequeñas más altas que las áreas menos fragmentadas. Los jaguarundi se adaptaron al menos a las perturbaciones ligeras y moderadas relacionadas con los seres humanos, y pueden verse beneficiados por el aumento de los mosaicos de borde y hábitat.Persistence and recovery of rare species in developing regions with limited protected areas depends upon their adaptability to human-altered habitats. The jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) is classed as threatened in Mexico, and knowledge of its distribution and environmental correlates is necessary for informed recovery efforts. However, little is known of jaguarundi habitat or distribution in interior Mexico, including the state of San Luis Potosí (SLP). We conducted 96 semi-structured interviews around communities, ejidos, and ranches throughout SLP to obtain records of jaguarundi presence and identify environmental correlates and site attributes associated with its occurrence. We evaluated interviews using analytical criteria of credibility, and collected habitat information from 50 reliable occurrences from three of the four geographic regions of SLP. Compared to the SLP landscape, jaguarundi occurrences were located closer to water, closer to roads, at lower elevation, marginally closer to communities, and in areas with greater total edge, edge density, and number of landscape patches. Jaguarundi showed preference for mosaics of tropical forest, agricultural, grassland, and urban (i.e., any community) cover types. Relatively dense hiding or ambush cover was usually present at occurrence sites. Collectively, maximum entropy modeling and logistic regression modeling predicted similar and high likelihood of jaguarundi presence in regions characterized by mosaics of tropical forest, agriculture, grassland, or urban cover types <500 m in elevation and <2 km from roads. These mosaic landscapes tended to be relatively close to communities of moderate population densities and water, and typically support higher small prey densities than less fragmented areas. Jaguarundi were adaptable to at least light–moderate human-related disturbance, and may be benefitted by it because of increased edge and habitat mosaics

Migratory Seasonality and Phenology by Birds in a Temperate Forest with Two Disturbance Conditions

Objective: The objective was to infer the effect of the variables phenology (migration-non-migration), seasonal (rainfall-dry season), sex and forest condition on the abundances of birds (resident-migratory) in a semi-preserved and disturbed oak pine forest. Design/methodology/approach: It was carried out in Monte Tlaloc, State of Mexico, under two conditions of apparent disturbance, semi-preserved oak pine forest and disturbed oak pine forest. Ten bird samplings were carried out with "count on point" with a fixed radius of 25 m, covering the 4 seasons of the year and migratory periods. With the previous data, the Relative Abundance Index (RAI) was estimated. To infer the effect of the variables phenology, seasonality, sex and forest condition on the abundances of birds, generalized linear models were elaborated. Results: The IAR of the birds registered in the semi-considered pine forest indicates that the species with the lowest presence was Aphelocoma ultramarina (0.002) and with the highest frequency Empidonax sp. (0.13), unlike to that found in the disturbed pine forest where the lowest IAR corresponded to Colaptes auratus (0.003) and with the highest appearance was Ptiliogonys cinereus (0.23). The Generalized Linear Model suggested that forest condition and phenology are significantly related to the frequency of species. Limitations on study/implications: In this study it was found that the abundance of birds was affected by the condition of the forest and that the phenology (migration-non-migration), seasonal (rain-dry season), sex and condition of the forest were related to the abundance of birds. Four species classified as under Special Protection and two Threatened according to NOM-059 were registered as well as the presence of four endemic species which highlights the importance of conserving these ecosystems. Findings/conclusions: The fauna communities present in Monte Tláloc highlight the importance of conserving the pine-oak forests since this site is part of the Eje Neovolcanico Transversal

La formación de nuevos investigadores y el manejo de las alfabetizaciones informacional, científica y académica

Este artículo relata el inicio de una investigación que se planteó con el fin de brindar apoyo a las instituciones de educación superior para incrementar sus niveles de producción científica, mediante la formación de nuevos investigadores. Busca identificar los entrecruces entre las subjetividades y la praxis de la investigación, a través de un estudio cualitativo con enfoque fenomenológico, que tiene el objetivo de conocer la experiencia de ser un investigador, encontrar cuáles son las características, aspectos de la personalidad, prácticas, habilidades, etapas de evolución y procesos de formación que tipifican a un individuo como investigador, además de llegar a definir qué significa ser un investigador, qué es investigar y qué praxis produce, cuál es el rol de las experiencias de los investigadores consolidados en la formación de nuevos investigadores y de qué manera los investigadores fungen como mentores y capacitadores. Los resultados que aquí se presentan corresponden a la primera fase de la investigación, en la que encontramos algunas de las habilidades y capacidades necesarias para que un investigador novel pueda trascender en el mundo de la investigación y publicación científica y académica

Migratory Seasonality and Phenology by Birds in a Temperate Forest with Two Disturbance Conditions

