Rapid assessment of endemic bird areas in Michoacan, Mexico

Abstract

Non-sustainable land use practices in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, have perturbed endemic bird h~bitats for several decades. Endemic birds have a restricted geographic and ecological distribution. This feature makes them suitable to be used as indicators of biological diversity and environmental perturbation. Forty-one Mexican endemic species have been recorded in 11 temperate and 3 tropical vegetation types in Michoacan (59,000 km2 ). This paper demonstrates the use of a geographic information system to locate and display spatially explicit endemic bird richness areas based on the potential distribution of individual endemic species in Michoacan . Relationships of endemic species with natural vegetation and altitudinal distribution were used as indicators of potential habitat. Low endemic bird richness areas (one to five species) totaled 1,558,417 ha with an almost random distribution throughout the state. Medium richness areas (six to 10 endemic species) summed 1,084,534 ha, most of them distributed in the Sierra Madre del Sur and along the southern escarpment of the Neovolcanic Belt. High richness areas (11 to 16 endemic species) include 1,864,117 ha concentrated in the less disturbed deciduous tropical forests of the Balsas Basin and in the highest coniferous forests of the neovolcanic belt. Conservation efforts must concentrate on these areas. However, areas with low or medium species richness can be of importance for the conservation of individual species and their habitats.

Parent Publication

• North American Science Symposium: Toward a unified framework for inventorying and monitoring forest ecosystem resources

Citation

Chavez-Leon, Gilberto; Finch, Deborah M. 1999. Rapid assessment of endemic bird areas in Michoacan, Mexico. In: Aguirre-Bravo, Celedonio; Franco, Carlos Rodriguez, compilers. North American Science Symposium: Toward a unified framework for inventorying and monitoring forest ecosystem resources. Guadalajara, Mexico (November 2-6, 1998). Proceedings RMRS-P-12. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 276-280.