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Trophic pyramid with colombian fauna and flora species....

Based on books:

Amphibian Colombia. A country of wetlands

OrinoquiaViva

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Another Trophic pyramid take it of "Amphibian Colombia. A country of wetlands"

http://www.humboldt.org.co/en/boletines-y-comunicados/item/806-colombiaanfibiav1-en

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Reintroduction of grey wolves into the National Park

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Reintroduction of grey wolves into the National Park

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The wolves were brought in because the increased elk population was overgrazing the deciduous, woody species such as aspen and cottonwood..

¡Interactions everywhere!

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On a quiet spring morning, a resounding "Slap!" reverberates through the air above a remote stream leading to Lake Yellowstone. Over much of the past century, it has been a rarely heard noise in the soundscape that is Yellowstone National Park, but today is growing more common-the sound of a beaver slapping its tail on the water as a warning to other beavers.

When the grey wolf was reintroduced into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in 1995, there was only one beaver colony in the park, said Doug Smith, a wildlife biologist in charge of the Yellowstone Wolf Project.

Today, the park is home to nine beaver colonies, with the promise of more to come, as the reintroduction of wolves continues to astonish biologists with a ripple of direct and indirect consequences throughout the ecosystem.

A flourishing beaver population is just one of those consequences, said Smith.

A Yellowstone Beaver's Tale of Elk

What happened, said Smith, is that the presence of wolves triggered a still-unfolding cascade effect among animals and plants-one that will take decades of research to understand.

"It is like kicking a pebble down a mountain slope where conditions were just right that a falling pebble could trigger an avalanche of change," Smith mused.

So how did this avalanche of change work out for the beaver?

To answer that, you have to go back to the 1930s, when the wolf was killed off in Yellowstone. Even though Yellowstone elk were still preyed upon by black and grizzly bears, cougars and, to a lesser extent, coyotes, the absence of wolves took a huge amount of predatory pressure off the elk, said Smith. As a result, elk populations did very well-perhaps too well. Two things happened: the elk pushed the limits of Yellowstone's carrying capacity, and they didn't move around much in the winter-browsing heavily on young willow, aspen and cottonwood plants. That was tough for beaver, who need willows to survive in winter.

Healthier Willow Stands in Yellowstone

This created a counterintuitive situation. Back in 1968, said Smith, when the elk population was about a third what it is today, the willow stands along streams were in bad shape. Today, with three times as many elk, willow stands are robust. Why? Because the predatory pressure from wolves keeps elk on the move, so they don't have time to intensely browse the willow.

Indeed, a research project headed by the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins found that the combination of intense elk browsing on willows and simulated beaver cuttings produced stunted willow stands. Conversely, simulated beaver cutting without elk browsing produced verdant, healthy stands of willow. In the three-year experiment, willow stem biomass was 10 times greater on unbrowsed plants than on browsed plants. Unbrowsed plants recovered 84 percent of their pre-cut biomass after only two growing seasons, whereas browsed plants recovered only 6 percent.

With elk on the move during the winter, willow stands recovered from intense browsing, and beaver rediscovered an abundant food source that hadn't been there earlier.

As the beavers spread and built new dams and ponds, the cascade effect continued, said Smith. Beaver dams have multiple effects on stream hydrology. They even out the seasonal pulses of runoff; store water for recharging the water table; and provide cold, shaded water for fish, while the now robust willow stands provide habitat for songbirds.

"What we're finding is that ecosystems are incredibly complex," he said. In addition to wolves changing the feeding habits of elk, the rebound of the beaver in Yellowstone may also have been affected by the 1988 Yellowstone fires, the ongoing drought, warmer and drier winters and other factors yet to be discovered, Smith said.

Yellowstone Wolf Trophic Cascade

Biologists are often faced with the grim task of documenting the cascade effects of what happens when a species is removed from an ecosystem, by local extirpation or even extinction. In Yellowstone, biologists have the rare, almost unique, opportunity to document what happens when an ecosystem becomes whole again, what happens when a key species is added back into the ecosystem equation.