Objective: The objective was to infer the effect of the variables phenology (migration-non-migration), seasonality (rainfall-dry season), sex and forest condition on the abundances of birds (resident-migratory) in a semi-preserved and disturbed oak pine forest. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study was carried out in Monte Tlaloc, Estado de México, in two conditions of apparent disturbance, semi-preserved oak pine forest and disturbed oak pine forest. Ten bird samplings were carried out with “count on point” with a fixed radius of 25 m, covering the 4 seasons of the year and migratory periods. With this data, the Relative Abundance Index (RAI) was estimated. Generalized linear models were elaborated to infer the effect of the variables phenology, seasonality, sex, and forest condition on the abundances of birds .Results: The RAI of the birds registered in the semi-considered pine forest indicates that the species with the lowest presence was Aphelocoma ultramarina (0.002) and with the highest frequency Empidonax sp. (0.13), unlike to that found in the disturbed pine forest where the lowest RAI corresponded to Colaptes auratus(0.003) and Ptiliogonys cinereus (0.23) had the highest appearance. The Generalized Linear Model suggested that forest condition and phenology are significantly related to the frequency of species. Study Limitations/Implications: In this study it was found that the abundance of birds was affected by the condition of the forest and that the phenology (migration-non-migration), seasonality (rain-dry season), sex and condition of the forest were related to the abundance of birds. Four species classified as under Special Protection and two Threatened according to NOM-059 were registered as well as the presence of four endemic species which highlights the importance of conserving these ecosystems. Findings/Conclusions: The fauna communities present in Monte Tláloc highlight the importance of conserving the pine-oak forests since this site is part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Bel

Diet and sexual segregation of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana Merriam) in Sonora, Mexico

Objective: To determine the diet of the bighorn sheep and identify differences in its composition between sexes and periods (reproductive and segregation). Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted at the UMA Rancho Noche Buena, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. To determine the plant species in the bighorn sheep feces the micro histological technique and a cell catalog of plants from the study area were used. From the diet information, the relative frequency, the Shannon-Weaver diversity index and the Kulczynski similarity index by sex and period (reproductive and segregation) were determined. Results: The diet of the bighorn sheep included 40 plant species, being herbaceous (36.14.4%) and grasses (26.88.9%) the most common. The male diet during the segregation period was mainly composed of grasses (36.2%) and female diet by herbaceous (30%) and grasses (29.8%). There were no differences in the diversity of the diets in males and females during the segregation period (H ́1.0), overall, their diets were very similar (80%). Limitations/implications: Collect a greater number of fecal samples by sex and period (reproductive and segregation) and to analyze the nutritional content of the plants consumed by bighorn sheep. Findings/conclusions: In this study, the sexual segregation exhibited by the bighorn sheep was not due to food preference

Composición y variación de la dieta del tecolote moteado mexicano (Strix occidentalis lucida) en Valparaíso, Zacatecas, México

El tecolote moteado mexicano (Strix occidentalis lucida) es una subespecie amenazada (DOF, 2002). Para conocer la variación y composición de la dieta del tecolote moteado en Valparaíso, Zacatecas, México, se recolectaron de mayo a junio de 2001 y 2002, y de abril a junio de 2003, 86 egagrópilas. Conocer la composición de su dieta en esta zona ampliará el conocimiento de su biología, y permitirá el diseño de estrategias para su manejo y conservación. Los componentes de las egagrópilas se separaron y analizaron, identificándose los restos de 198 presas. La dieta del tecolote moteado mexicano durante 2001, 2002 y 2003 fue similar, entre 60 y 80%. Los pequeños vertebrados constituyeron 75.8% de la frecuencia y 99.3% de la biomasa total. Las especies más frecuentes fueron los ratones de campo (Peromyscus sp.) e insectos. Sin embargo, la especie más importante en la dieta fue la rata cambalachera mexicana (Neotoma mexicana), que aportó 52.2% de la biomasa

Realized ecological niche of the Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) in Mexico

Objective: To characterize the realized niche of the Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) and compare the environmental values it uses within the Mexican physiographic provinces. Design/methodology/approach: The environmental temperature variables (n7), precipitation (n7) and elevation (n1) were extracted from 79 unique occurrences sites of S. o. lucida. These values were grouped by physiographic provinces: Sierra Madre Occidental (n59), Sierra Madre Oriental (n13) and Transverse Neovolcanic Belt (n6). The climate and elevation of these sites were described and compared via non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis and Bonferroni-Dunn tests (P0.05). Results: The presences of the spotted owls were both, dispersed and focally distributed, over the geographic space in Mexico. The temperature and elevation variables have similar characteristics in the assessed physiographic provinces. To be noted, the precipitation variables showed significant differences among sites.Limitations on study/implications: This study describes the environmental characteristics of the realized niche of the Mexican spotted owl; however, it is necessary to investigate other habitat variables at a smaller scale. Findings/conclusions: The temperature and elevation environmental characteristics of the ecological niche of the Mexican spotted owl was similar between physiographic provinces