COLORFUL, RICH AND WILD

BIODIVERSITY APROACH
Group D: Vincent, Huy, Phu, and Ginger
Environmental Science Final Project

Outline

Introduction, Geography.

What we have:

Climate, Biodiversity, Flora, Fauna.

Biodiversity conservation action Summary

Introduction
Have you ever heard about the artificial connection between Atlantic and Pacific Ocean?

Panama canal

Introduction

Where did the information come from?

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Geography

Geography of Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica comprised of the seven Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) and the five states of southeastern Mexico (Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatan)

countries

Total area of approximately 760,00 km2.

Geography of Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica hotspot includes the areas of northwest Belize, north and central Guatemala and the southern Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatan.

Geography of Mesoamerica
One common method of dividing Mesoamerica is classifying the region as follows:

Highlands

Lowlands

Mexican plateau and the Central American volcanic arc : home to the major cities of Mexico and Central America

Mexican Plateau:
Lower (4,000) in the north (near Juarez) and higher (8,000) in the south (near Mexico City) Home to rich deposits of silver, copper & zinc

 Diverse environmental variability: lush tropical climate of lowland Veracruz to the semi-arid brush forests of northern Yucatn. Tropical forests are diverse in vegetation species Ancient Mesoamericans employed a series of agricultural adaptations (e.g. use of drainage systems) Offered a great degree of variability usable flora and fauna resources Coast facilitated transportation, interregional communication, and trade

Andes Mountains Flyover Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0xsc cVQO7U

Climate

Mesoamerica Climate

Well-defined climate pattern: tropical, Special type of climate (land between two oceans), Affected by Pacific decadal oscillation and El Nio/La Nia, There is a differentiated precipitation patterns of the regions

Caribbean (windward) and Pacific (leeward) slopes:

Caribbean slope is rainy practically all year round, Pacific slope is characterized by a prolonged dry season.

Temperature and rainfall

Biomas of Mesoamerica

FLORA AND FAUNA

Biodiversity of the region

Taxonomic group Plants Mammals Birds Reptiles Amphibians Freshwater fishes Species Endemic (No.) species (No.) 17000 2941 440 66 1113 208 692 240 555 358 509 340 Endemism (%) 17.3 15.0 18.7 34.7 64.5 66.8

Flora

FLORISTIC DIVERSITY BY COUNTRY

Country
Guatemala Belize Honduras El Salvador Nicaragua Costa Rica

Land area (km)

108,430 22,800 111,890 20,720 118,750 51,060

Vascular plants
8000 4423 6000 2500 7000 9500-10,500

Endemis Threatened Endemica m (%) species

1171 53 148 17 60 600 14.6 1.2 2.5 0.7 0.9 5.7-6.3 477 49 84 86 134 799

Panama

75,990

8500-9000

1230 13.7-14.5

838

Endemic plants in Mesoamerica

Plant endemism is Alvaradoa amorphoides highest within Mesoamerica in the Lacandonia diverse topography of schismatica the region's mountains, especially the high mountains of Guatemala and Passiflora vitifolia southern Mexico

Endemic plants in Mesoamerica

Walking Iris
Haptanthaceae

Palumbina candida

Pelliciera rhizophorae

Ticodendron incognitum

Rhyncholaelia digbyana

Endangered species
Very rare and endangered species, very hard to see in the wild, from very humid high habitats. Spectacular white flower with no traces of yellow or pink.
Monja Blanca White Nun Lycaste skinneri var alba

Fauna

BIRDS

Altamira Yellowthroat

Baird's Trogon

Honduran emerald Socorro mockingbird

Blue-capped Hummingbird

Horned Guan

 The forests of Mesoamerica provides critical winter habitat and stop-over points for about 225 species of migratory birds (Three of the four major trans-regional migratory bird routes in the Western hemisphere converge there)

CASE OF STUDY 1 - QUETZAL

Tecn Umn and Quetzal legend

Tecn Umn was the last ruler and king of the Quich Maya people, in the highlands of Guatemala (Quetzaltenango). Guatemala's official national hero Is considered the most representative of his people for his bravery and dignity because he fought to protect his land and his people.
Tecn Umn's existence is not well documented, and it has proven to be difficult to separate the man from the legend.

Tecn Umn and Quetzal legend

The legends say Tecn Umn entered battle adorned with precious Quetzal feathers, and his nahual (animal spirit guide), a quetzal bird, accompanied him during the battle. In the midst of the fray, both Spanish Conqueror Pedro de Alvarado and Tecn, warriors from worlds apart, met face to face.
Alvarado was clad in armor and mounted on his warhorse. As horses were not native to the Americas and peoples of Mesoamerica had no beasts of burden of their own, Tecn Umn assumed they were one being and killed Alvarado's horse. He realized his error, but Alvarado's spear pierced through Tecn chest and into his heart. It was then his nahual, filled with grief, landed on the fallen hero's chest, staining its breast feathers red with blood, and thereafter died. From that day on, all male quetzals bear a scarlet breast and their song has not been heard since.

RESPLENDENT QUETZAL
Scientific name: Pharomachrus mocinno

There are six types of Quetzals, not all of them mesoamericas endemic. Our study will focus in the Resplendent Quetzal.

Size These birds have a body that is between 14 and 16 inches long, with the males' especially long tails increasing their overall length to 24 to 30 inches.
Youth A Quetzal female will typically lay only one or two eggs, and only one in five Quetzal hatchlings survive into adulthood. Most fall prey to predators such as jays, squirrels, toucans and weasels.