"In the entire scientific literature, there are only five or six comparable circumstances," Smith said. "What we're seeing now is a feeding frenzy of scientific research."

Scott Creel, an ecology professor at Montana State University, is hip-deep in that feeding frenzy.

"My research has been in the Gallatin Canyon," said Creel, where elk inhabit four drainages. Wolves come and go, he said, enabling him to study what elk do in the presence and absence of wolves.

"Elk have proven to be pretty adaptable," Creel said. "When wolves are around, they're more vigilant and do less foraging."

Elk move into heavy timber when wolves are around, Creel added, but return to the grassy, open meadows when wolves go away. Creel and other researchers are still working out what that means in terms of the elk's diet and whether there are costs associated with this behavior.

Rather surprisingly, elk herd size breaks up into smaller units when wolves are around, said Creel, who had expected herd size to get bigger as a defense mechanism. "I think they're trying to avoid encounters with wolves," he said, by being more vigilant, moving into the timber and gathering in smaller herd units.

Yellowstone Wolves are Food Distributors

Researchers have also determined that wolves, in the recent absence of hard winters, are now the primary reason for elk mortality. Before wolf reintroduction, deep snows were the main determinant of whether an elk was going to die.

Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley determined that the combination of less snow and more wolves has benefited scavengers both big and small, from ravens to grizzly bears.

Instead of a boom and bust cycle of elk carrion availability-as existed before wolves and when winters were harder-there's now a more equitable distribution of carrion throughout winter and early spring, said Chris Wilmers in the on-line journal Public Library of Science Biology. He added that scavengers that once relied on winter-killed elk for food now depend on wolf-killed elk. That benefits ravens, eagles, magpies, coyotes and bears (grizzly and black), especially as the bears emerge hungry from hibernation.

"I call it food for the masses," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He said he was genuinely surprised by the vast web of life that is linked to wolf kills. "Beetles, wolverine, lynx and more," he said. "It turns out that the Indian legends of ravens following wolves are true-they do follow them because wolves mean food."

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On a quiet spring morning, a resounding "Slap!" reverberates through the air above a remote stream leading to Lake Yellowstone. Over much of the past century, it has been a rarely heard noise in the soundscape that is Yellowstone National Park, but today is growing more common-the sound of a beaver slapping its tail on the water as a warning to other beavers.

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Predator-prey interactions are one of the most important ways that species interact in ecological communities...

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The niche is not a place in space. The niche is the function of the organism in the ecosystem!!!

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This article describe jaguar (Panthera onca) predation on caiman (Caiman crocodilus crocodilus and Melanosuchus niger) and their eggs in an area of extensive varzea forest in the western Brazilian Amazon...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232691313_Depredation_by_Jaguars_on_Caimans_and_Importance_of_Reptiles_in_the_Diet_of_Jaguar

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This Note reports observations that constitute the first
record of a predation event carried out by the spider
Ancylometes bogotensis on the frog Elachistocleis panamensis in
Montes de María, Sucre, Colombia..

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329972266_Predation_of_the_frog_Elachistocleis_panamensis_by_the_spider_Ancylometes_bogotensis_first_record

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Cues used by Predators to Detect Freshwater Turtle Nests may Persist Late into Incubation

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287326083_Cues_used_by_Predators_to_Detect_Freshwater_Turtle_Nests_may_Persist_Late_into_Incubation

Photo by: Michael Runtz

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Turtle ectoparasites from the Pacific coastal region of Colombia

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Turtle ectoparasites from the Pacific coastal region of Colombia

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Turtles serve as hosts to a variety of blood-feeding ectoparasites, of which the most commonly encountered are ticks (Acari) and leeches (Hirudinea)

http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v13n3/es/fullpaper?bn01313032013+en

Photo by: Joel Sartore

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Ecological functions of neotropical amphibians and reptiles: a review

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Ecological functions of neotropical amphibians and reptiles: a review

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This article provide us a robust database platform for future studies on how herps affect ecosystem functioning in the Neotropics, and how they are responding to the ongoing environmental changes within these ecosystems....

