Biogeography and conservation of aquatic fauna in spring-fed tropical canyons of the southern Sonoran Desert, Mexico

Bogan, Michael T.; Noriega-Felix, Nohemí; Vidal-Aguilar, Sylvette Leonor; Findley, Lloyd T.; Lytle, David A.; Gutiérrez, Aldo; Alvarado-Castro, J. Andrés; Varela-Romero, Alejandro

doi:10.1007/s10531-014-0745-z

Cited by 50 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Only one percent of the landscape contains an aquatic resource, often in the form of widely dispersed springs, seeps, and small streams. These rare habitats provide an enormous value to flora and fauna that are dependent on these aquatic resources (Shepard 1993;Bogan et al 2014) and represent regional biodiversity hotspots (Shepard 1993). Aside from supporting widespread taxa, Great Basin springs and wetland habitats also harbor high levels of endemic species, including aquatic organisms such as desert fishes (Hubbs & Miller 1948;Hewitt 1996Hewitt , 2000Smith et al 2002), springsnails (Hershler & Sada 2002;Sada & Vinyard 2002), and insects (Shepard 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A diamond in the rough desert shrublands of the Great Basin in the Western United States: A new cryptic toad species (Amphibia: Bufonidae: Bufo (Anaxyrus)) discovered in Northern Nevada

Gordon

Simandle

Tracy

2017

Zootaxa

909

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We describe a new species of toad from the Great Basin region of northern Nevada belonging to the Bufo (Anaxyrus) boreas species complex. This cryptic species was detected through genetic analyses of toad populations sampled throughout the Great Basin and the morphological evidence was quantified through extensive sampling of live toads within the region. The new species has the smallest body size in the species complex, and can be further diagnosed from other species in the complex by its large tibial glands and unique coloration. The known distribution of the new species is restricted to an area less than 6 km2 in Dixie Valley, Churchill Co., Nevada. The Great Basin is an arid region where aquatic resources are both rare and widely scattered, making habitat suitable for anuran populations highly vulnerable to anthropogenic change. The habitat occupied by this newly described species is threatened by the incipient installation of geothermal and solar power development projects that require the water that defines its habitat.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A diamond in the rough desert shrublands of the Great Basin in the Western United States: A new cryptic toad species (Amphibia: Bufonidae: Bufo (Anaxyrus)) discovered in Northern Nevada

Gordon

Simandle

Tracy

2017

Zootaxa

909

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“…In addition to invasive mosquitofish effects [26][27][28][29][30], the presence of non-native tilapia (Tilapia sp.) was associated with reduced species richness and density of invertebrates in a spring-fed habitat [9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Thus, the benefits of such conservation translocations should be measured against the potential impacts on overall aquatic biodiversity. This is especially important because of the high degree of endemic invertebrate species that occupy desert springs [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, desert springs host the highest number of locally endemic taxa in North America making them one of the biodiversity hotspots and priority sites for conservation [1][2][3]. Recent studies have uncovered unique, highly diverse and endemic invertebrate assemblages, both macroinvertebrates and zooplankton, from North American desert springs [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. These systems are of particular conservation concern because many spring invertebrates are threatened with extinction due to anthropogenic impacts, such as water mining, habitat alterations, and introduction of non-native species [1,3,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impacts of Recently Established Fish Populations on Zooplankton Communities in a Desert Spring, and Potential Conflicts in Setting Conservation Goals

et al. 2015

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Desert springs, which harbor diverse and endemic invertebrate assemblages, are often used as refuge habitats for protected fish species. Additionally, many of these springs have been colonized by invasive fish species. However, the potential impacts of recently established fish populations on invertebrate communities in desert springs have been relatively unexplored. We conducted a mesocosm experiment to assess the impact of both protected and invasive fish on community structure of spring-dwelling invertebrates focusing on zooplankton. Experimental populations of spring zooplankton communities were established and randomly assigned to one of three treatments, (1) invasive western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis); (2) endangered Mohave tui chub (Siphateles bicolor mohavensis); and (3) fishless control. Final populations of zooplankton and fish were sampled, sorted, identified and counted. The treatment differences of zooplankton communities were analyzed by comparing the densities of six major zooplankton taxa. Further, we performed nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to visualize the patterns of OPEN ACCESSDiversity 2015, 7 4 zooplankton community assemblages. Four zooplankton taxa, crustacean nauplii, cladocera, calanoid and cyclopoid copepods had significantly lower densities in fish treatments compared to fishless control. Overall, invasive mosquitofish caused a 78.8% reduction in zooplankton density, while Mohave tui chub caused a 65.1% reduction. Both protected and invasive fish had similar effects on zooplankton except for cladocerans where tui chub caused a 60% reduction in density, whereas mosquitofish virtually eliminated cladocerans. The presence of fish also had a significant effect on zooplankton community structure due to population declines and local extirpations presumably due to fish predation. This work shows that conservation-translocations undertaken to conserve protected fish species may impact spring-dwelling invertebrate communities, and such impacts are similar to impacts due to colonization by invasive fish species.

