Invasive species in Mexico
[10] One exemplary result is the Gulf Islands of California, where the initiative of some individuals and civil society organizations is supported by an inter-institutional collaboration and international cooperation.
Some examples of species that have been reduced almost to extinction are the Mexican shearwater (Puffinus opisthomelas), Cassin's auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus), and Xantus's murrelet (Synthliboramphus hypoleucus).
[15] Extinct species include the Guadalupe storm petrel (Oceanodroma macrodactyla), the Socorro dove (Zenaida graysoni) and an endemic sparrow of Todos Santos Island (Aimophila ruficeps sanctorum).
Cats are one of the most important risk factors for waterfowl populations of Ángel de la Guarda Island, San Marcos, Carmen, Santa Catalina and Cerralvo (Velarde and Anderson, 1994).
[20] The American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) is native to Canada and the eastern United States, and was introduced in the early 1900s to Colorado and California.
[25] Japanese and red-eared turtles (Trachemys scripta) are native to the country and sold in many pet stores, in most cases released when the owners see the size at which they reach adulthood.
The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) was originally distributed in the Middle East to the Mediterranean region, and was introduced in 1850 in North America.
Once established, they inhibit seed germination or development of native species, and can dominate the vegetation, preventing the disturbed ecosystem from restoring itself.
[28] Eucalyptus globulus was brought to Mexico since it had a history of being successfully employed for this kind of sanitation in Spain and Italy in the last third of the past century, as well as for its possible medical uses.
The case of Eucalyptus globulus is a clear example of how human action contributed to the presence of invasive species in Mexico.
[35] Loss and degradation of biodiversity can occur from a genetic level to a systemic one, causing alterations to habitats, fundamental ecological properties of the ecosystem, chemical characteristics of the water, biogeochemical processes, and trophic nets.
[40] The states most affected are Nuevo León and Coahuila, and the principal causes are the reduction or alteration of habitat, loss of water, and introduction of foreign species.
[42] Some invasive species can distinctly affect fisheries, as with lampreys,[43] the control of which caused losses of more than 500 million dollars per year.
[46] Due to its high reproductive potential (as a parthenogenic species), it modifies the conditions of the habitat, and it carries trematoda such as Clonorchis sinensis, a parasite that can damage the human liver.
[49] The displacement of native charal (genus chirostoma) by two species of centralized foreign invaders, the black bass (Micropterus salmoides) and the bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), is the subject of a case study on prey in the Bravo Valley, State of Mexico.
They have been consumed in this area since pre-Spanish times,[52] but are noticeably shrinking in the last decades, as overexploitation of bodies of water, overfishing, and the introduction of foreign species such as the black bass and bluegill are permitted in their habitats.
[55] Native species are displaced by direct competition, predators, transmission of illnesses, modification of the habitat and trophic alterations to the community.
[57] The black bass and the bluegill coexist in their natural distribution as predator and prey in Mexico and both have been introduced in bodies of water inhabited by charal (Lacepède, 1802 y Lepomis machrochirus, Rafinesque, 1819).
Therefore, charal have been hunted intensely by the black bass while having to face the competition of the bluegill to obtain food, which has led to a noticeable dwindling of their population.
[60] The States utilize diverse mediums toward the creation of specialized legislation, environmental institutions, and global strategies, toward the celebration of an accordance or national conventions.
On one side is the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1993), and its derivative the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2003), which were not signed by the United States.
On the other side, within the background of the CBD, is the International Plant Protection Convention, administered by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Prevention C. Introduction of Species D. Reducing Impact International treaties celebrated by Mexico in agreement with the Constitution are signed by the executive, approved by the Senate, and published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación (DOF), the Official Journal of the Federation, which along with the Constitution and the federal laws is the Supreme Law of the Union.
SEMARNAT (the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources) works alongside the DGVS, DGGFS and DGIRA, CONAFOR, INECC, CONANP, PROFEPA and CONABIO.
Since 2010 the Mexican government has promoted the National Strategy of Invasive Species, which provided a guide for different social actors to confront invasive species, although barely consolidating the strength to monitor the goals and achievements it raised,[64] since within the components of the National Strategy emerging factors such as hybridization and climate change still have not been considered.
[65] Invasive aquatic species are considered an important challenge because of their destructive capacity and negative effect on biological diversity, particularly in the marine world.
Even if the international strategies of the CCA, the code FAO, and the UICN represent important efforts and have the potential to direct the United States and support them, technically to identify and combat invasive aquatic species, they lack obligation.
[61] With respect to the implementation of the CBD toward invasive aquatic species, in the last report Mexico indicated that a group of intersectoral work had been formed to address the topic.
[61] With respect to the impact of regional efforts in North America in the forum of the CCA, these are not centered specifically on controlling and combating aquatic invasive species.
Between the normative adjustments that could serve to enforce and harmonize the most relevant provisions of force to attend to the problem of invasive species in an aquatic environment is the publication of a secretarial accord with the list of foreign invasive species predicted in the General Law of Wildlife, as in the elaboration of a draft of secretarial accord for the formalization and organization of work in a technical committee, for publication in the official journal of the federation.
