Gerardo Ceballos

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México | UNAM · Institute of Ecology

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255555.].

La siguiente guía de campo abarca la región de la RB El Cielo y sus alrededores.

La siguiente guía abarca la región de la RB El Cielo y sus alrededores. No contempla la costa del estado.

Introduction: Worldwide, expanding human activities continue to be a threat to many large-bodied species, including jaguars. As these activities continue, it is critical to understand how home range sizes will be impacted by human-modified landscapes. Objective: To evaluate the importance of protected and unprotected land on home-range size across...

Introduction: Worldwide, expanding human activities continue to be a threat to many large-bodied species, including jaguars. As these activities continue, it is critical to understand how home range sizes will be impacted by human-modified landscapes. Objective: To evaluate the importance of protected and unprotected land on home-range size across...

Bison are considered an ecologically keystone species of the North American grasslands because their activities influence ecosystem dynamics and interactions, particularly their wallowing behavior. In 2009, 23 bison were reintroduced within a 1,500 ha private native semi-arid grassland in Janos, Chihuahua. Our objective was to evaluate the effect o...

Black-eared Rice Rat, Handleyomys melanotis (Thomas, 1893), is a small, abundant rodent thought endemic to Mexico. We present a new record of this rat on Cocinas Island off the Chamela coast of Jalisco, Mexico. On this protected island located at 19.5°N, 105.1°W, we captured 11 specimens with the physical characteristics that confirm their identity...

Conservation biogeography, which applies principles, theories, and analyses of biodiversity distribution patterns to address conservation challenges, can provide valuable insight and guidance to policy making for protection of biodiversity at multiple scales. The temperate and tropical ecosystems of the Nearctic-Neotropical transition in the small...

High-quality reference genomes for non-model species can benefit conservation.

Humanity has triggered the sixth mass extinction episode since the beginning of the Phanerozoic. The complexity of this extinction crisis is centred on the intersection of two complex adaptive systems: human culture and ecosystem functioning, although the significance of this intersection is not properly appreciated. Human beings are part of biodiv...

Specimens of the Peromyscus boylii species group distributed in the western and northeastern montane regions of Michoacán, México, historically have been assigned to P. levipes. Previous studies indicated that these specimens possessed mitochondrial DNA haplotypes that were distinct from both P. levipes and P. kilpatricki, a recently named species...

ContextMovement ecology contributes valuable information about animal interactions with the environment, and their responses to landscape-level anthropogenic impacts. Big cats are vulnerable to such changes, but the current deficit of information about home range movements, limits the scope of conservation initiatives. Objectives Describe the home...

La conservación de la biodiversidad y el desarrollo de la ganadería no han ido de la mano en Latinoamérica. Por un lado, la ganadería tiene como prioridad proveer proteína de origen animal a las comunidades locales; y, por otro, el creciente cambio de uso de suelo de selvas y bosques a tierras de pastoreo da como resultado el aumento de muchos caso...

We examined tick communities on wild felid hosts in three ecoregions of Mexico. We collected 186 ticks of 7 species from 10 pumas (Puma concolor) and 9 jaguars (Panthera onca). Tick community composition varied across the ecoregions, and across host species within each region. Overall, Ixodes affinis, Amblyomma ovale, and Amblyomma tenellum were th...

Context Land use change, habitat loss and fragmentation are the major threats to jaguar conservation in Latin America. Here, we integrate the information of jaguar’s distribution to identify priority areas for its conservation. Objective We evaluated the effect of topographic, anthropogenic and landscape variables on habitat suitability to evaluat...

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is one of the most threatened carnivores in the Americas. Despite a long history of research on this charismatic species, to date there have been few systematic efforts to assess its population size and status in most countries across its distribution range. We present here the results of the two National Jaguar Surveys f...

Jaguars (Panthera onca) are the largest felids in America, mainly threatened by habitat and prey density loss and hunting. Jaguars are mainly nocturnal predators that need large portions of suitable habitat with abundant prey populations. The aim of this work was to assess both jaguar and prey activity patterns, their relations and to understand if...

Significance Current extinction rates are caused by human activities, including habitat destruction. Here we analyze the global patterns of raptor distribution to determine priority areas for conservation. Raptors are top predators that can be used as umbrella species to help the conservation of other species. Our results provide insights into glob...

