Abstract
Islands are biodiversity hotspots that offer unique opportunities for applied restoration techniques that have proven to bring inspiring outcomes. The trajectory of island restoration in Mexico is full of positive results that include (1) the removal of 60 invasive mammal populations from 39 islands, (2) the identification of conservation and restoration priorities, (3) the active restoration of seabird breeding colonies through avant-garde social attraction techniques, (4) the active restoration of integrated plant communities focusing on a landscape level, (5) applied research and science-based decision-making for the management of invasive alien species, (6) the legal protection of all Mexican islands, and (7) biosecurity and environmental learning programs to ensure outcomes are long lasting. Still, there are many complex challenges to face in order to achieve the goal of having all Mexican islands free of invasive mammals by 2030.
Keywords
- Islands
- Mexico
- Restoration
- Eradication
- Biosecurity
- Seabirds
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Aguirre-Muñoz A, Méndez-Sánchez F (2017) The new Baja California Pacific Islands biosphere reserve sets a conservation benchmark: all Mexican islands are now protected. Fremontia 45(3):27–31
Aguirre-Muñoz A, Rodríguez-Malagón M, Samaniego-Herrera A, Luna-Mendoza L, Ortiz-Alcaraz A, Méndez-Sánchez F, Félix-Lizárraga M, Latofski-Robles M (2011a) Community and social actors involvement in conservation on Mexican islands. In: Island invasives: eradication and management. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives. IUCN, Gland
Aguirre-Muñoz A, Samaniego-Herrera A, Luna-Mendoza L, Ortiz-Alcaraz A, Rodríguez-Malagón M, Méndez-Sánchez F, Félix-Lizárraga M, Hernández-Montoya JC, González-Gómez R, Torres-García F, Barredo Barberena JM, Latofski-Robles M (2011b) Island restoration in Mexico: ecological outcomes after systematic eradications of invasive mammals. In: Island invasives: eradication and management. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives. IUCN, Gland
Aguirre-Muñoz A, Samaniego-Herrera A, Luna-Mendoza L, Ortiz-Alcaraz A, Méndez-Sánchez F, Hernández-Montoya J (2016) La restauración ambiental exitosa de las islas de México: una reflexión sobre los avances a la fecha y los retos por venir. In: Ceccon E, Martínez-Garza C (eds) Experiencias mexicanas en la restauración de los ecosistemas. CRIM-UNAM, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Morelos, CONABIO, Mexico, pp 487–512
Aguirre-Muñoz A, Méndez-Sánchez F, Latofski-Robles M, Salizzoni-Chávez K, Luna-Mendoza L, Ortiz-Alcaraz A, Hernández-Montoya J, Bedolla-Guzmán Y Rojas Mayoral E (2017) Avances en la conservación y restauración integral de las islas de Mexico y mejoras al marco legal para consolidar la trayectoria positiva. In: Born-Schmidt G, De Alba F, Parpal J and Koleff P. (Coords) Principales retos que enfrenta México ante las especies exóticas invasoras. Centro de Estudios Sociales y de Opinión Pública. México, DF, pp 225–255.
Bedolla-Guzmán Y, Aguirre-Muñoz A, Méndez-Sánchez F, Luna-Mendoza L, Ortiz-Alcaraz A, Hernández-Montoya J, Latofski-Robles M, Rojas-Mayoral E, Félix-Lizárraga M, Torres-García F, Fabila-Blanco A, Hernández-Ríos A, Bravo-Hernández E, Solís-Carlos F, Corrales-Sauceda M, Aguilar-Vargas A, Aztorga-Ornelas A (in press) Seabird restoration on Mexican islands following the eradication of invasive mammals. In: Veitch CR et al. (Eds) Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives. IUCN, Gland.