You should read it!!!

http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?pid=S0122-74832015000200007&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en

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Positive interactions in ecology: filling the fundamental niche

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Positive interactions in ecology: filling the fundamental niche

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Here, they show us that, the realized niche of a species can never be larger than the fundamental niche...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255483996_Positive_interactions_in_ecology_filling_the_fundamental_niche

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The Freswater turtle from the Amazon and Orinoquia, commonly known as the Yellow-spotted Sideneck turtle or Terecay. Baby turtles have yellow spots on the head, coloration that usually remains in adult males.

Distribution:  P. unifilis is primarily found in South America, including Guyana, Venezuela, eastern Colombia, and along the Amazon River in Brazil.

Habitat: Main courses of large rivers, backwaters, tributaries, oxbow lakes, lakes, ponds, lagoons and flooded forests; in all types of water (clear, white and black). Although it is a fundamentally aquatic species, it also basking.

Behaviour: P. unifilis are active during the mid-morning and afternoon peaks; they enjoy
basking together on fallen trees and other objects stationed in the center of the river and sometimes along riverbanks (https://multimedia20stg.blob.core.windows.net/especies/podocnemis_3789.jpg).

It is a widely herbivorous species, feeds mainly on grasses and thin branches, but sometimes can feed on small animals such as bivalves.

In addition to directly feeding on fallen fruits, this species also employs a unique feeding niche, neustophagia, whereby they float at the surface of the water and suck in the film of floating algae, insects, and other plant material that is floating on the surface of the water.

Based on: http://catalogo.biodiversidad.co/file/59718a762f4fd7bc7f3a747f/details

Photo: by me :)

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Ectoparasites associated with high mountain Frogs in the Central Cordillera of Colombia: Ecological and Histological analysis.

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Ectoparasites associated with high mountain Frogs in the Central Cordillera of Colombia: Ecological and Histological analysis.

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I want to share with you the abstract of an interesting work done by my biologist friend Yuly García.

This study is the the first report for Colombia of mites parasitizing anurans.

... Anuran specimens with the symptoms of an infestation by mite larvae were collected in the Central Cordillera of Colombia. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between some ecological and biological aspects of the species and the presence of the parasite. In addition, to describe the structure of healthy tissue and infested tissue.

Among the species examined, Pristimantis permixtus, Pristimantis parectatu s and Niceforonia adenobrachia present a greater susceptibility to infestation by the parasite.

The highest number of infested individuals was recorded between 2800 and 3000 m asl...

If you want to know more about this, you can write her: yulyandrea214@gmail.com

Photo by: Juan M. Daza

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This new species of glassfrog presents a dorsal iris with a silvery-white, crescentshaped mark, a unique characteristic among currently known centrolenids.

Distribution: is endemic to the Northern Colombian Central Cordillera and currently known in sub-Andean and Andean forest from five localities in Departamento de Antioquia, 980–1,630 m asl.

Natural history: This glassfrog is active at night in bushes and ferns in
the margin of a low flow stream (ca., five meters wide).Froglets and females were observed perched on the vegetation at height of 100–200  cm approx. and males
call from the upper surfaces of leaves and sticks along streams at height of 50–250 cm approx and in these same  places, Females deposit pigmented eggs.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319397725_A_Remarkable_New_White-Eyed_Glassfrog_Species_of_Sachatamia_from_Colombia

Photo: by me :)

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Niche partitioning among frugivorous fishes in response to fluctuating resources in the Amazonian floodplain forest

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Niche partitioning among frugivorous fishes in response to fluctuating resources in the Amazonian floodplain forest

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During times of high fruit abundance, fishes consumed items to which their functional morphological traits seemed best adapted, potentially enhancing net energy and nutritional gains. As the annual flood pulse subsided and availability of forest food resources in aquatic habitats changed, there was not a consistent pattern of diet breadth expansion or compression.