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“…The local vegetation is dominated by a Bursera-Jatropha association (Shreve and Wiggins 1951). The local climate is characterized by a transition from tropical arid to tropical semi-arid conditions (Burquez et al 1999;Peinado et al 2011;Bogan et al 2014). Sierra El Aguaje is located within the Cajón del Diablo hunting reserve, corresponding to the Priority Terrestrial Region RTP-18 (CONABIO 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological niche and occupation by gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) at Las Barajitas Canyon, Sonora

Armenta-Méndez

Gallo‐Reynoso

Macías‐Duarte

et al. 2018

Therya

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Hutchinson defines ecological niche considering the relevance of the environment in the n-dimensional space, according to the patterns of species presence in it. For Peterson and collaborators, these patterns set the basis for niche modeling, since they directly affect the proportion of sites occupied by species. To determine the ecological variables that would favor the conservation of biodiversity at the landscape level, the ecological niche and site occupation by the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) were simulated using photo-trapping monitoring at Las Barajitas Canyon, Sonora, Mexico. The potential habitat of the fox was modeled with the program MaxEnt, and the occupation (ψ) and probability of detection (p) were estimated with the program MARK. Vegetation was sampled using the quadrants and Braun-Blanquet methods to estimate importance values for the main plants for inclusion in the presence-absence models, as well as to know the state of the vegetation, using the species accumulation function. The sampling effort over one-year was 124 days/night-trap, obtaining 575 photographs of the gray fox. The analysis of the activity pattern revealed that the gray fox is a nocturnal-twilight species. The evaluation of the vegetation sampled evidenced the dominance of the Ruellia-Jatropha-Bursera association. The plant species accumulation function showed a positive linear relationship (r² = 0.97). In accordance with the information criteria (AICc), positive correlations were found between the sympatric species cacomixtle and coyote, and seasonality (i.e. spring and autumn), resulting in ψ = 38.5 % and p = 7.7 %. The spatial dynamics of plant communities and the relationships between animal species observed in this study indicate that, Las Barajitas Canyon is a suitable environment for the gray fox, since the Area Under the Curve (AUC) obtained was close to 1 (0.873).Hutchinson define el nicho ecológico incluyendo la importancia del medio ambiente en un espacio n-dimensional, en función de los patrones de presencia de las especies. Para Peterson y colaboradores, estos patrones constituyen la base para su modelación, ya que afectan directamente en la proporción de sitios ocupados por las especies. Para determinar las variables ecológicas que pudieran favorecer la conservación de la biodiversidad a nivel de paisaje, se simuló el nicho ecológico y la ocupación de la zorra gris (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) mediante un monitoreo de foto-trampeo en el Cañón de Las Barajitas, Sonora, México. Se modeló su hábitat potencial con el programa MaxEnt y se estimaron la ocupación (ψ) y la probabilidad de su detección (p) con el programa MARK. Se muestreó la vegetación por los métodos de cuadrantes y de Braun-Blanquet, para generar valores de importancia de las principales plantas e incluirlos en los modelos de presencia-ausencia, así como conocer el estado de la vegetación, usando la función de acumulación de especies. El esfuerzo de un año de muestreo fue de 124 días/noche trampa, obteniendo 575 fotografías de zorra gris. El anális...

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Biogeography and conservation of aquatic fauna in spring-fed tropical canyons of the southern Sonoran Desert, Mexico

Cited by 50 publications

References 32 publications

A diamond in the rough desert shrublands of the Great Basin in the Western United States: A new cryptic toad species (Amphibia: Bufonidae: Bufo (Anaxyrus)) discovered in Northern Nevada

A diamond in the rough desert shrublands of the Great Basin in the Western United States: A new cryptic toad species (Amphibia: Bufonidae: Bufo (Anaxyrus)) discovered in Northern Nevada

The Impacts of Recently Established Fish Populations on Zooplankton Communities in a Desert Spring, and Potential Conflicts in Setting Conservation Goals

Ecological niche and occupation by gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) at Las Barajitas Canyon, Sonora

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