Boyd C, Brooks TM, Butchart SHM, Edgar GJ, Da Fonseca GAB, Hawkins F, Van Dijk PP (2008) Spatial scale and the conservation of threatened species. Conserv Lett 1:37–43
Clout MN, Williams PA (2009) Invasive species management: a handbook of principles and techniques. Oxford University Press, New York
Conabio (2007) Análisis de vacíos y omisiones en conservación de la biodiversidad marina de México: océanos, costas e islas. Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, The Nature Conservancy-Programa México, Pronatura, A.C, México
Croxall JP, Butchart SHM, Lascelles B, Stattersfield AJ, Sullivan B, Symes A, Taylor P (2012) Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment. Bird Conserv Int 22(01):1–34
Cushman JH (1995) Ecosystem-level consequences of species additions and deletions on islands. In: Vitousek PM, Loope LL, Adsersen H (eds) Islands. Springer, Berlin, pp 135–147
Dibble S (2016) Mexico establishes a vast marine reserve surrounding islands off Baja California. News article, Los Angeles Time, December 11, 2016. Available online.
DOF (2016) DECRETO por el que se declara Área Natural Protegida, con el carácter de reserva de la biosfera, la región conocida como Islas del Pacífico de la Península de Baja California. Diario Oficial de la Federación, miércoles 7 de diciembre de 2016. Available at: http://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5464451andfecha=07/12/2016
Doherty TS, Glen AS, Nimmo DG, Ritchie EG, Dickman CR (2016) Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss. Proc Natl Acad Sci 113(40):11261–11265
Early R, Bradley BA, Dukes JS, Lawler JJ, Olden JD, Blumenthal DM, Gonzalez P, Grosholz ED, Ibanez I, Miller LP, Sorte CJB, Tatem AJ (2016) Global threats from invasive alien species in the twenty-first century and national response capacities. Nat Commun 7:12485. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12485
inegi (2013) Conjunto de Datos del Territorio Insular Mexicano Escala 1:50,000. Versión 2.0. Instituto Nacional Estadística y Geografía
inegi (2015) Catálogo del Territorio Insular Mexicano. Aguascalientes, Ags. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, México
inegi (2016) Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010, Principales Resultados por Localidad (iter). Accessed 02/03/2016. Available at: http://www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/iter/default.aspx?ev=5
Groombridge B, Jenkins MD (2002) World atlas of biodiversity. University of California Press, Berkeley
IUCN (2018) Commitments toward achieving the Honolulu challenge. Available at: https://www.iucn.org/theme/species/our-work/invasive-species/honolulu-challenge-invasive-alien-species/commitments-towards-achieving-honolulu-challenge. Accessed 23/02/2018
Jones HP, Kress SW (2012) A review of the world’s active seabird restoration projects. J Wildl Manag 76:2–9
Jørgensen D (2013) Ecological restoration in the convention on biological diversity targets. Biodivers Conserv 22:2977–2982
Junak S, Keitt B, Tershy B, Croll D, Luna-Mendoza L, Aguirre-Muñoz A (2005) Esfuerzos recientes de conservación y apuntes sobre el estado actual de la flora de Isla Guadalupe. In: Santos Del Prado K, Peter E (eds) Isla Guadalupe. INE, México
Kier G, Kreft H, Ming Lee T, Jetz W, Ibisch PL, Nowicki C, Mutke J, Barthlott W (2009) A global assessment of endemism and species richness across island and mainland regions. Proc Natl Acad Sci 106(23):9322–9327. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0810306106
Latofski-Robles M, Aguirre-Muñoz A, Méndez-Sánchez F, Reyes-Hernández H, Schlüter S (2014) Prioritizing restoration actions for the islands of México. Monogr West N Am Nat 7:435–441
Latofski-Robles M, Méndez-Sánchez F, Aguirre-Muñoz A, Jaúregui-García C, Salizzoni-Chávez K, Fernández-Ham G (2017) Diagnóstico de especies exóticas invasoras en seis areas naturals protegidas insulares, a fin de establecer actividades para su manejo. Reporte de actividades del año 2 (2016) dentro del proyecto GEF 0081866 Aumentar capacidades de México para manejar EEI a través de la implementación de la ENEI. Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas, A.C. Ensenada
Latofski-Robles M, Méndez-Sánchez F, Aguirre-Muñoz A, Jáuregui-García C, Koleff-Osorio P, González-Martínez AI, Born-Schmidt G, Bernal-Stoopen J, Rendón-Hernández E (in press) Mexico’s island biosecurity programme: collaborative formulation and implementation. In: Veitch CR et al. (Eds). Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives. IUCN, Gland.