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/13-0393.1#accessDenialLayout

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Ectoparasites (Argulidae, Cymothoidae, Corallanidae) in freshwater rays (Potamotrygonidae) of the Colombian Orinoquia

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Ectoparasites (Argulidae, Cymothoidae, Corallanidae) in freshwater rays (Potamotrygonidae) of the Colombian Orinoquia

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Four species of ectoparasite crustaceans are registered for the first time from the Orinoco River Basin (Colombia) in freshwater stingrays of the family Potamotrygonidae, genus Potamotrygon.

http://revistas.humboldt.org.co/index.php/biota/article/view/531

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Antipredatory Behaviors of the Colombian Endemic Galssfrog Centrolene savagei (Anura: Centrolenidae)

Predation has been an important agent of natural selection which has led the evolution of several characteristics of amphibians, such as toxic and distasteful skin secretions, cryptic and aposematic coloration, and a variety of defensive postures and behaviors...

See the article...
http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?pid=S0123-30682012000100019&script=sci_arttext&tlng=pt

Photo by: Sebastian Moreno

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The Herpetological Museum of the University of Antioquia (in Spanish: Museo de Herpetología Universidad de Antioquia - MHUA) was created in 1998 as an outgrowth of research projects conducted principally in the Antioquia department, financed by the Corporación Autonoma del Centro de Antioquia (Corantioquia), the Universidad de Antioquia, the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (sede Medellín), and Colciencias. At present, the collection contains more than 14,000 specimens.

https://grupoherpetologicodeantioquia.org/museum

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Department of Antioquia with an area of 63,326.5 km2 is the most significant political division represented in the MHUA collection with 1,033 sampling localities and 8,544 specimens. Collection effort per locality varies from 1 up to 318 specimen...

.... Altitudinally, specimens in MHUA represents since sea level up to 4000 m. asl., however, the majority of collections have been made in low and mid lands (below 2000 m asl).

MHUA's tissue collection has more than 8,000 samples of almost 700 species.

The figure below show us the Geographic distributions of specimens deposited in MHUA collection...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4339813/

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Comparative Analysis of the Structure, Composition and Mechanical properties of fangs of three colombian vipers species.

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Comparative Analysis of the Structure, Composition and Mechanical properties of fangs of three colombian vipers species.

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The vipers' fangs have an elongated and hollow structure that allows to inject poison efficiently. These teeth are constituted by ceramic biological materials that tend to be fragile, however these fangs can withstand high mechanical efforts that are derived from situations of defense and predation. The integration of high mechanical strength in ceramic structures, slender and recessed has been a challenge for engineers and designers, which makes these fangs an interesting case study....

...The recessed fangs of vipers are resistant structures despite their geometric and constitutive conditions, which can serve as inspiration for the development of new ceramic and composite materials...

If you want to know more about this, you can write to Susana Estrada: 	sestrad8@eafit.edu.co

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When comparing my padlets with other Bioareas (Greece, Belgium, Madagascar, Philippines, Mexico ...) I realized that the threats to diversity are general and very unspecific, because we humans are the main destroyers... :(

Factors such as overexploitation, loss of habitat, waste garbage, invasive species and climate change are the most common threats among bioareas ... The anthropogenic pressure towards the environment is leading us to a "tunnel without exit".

It's nice to meet other countries in this way.. ¡Thanks Biotalent course!

Learning from the biology of different species of fauna and flora and even from the "environmental history" each country has been the most comforting for me, 'cause I'm a conservation biologist, who wants to know and generate knowledge about the biology of species and even more about the causes that threaten them ....

We can only appreciate and preserve what we know!!

...Each country is unique in terms of endemic biodiversity..!!!!

I love reading bioareas of Claude Fabi and Harold Buenvenida... Knowing these two countries (Madagascar and the Philippines) beyond what tourism offers, is priceless!

As well as Colombia, the geographical position and evolutionary history  has turned them into hot spots of biodiversity...