RESPLENDENT QUETZAL
These birds were considered sacred to the Aztecs and the Maya.
The Guatemalan currency is named after them.

RESPLENDENT QUETZAL
The Quetzal, reputed to be the most beautiful bird that exists in the American continents,
In Guatemala, It lives in the mountainous, subtropical, humid regions of the departments of Quiche, the Verapazes, Huehuetenango, San Marcos, and Suchitepequez. The vegetation of the territory it inhabits is quite dense and rich in humus. Today, the Quetzal's range actually extends from southern Mexico through Western Panama in mountain regions with an elevation of 4,000 to 10,000 feet.

RESPLENDENT QUETZAL
The Problem The Quetzal has always has been a species that attracted a great deal of attention and was much sought after.
The Quetzal feathers were used as items of trade and were traded as far north as New Mexico and as far south as the Andes.

RESPLENDENT QUETZAL
Because of their value as money and for trading purposes it was forbidden by the Mayans to kill a Quetzal.
Now that the cloud forests are shrinking and more and more humans are moving into a once uninhabited area, the Quetzal is rapidly losing its ephereal habitat. Without protected habitat, the Guatemalan Resplendent Quetzal is doomed to extinction.

QUETZAL - Conservation
The conservation of this bird is in trouble due to its low breeding rate in captivity or its lifespan in captivity.

Conservation efforts
Birding in Biotopo del Quetzal. (Guatemala) El Biotopo is a protected area for connecting the cloud forest of Sierra de las Minas with cloud forests in Alta Verapaz. The reserve covers 1,150 hectares of primary cloud forest, from 1,500- 2,300 meters (4,920-7,545 ft).

El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, which clames that during the past 25 years they have tripled its population , having three specimens of the species for every 16 hectares (40 acres)
Some other smaller conservation entities in Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama

MAMMALS

Yucatan Brown Brocket

Big Deer Mouse

Cozumel raccoon Squirrel monkey Central American Dwarf Squirrel

Harris' Olingo

Van Gelders bat

Spider monkey

Mexican black howler monkey

Bairds tapir
Jaguar

Cozumel Harvest Mouse

Bangs mountain squirrel

Oaxacan Pocket Gopher

Guatemalan Myotis

REPTILES AND ANPHIBIANS

The area is the most diverse hotspot for reptiles

Allison's Anole

Morelets crocodile

Dary's Burrowing Snake Red-eyed Treefrog Black-cheeked Ant-tanager

Hawksbill
River turtle

spiny-tailed iguana

CASE OF STUDY 2 - GOLDEN TROAD

Extinct specie
Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes)
Was once abundant in the high altitudes of the wet Monteverde Cloud Forests of Costa Rica

Last seen twenty years ago. Reason for its extinction: Unknown
Worlds climate change due to global warming, causing disruptions in weather patterns. Fungal disease

Extinct species
Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes)
In 1987 there was much lesser rainfall due to a phenomenon called el Nio. This caused these small pools of water to dry up before the larvae had time to mature. Today this is protected, and there are hopes that one day the golden toad will return.

Biodiversity Conservation

Threat for biodiversity

Mesoamerica also exhibits some of the highest deforestation rates in the world. Direct threats to the regions natural assets include illegal logging and occupation of land, uncontrolled tourism, oil drilling and pipelines, and unsustainable agricultural practices

Factors causing loss of biodiversity

Road construction Colonization Cattle production Fuel-wood Tourism

Biological conservation

Mesoamerican Biological Corridor

Determine and manage key biodiversity areas,
Important

Bird Areas (birds), The La Amistad International Park (salamander), Cerro El Pital (frog),

Biological conservation

Encourage eco-tourism
Ex:

2000, in Costa Rica earned about $1.25 billion from ecotourism (70% total tourists),

National level institutions for biodiversity conservation:

INBIO

(Costa Rica) and CONABIO (Mexico), Belize Zoo and Mexico's ZOOMAT

Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC)

30% of covers 30% total land mass concentrated mainly in areas abutting the Atlantic Coast. connecting several national parks, allow ecological connectivity regionally through the MBC, started in 1998 to keep 106 critically endangered species from going extinct. Total finance: 1.14 billion USD (1990-2009)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfiuqj_sa ving-the-mesoamerican-biologicalcorridor_tech

Mesoamerican Biological Corridor

Outcome of MBC

Increasing landscape connectivity can enhance genetic diversity, allow animals to migrate to climate refugee, and reinstate historical migration patterns.
As climate patterns shift, biological corridors could offer a source of natural resilience for animal and plant populations by allowing them to migrate and settle into new territories.

Summary

Mesoamerica Hotspot encompasses all subtropical and tropical ecosystems from central Mexico to the Panama Canal, including a number of nearshore and offshore islands in both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Summary

The hotspot's ecosystems are a complex combination of coastal swamps, mangrove forests, coniferous forests, dry forests, lowland moist forest (Third largest among the worlds hotspots)

Summary

Endemic species includes birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and around 17,000 plant species

Summary

About 13 percent, of the total land area of the Mesoamerica hotspot is currently under some form of protection, where Belize (37%) and Costa Rica (31%) have the higher numbers of the region, and El Salvador has the lowest percentage (2%)

Thank you for your attention