Conservationists are far from able to assist all species under threat, if only for lack of funding. This places a premium on priorities: how can we support the most species at the least cost? One way is to identify 'biodiversity hotspots' where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat. As many as 44% of all species of vascular plants and 35% of all species in four vertebrate groups are confined to 25 hotspots comprising only 1.4% of the land surface of the Earth. This opens the way for a 'silver bullet' strategy on the part of conservation planners, focusing on these hotspots in proportion to their share of the world's species at risk.

Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities

The objective of this chapter is to offer a short but comprehensive overview of the Yucatán Peninsula, its karstic landscapes and soil types. In this chapter, we will also provide insights regardingMaya nomenclature associated with these physical characteristics. We include information on the hydrology of the Yucatán Peninsula (principally geohydrology) and regional climatic patterns (ITCZ, the North Atlantic and teleconnections). From this point of reference, we will explain the peculiarities of the peninsula, including a brief description of the origins of its vegetation distribution. Following this, we will present a paleoenvironmental and historic framework with a cultural focus, together with information on the uses and management of the natural resources by the Maya while explaining modifications of their environment. We will then include an analysis on global change based on data from the IPCC (Intergovernamental Panel on Climate Change) related to drivers of climatic change in the region such as deforestation, forest fires, hurricanes and changes in sea level. We will explain how these factors have influenced the loss of biodiversity and contributed to global change.

Biodiversity and Conservation of the Yucatán Peninsula

The distribution, status, and level of exploitation of the freshwater turtle Dermatemys mawei in belize, central

058.1 Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group A.G.J. Rhodin, P.C.H. Pritchard, P.P. van Dijk, R.A. Saumure, K.A. Buhlmann, J.B. Iverson, and R.A. Mittermeier, Eds. Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.058.mawii.v1.2011 © 2011 by Chelonian Research Foundation • Published 31 December 2011

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Dermatemys mawii Gray 1847 - Central American River Turtle, Tortuga Blanca, Hickatee

The Central American river turtle (Dermatemys mawii) is a large Critically Endangered freshwater turtle historically found in the coastal lowlands of southern Mexico, northern Guatemala, and Belize. Due to years of intense harvesting for its meat, D. mawii has been virtually eliminated from much of its former range in southern Mexico, while its status in Guatemala remains unclear. During April and May 2010, we conducted a countrywide survey in Belize to assess the current conservation status of D. mawii in what is believed to be its last stronghold. We surveyed approximately 30 localities from deep southern to extreme northern Belize, including 17 areas previously surveyed during the early 1980s and 1990s. Results indicate D. mawii is heavily depleted in most of Belize, but healthy populations remain in a few remote areas (including multiple, previously unsurveyed localities in southern Belize), especially those receiving some level of protection. While this mirrors the trend observed in previous...

A Recent Countrywide Status Survey of the Critically Endangered Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii) in Belize

A large river turtle Dermatemys mawei, found only in the coastal lowlands of the Gulf of Mexico, is becoming rare throughout most of its restricted range. It is found from central Veracruz, Mexico, eastward through Guatemala and Belize, but not in the Yucatan Peninsula, and it is heavily hunted for its meat. The only living representative of the Dermatemydidae, a turtle family known from as early as the Cretaceous, its closest living relatives are the mud turtles (Kinosternidae), and it is not as closely related to the snapping turtles (Chelydridae) as previously thought.4,5,9,20 In the latest classification of turtles the Dermatemydidae are placed in the Superfamily Trionychoidea of the Infraorder Cryptodira.

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Miguel Alvarez del Toro

Papers

River Turtle in Danger