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Could roads restraint the movement of small mammals in Andean forests of Colombia? Study case in the bosque de Yotoco, Valle del Cauca

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Could roads restraint the movement of small mammals in Andean forests of Colombia? Study case in the bosque de Yotoco, Valle del Cauca

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Our data suggest that these species exhibited partial inhibition to cross the monitored road. These mammal species are from forest edges and disturbed areas, thus suggesting a stronger or total crossroad inhibition in species from the forest interior.

http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0366-52322012000200011

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The (MADS) partially lifted the ban on the trade of the alligator (Crocodylus acutus), in the Integrated Management District (DMI) of the mangroves of Cispatá Bay, Tinajoes, La Balsa and surrounding areas, in the department of Córdoba.

http://www.humboldt.org.co/es/boletines-y-comunicados/item/1306-gobierno-nacional-autoriza-comercio-de-piel-de-caiman-aguja

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Conservation and trafficking of the Matamata Turtle, in Colombia

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Conservation and trafficking of the Matamata Turtle, in Colombia

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We present the results of an interinstitutional initiative that verified the provenance of several groups of the Matamata Turtle (Chelus fimbriata), confiscated in the city of Leticia, department of Amazonas, Colombia, with molecular tools. The confiscated turtles corresponded to specimens captured in the Orinoquia region, and apparently were destined to Peru as part of a network of illegal trafficking

https://ceo.uniandes.edu.co/images/Mata_Mata.pdf

Photo by: Me :)

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Reptile mortality on roads in the colombian eastern llanos foothill

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Reptile mortality on roads in the colombian eastern llanos foothill

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The calculated collision rates have an inverse relationship with the type of coverage since the presence of forests, bushes and wetlands are related to fewer collisions.

https://search.proquest.com/openview/b40ca75783b5e09ed5bbab178e0d8f0b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2035741

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Turtles are one of the most threatened vertebrate groups in the world, with more than half of the species currently facing extinction (Turtle Taxonomy Working Group, 2014).

See more about this in the chapter 19 titled "Threats to the populations of continental turtles of Colombia" in the book of continental turtles of Colombia.

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The Critically Endangered Magdalena river turtle (Podocnemis lewyana) is endemic to Colombia with its presence documented in the Sinú and Magdalena drainages, including the lower Cauca, San Jorge, and Nechí tributaries.

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/17823/1528580

Photo by: Joel Sartore

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The Critically Endangered Dahl's toad-headed turtle (Mesoclemmys dahli) is endemic to the dry forests of northern Colombia.

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/17080/97269302

Photo by: Guido F. Medina-Rangel

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The Vulnerable Dunn's Mud Turtle or Colombian Mud Turtle (Kinosternon dunni) is endemic to the streams and marshes in the Río Baudó, Río Docampadó, Río San Juan, and Río Atrato drainage basins of the Departamento del Chocó in western Colombia.

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/11008/97380532

Photo by: Germán Forero-Medina

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The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) has been the most popular turtle in the pet trade with more than 52 million individuals exported from the United States to foreign markets between 1989 and 1997.

http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=71

Photo By: Cesar Medolago

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The common house gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus, is a native species from Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. It has been found extensively in areas of the tropics both in the Old as well as the New World.

http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/speciesname/Hemidactylus+frenatus

Photo by: Alex Vargas

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The Antilles coquí frog Eleutherodactylus johnstonei, is considered an invasive species in several countries of Central and South America.

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/56684/11505248#geographic-range

https://www.batrachia.com/orden-anura/eleutherodactylidae-7-spp/eleutherodactylus/

Photo by: Juan David Fernandez

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Confirming the presence of a fourth species of non-nativehouse gecko of the genus Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) in Colombia.

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Confirming the presence of a fourth species of non-nativehouse gecko of the genus Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) in Colombia.

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In January 2018, several photographs of Hemidactylus frenatus from Colombia posted in iNaturalist.org, were noticed to have some morphological features related to Hemidactylus garnotii.