Lövei GL, Lewinsohn TM (2012) Megadiverse developing countries face huge risks from invasives. Trends Ecol Evol 27:3–4
Mulongoy KJ, Webbe J, Ferreira M, Mittermeier C (2006) The wealth of islands – a global call for conservation. Special Issue of the CBD Technical Series, Montreal, vi+23 pages
Mulder CPH, Anderson WB, Towns DR, Bellingham PJ (2011) Seabird islands: ecology, invasion, and restoration. Oxford University Press, New York
Ortiz-Alcaraz A, Maya-Delgado Y, Cortés-Calva P, Aguirre-Muñoz A, Rojas-Mayoral E, Córdoba-Matson M, Ortega-Rubio A (2016) Recovery of vegetation cover and soil after the removal of sheep in Socorro Island, Mexico. Forests 7(4):91
Ortiz-Alcaraz A, Aguirre-Muñoz A, Arnaud-Franco G, Galina-Tessaro P, Rojas-Mayoral E, Méndez-Sánchez F, Ortega-Rubio A (2017) Avances en la erradicación de gato feral (Felis catus) y recuperación de la fauna nativa en Isla Socorro, Archipiélago de Revillagigedo, México. Therya 8(1):3–9
Reaser JK, Meyerson LA, Cronk Q, De Poorter M, Eldrege LG, Green E,… Vaiutu L (2007) Ecological and socioeconomic impacts of invasive alien species in island ecosystems. Environ Conserv 34:98–111
Rojas-Mayoral E, Méndez-Sánchez F, Aguirre-Muñoz A, Samaniego-Herrera A, Cárdenas-Tapia AG (in press) Improving the efficiency of aerial rodent eradications: the ad hoc development of NERD, and original mathematically founded implementation. In: Veitch CR et al. (Eds). Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives. IUCN, Gland.
Russell JC, Towns DR and Clout MN (2008) Review of rat invasion biology: Implications for island biosecurity. Science for Conservation 286. Department of Conservation, New Zealand, pp 1–53
Russell J (2011) Indirect effects of introduced predators on seabird islands. In: Mulder PH, Anderson WB, Towns D, Bellingham PJ (eds) Seabird Islands: ecology, invasion, and restoration. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 261–279
Samaniego-Herrera A, Bedolla-Guzmán Y (2012) Landcrabs (Decapoda, Brachyura, Gecarcinidae) on Isabel Island, Mexico, including a new record, and its relation to the removal of invasive rats. Crustaceana 85(8):1007–1011
Samaniego-Herrera A, Aguirre-Muñoz A, Bedolla-Guzmán Y, Cárdenas-Tapia A, Félix-Lizárraga M, Méndez-Sánchez F, Reina-Ponce O, Rojas-Mayoral E, Torres-García F (2017) Eradicating invasive rodents from wet and dry tropical islands in Mexico. Oryx. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605316001150
Simberloff D, Martin JL, Genovesi P, Maris V, Wardle DA, Aronson J, Courchamp F, Galil B, García-Berthou E, Pascal M, Pyšek P, Sousa R, Tabacchi E, Vilà M (2013) Impacts of biological invasions: what’s what and the way forward. Trends Ecol Evol 28(1):58–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2012.07.013
Towns DR, West CJ, Broome KG (2013) Purposes, outcomes and challenges of eradicating invasive mammals from New Zealand islands: an historical perspective. Wildl Res 40:94–107
Veitch CR, Clout MN (2002) Turning the tide: the eradication of invasive species, In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Eradication of Island Invasives. IUCN, Gland
Veitch CR, Clout MN, Towns DR (2011) Island invasives: eradication and management, In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives. Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission No. 42. IUCN/CBB, Gland/Auckland
Whittaker RJ, Fernández-Palacios JM (2007) Island biogeography: ecology, evolution and conservation, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press Inc, Nueva York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Aguirre-Muñoz, A. et al. (2018). The Conservation and Restoration of the Mexican Islands, a Successful Comprehensive and Collaborative Approach Relevant for Global Biodiversity. In: Ortega-Rubio, A. (eds) Mexican Natural Resources Management and Biodiversity Conservation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90584-6_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90584-6_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90583-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90584-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)