This discrepancy led us to inspect museum specimens and to confirm the presence of H. garnotii for more than a decade in Colombia.

https://checklist.pensoft.net/article/26019/

Photo by: Daniel Vásquez-Restrepo

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Check this link :)

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Especies invasoras se calcula que en Colombia hay más de 300

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Hay más de 300 especies invasoras en Colombia

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Un nuevo informe de la Universidad Nacional y el Jardín Botánico de Bogotá muestra nuevas cifras sobre esta situación.

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Adapting to a changing climate in Colombia.

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Adapting to a changing climate in Colombia.

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Already, climate change is wreaking havoc in parts of Colombia — causing flooding, landslides, changes in water provision, impacts on human health and more.

https://www.conservation.org/projects/Pages/Adapting-to-a-Changing-Climate-in-Colombia.aspx

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Effects of climate change on species distribution, community structure, and conservation of birds in protected areas in Colombia

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Effects of climate change on species distribution, community structure, and conservation of birds in protected areas in Colombia

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Species are projected to lose on average between 33 and 43 % of their total range under future climate, and up to 18 species may lose their climatically suitable range completely. Species whose suitable climate is projected to disappear occur in mountainous regions, particularly isolated ranges such as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jorge_Velasquez-Tibata/publication/257480429_Effects_of_climate_change_on_species_distribution_community_structure_and_conservation_of_birds_in_protected_areas_in_Colombia/links/00b49529f59ca1b78c000000.pdf

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Amphibian and Reptile' Diversity and Endemism patterms along Andean Gradients in Colombia: Possible responses to Climate change

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Amphibian and Reptile' Diversity and Endemism patterms along Andean Gradients in Colombia: Possible responses to Climate change

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Urbina-Cardona, 2011 suggests that the species of amphibians and reptiles more vulnerable to climate change in Colombia could be those inhabiting Andean forests (and paramos) and have narrow elevational ranges. In this regard, Andean species may disappear sequentially in association with changes in extreme weather events, loss of fog, loss of food and the disappearance of epiphytes in the forests, between other critical microhabitats for breeding, foraging and shelter.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/216838815_Gradientes_andinos_en_la_diversidad_y_patrones_de_endemismo_en_anfibios_y_reptiles_de_Colombia_Posibles_respuestas_al_cambio_climatico

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Colombian scientist believes that this generation can reverse climate change

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Colombian scientist believes that this generation can reverse climate change

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Carolina García, one of the scientists who travel the Antarctic, explains that in a country as vulnerable as Colombia, the first step is to stop deforestation.

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La colombiana Carolina García, una de las 80 líderes científicas que recorren la Antártida y quien se ha dedicado a estudiar estrategias de sostenibilidad globales, considera que su generación es la primera que sufre el impacto devastador del cambio climático y la última que puede revertirlo.

García, abogada de 29 años especializada en Economía, habló con Efe en el marco de la expedición por la Antártida de Homeward Bound, un programa australiano, apoyado por la empresa española Acciona, que busca impulsar el liderazgo femenino y la visibilidad de las mujeres en los asuntos globales como el cambio climático.

Su interés por asuntos ambientales la ha llevado a formar parte activamente en la búsqueda de estrategias de sostenibilidad que ha usado de base para libros de su coautoría como Cambio climático: lo que está en juego.
¿Por qué se interesó en el tema de la sostenibilidad?
Desde que estaba chiquita mi familia me inculcó el amor por la naturaleza, el amor por los animales. Pero fue al entrar a estudiar Derecho que me di cuenta de los grandes problemas que nos acechan hoy en el mundo: cambio climático, la pérdida de la biodiversidad, la crisis de los desechos y cuando me doy cuenta de esa dimensión, ahí decido que quiero dedicar mi vida a trabajar en estos temas.

Eso lo he reafirmado a medida que me doy cuenta de la urgencia que tenemos, y de la gran responsabilidad, porque nosotros somos la primera generación que sufre los impactos devastadores del cambio climático y la última que puede hacer algo para revertirlo.
Lea también: El grupo de mujeres científicas logra cruzar la Antártida ¿Cómo puede jugar un papel importante Colombia ante el cambio climático?
Colombia es un país muy vulnerable al cambio climático y por eso tiene que invertir muchísimo en adaptación. Qué es lo primero que debemos hacer: frenar la deforestación.

En Colombia la principal causa de emisiones de gases efecto invernadero es la deforestación y los cambios en el uso de suelo para ganadería y agricultura. Estamos en una situación crítica, tan solo el año pasado se deforestaron 219.000 hectáreas, un 23 por ciento más que el año anterior.
Usted participó como coautora de un libro sobre qué está en juego con el cambio climático, ¿Qué concluyeron con ese análisis?
Queríamos darle a cualquier ciudadano una hoja de ruta para entender qué es el cambio climático, cuáles son sus principales impactos, que se puede hacer para revertirlo, y cómo estamos trabajando colectivamente a nivel nacional y a nivel global para hacerle frente a esa problemática.
¿Cuál es el papel de la mujer en esta problemática?
Más de la mitad de la población global son mujeres y, desafortunadamente, no tenemos esa misma equidad en la toma de decisiones, ni a nivel de Gobierno ni empresarial.

Lo que estamos viendo es que las decisiones se están tomando en ambientes controlados, en los que participan más hombres que mujeres, ahí nos estamos perdiendo una enorme diversidad, porque los ambientes más diversos no solamente son mas productivos y más creativos, sino que también, allí se toman mejores decisiones.

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Científica colombiana cree que esta generación puede revertir el cambio climático | ELESPECTADOR.COM

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La colombiana Carolina García, una de las 80 líderes científicas que recorren la Antártida y quien se ha dedicado a estudiar estrategias de sostenibilidad globales, considera que su generación es la primera que sufre el impacto devastador del cambio climático y la última que puede revertirlo.

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Could sport hunting be an economic and species conservation alternative?

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Could sport hunting be an economic and species conservation alternative?

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¿Podría ser la caza deportiva una alternativa económica y de conservación de especies?

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En Colombia se acaba de prohibir esta práctica. Sin embargo, países como Argentina, México, Sudáfrica, Namibia y España han hecho de la caza deportiva un negocio que les genera ingresos al país, de los cuales una parte se destinan a conservación.

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¿Podría ser la caza deportiva una alternativa económica y de conservación de especies?

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En Colombia se acaba de prohibir esta práctica. Sin embargo, países como Argentina, México, Sudáfrica, Namibia y España han hecho de la caza deportiva un negocio que les genera ingresos al país, de los cuales una parte se destinan a conservación.

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Andean frogs will lose more than 50% of territory due to climate change.

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Andean frogs will lose more than 50% of territory due to climate change.

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En un escenario optimista, en 2050 el 80 % de las ranas estudiadas, que viven en la Región Andina de Colombia, perderá más del 50 % de las áreas que habitan hoy; en un escenario tendencial, sería el 96 % de las especies el que perdería esa proporción de sus hábitats. También se estima que las ranas que se encuentran en ecosistemas de páramos y bosques de niebla estarían entre las más afectadas.

Esto fue establecido por el estudiante William Agudelo Henríquez, del Doctorado en Ciencias - Biología, quien trabaja con el grupo de Ecología del Paisaje y Modelación de Ecosistemas (Ecolmod), del programa de Biología de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia (U.N.).

A partir de un estudio realizado sobre bases de datos de localidades de ranas, y de relacionar esta información con variables climáticas asociadas con precipitaciones y temperatura, se adelantó un modelo de distribución potencial para 30 especies de ranas, con el fin de establecer el impacto que tendrán a largo plazo el cambio climático y la pérdida de hábitat.
Peligro de extinción
"Drásticos cambios en la temperatura, además de sequías más prolongadas o heladas más intensas de lo habitual, constituirán un desafío fisiológico para la supervivencia de las ranas", anticipa el doctorante, para quien la velocidad con que se están registrando esos cambios impedirá un proceso de adaptación similar al ocurrido en otros periodos evolutivos.

El cálculo de la pérdida en el área de ocupación de las ranas es un criterio de evaluación del riesgo de extinción propuesto por la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (IUCN), y si esta tendencia se mantiene, para 2050 desaparecerán entre una y seis especies de ranas debido a los efectos del cambio climático, además de las intervenciones que se sigan haciendo en las grandes extensiones de las áreas naturales de la Región Andina.

"Independientemente de la pérdida de bosques por actividades asociadas con la agricultura o la ganadería, los impactos serán muy similares", destaca el doctorante, quien considera que tomar medidas que contribuyan a mitigar los efectos producidos por emisiones de carbono y mejorar prácticas relacionadas con la producción de alimento y pastos para ganado mitigaría el impacto en un 18 %.
Cambios inminentes
Los escenarios de cambio climático para los Andes de Colombia indican que para 2050 las temperaturas podrían aumentar entre 1,4 y 1,6 °C, mientras que los escenarios de cambio en el uso del suelo proyectan una reducción del 14 al 15 % de los páramos y del 15 al 20 % de los bosques andinos, de manera que las proyecciones sobre los anuros andinos se realizaron según estas premisas.

El estudio contempló el análisis de especies de ranas endémicas, las cuales pertenecen cuatro familias: Bufonidae, con cuatro especies; Centrolenidae, o ranas cristal, con dos especies; Craugastoridae, o ranas de lluvias, con 22 especies que habitan en los bosques de niebla, y Hylidae, con dos especies, cuya particularidad es que se encuentran por encima de los 1.000 m de altura y son representativas de los ecosistemas de bosques subandino y de niebla, y de los páramos.

Se sabe que la neblina es un protector natural contra los efectos de los rayos ultravioleta, y como el aumento en la temperatura y los cambios en la precipitación alterarían la nubosidad típica de estos ecosistemas, sus efectos se verían reflejados en el desarrollo normal de las ranas.

En tal sentido, se afectarían las etapas tempranas del desarrollo, es decir que los embriones podrían estar en microhábitats con niveles de humedad inadecuados o sufrir mutaciones que alterarían su evolución, precisa el doctorante.

Como las ranas tienden a ubicarse en lugares específicos y las características propias de cada especie hacen que sus respectivos hábitats sean muy limitados, el cambio de uso del suelo para actividades relacionadas con agricultura y ganadería limitaría estas zonas entre un 63 y 79 %, aunque en algunos casos las pérdidas podrían alcanzar el 100 % según el destino que se le dé al terreno.

Las ranas dependen mucho de sus microhábitats y son más vulnerables que otros animales porque su capacidad de moverse es limitada, puntualiza el doctorante, quien llama la atención sobre las posibles implicaciones que tendría la extinción de ranas sobre el control natural de plagas como insectos y hormigas, además de su incidencia en la cadena alimenticia para especies como murciélagos, serpientes y otros depredadores.

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Ranas andinas perderán más del 50 % de territorio por cambio climático | ELESPECTADOR.COM

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En un escenario optimista, en 2050 el 80 % de las ranas estudiadas, que viven en la Región Andina de Colombia, perderá más del 50 % de las áreas que habitan hoy; en un escenario tendencial, sería el 96 % de las especies el que perdería esa proporción de sus hábitats.

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As the bird flies: 50 years of illegal Amazonian bird market.

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As the bird flies: 50 years of illegal Amazonian bird market.

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A vuelo de pájaro 50 años de mercado ilegal de aves amazónicas

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Cinco décadas de investigación dan como resultado una reducción sustancial del comercio ilegal internacional de aves sudamericanas. Aunque falta mucho por hacer, el avance pone a la región por encima de lugares como el sudeste asiático.

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centro de rehabilitación de fauna silvestre

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A vuelo de pájaro: 50 años de mercado ilegal de aves amazónicas

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Cinco décadas de investigación dan como resultado una reducción sustancial del comercio ilegal internacional de aves sudamericanas. Aunque falta mucho por hacer, el avance pone a la región por encima de lugares como el sudeste asiático.