In their comment on our paper “Underestimating the challenges of avoiding a ghastly future” (Bradshaw et al., 2021), Bluwstein et al. (2021) attempt to contravene our exposé of the enormous challenges facing the entire human population from a rapidly degrading global environment. While we broadly agree with the need for multi-disciplinary solutions...

La región de Calakmul, localizada en el sur de la península de Yucatán, es parte del macizo de bosque tropical más grande ubicado en el rango de distribución del tapir centroamericano (Tapirus bairdii). Se cree que esta región mantiene una de las poblaciones más grandes de tapir, sin que hasta la fecha existan datos precisos que apoyen esta afirmac...

Abstract Our research is the most comprehensive study of jaguar behavior ecology in Mexico. By analyzing and describing the movements and use of the space, as well as the interactions among individual jaguars, we can better understand their behavioral differences, habitat use, and home range. This type of information is critical for the development...

We report three major and confronting environmental issues that have received little attention and require urgent action. First, we review the evidence that future environmental conditions will be far more dangerous than currently believed. The scale of the threats to the biosphere and all its lifeforms — including humanity — is in fact so great th...

This book summarizes the ecology and conservation of Baird's tapir in Mexico. It is edited in Spanish

The world's large terrestrial mammalian carnivores and herbivores (henceforth, megafauna) has been severely impacted by humans worldwide. Although this impact across the globe is variable, there has been little information quantifying this impact on biodiversity. Here, we use a macroecological modeling approach to evaluate the impact of different h...

Memorias del Simposio Internacional de Ecología y Conservación del Jaguar y Otros Felinos Neotropicales - Junio de 2018, Cancún, México

Significance The ongoing sixth mass extinction may be the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization, because it is irreversible. Thousands of populations of critically endangered vertebrate animal species have been lost in a century, indicating that the sixth mass extinction is human caused and accelerating. The accelerat...

A reply to Flessa et al. (2019)

The Peruvian crevice-dwelling bat, Tomopeas ravus, is a rare, threatened, and endemic species to the coastal desert from Peru. Recently, new records of the species after almost 30 years of absence in inventories were made, in the north and center of its distribution at localities from Ica and Piura departments, which opens discussions about the kno...

Aim Geographic gradients in species richness have been traditionally attributed to variation in environmental conditions. However, untangling the importance of human activities in explaining spatial patterns in raptor species richness, still remains a challenge. We evaluated the relative importance of how human impacts and ecogeographical condition...

Many of the world's vertebrates have experienced large population and geographic range declines due to anthropogenic threats that put them at risk of extinction. The largest vertebrates, defined as megafauna, are especially vulnerable. We analyzed how human activities are impacting the conservation status of megafauna within six classes: mammals, r...

ResumenLa lechuza de campanario (Tyto alba) es considerada el ave terrestre con la mayor distribución mundial, por lo tanto sus hábitos alimentarios presentan variaciones en toda su área de distribución, esta lechuza también se encuentra en México. En este artículo se revisaron un total de 307 egagrópilas de dos localidades, “Rancho Ojitos” y “Ampl...

The Bison Conservation and Management Plan synthesizes the available information about the bison in Mexico and the actions needed for its conservation.

Extinctions are occurring at an unprecedented rate as a consequence of human activities. Vertebrates constitute the best-known group of animals, and thus the group for which there are more accurate estimates of extinctions. Among them, freshwater fishes are particularly threatened and many species are declining. Here we report the extinction of an...

The vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus) is Mexico’s only endemic, and the world’s most endangered marine mammal. With a population of fewer than 30 individuals (Thomas et al. 2017; IUCN 2018), any delay in taking needed conservation actions will result in its extinction. A recent article (Manjarrez-Bringas et al. 2018) re-asserts, without providing a...

ResumenRegistramos aquí la depredación del lince rojo (Lynx rufus escuinapae) en la serpiente gopher (Pituophis lineaticollis) y la ardilla gris (Sciurus aureogaster) en un bosque templado en el centro de México. La localidad se encuentra en el Parque Estatal Hermenegildo Galeana, Tenancingo, Estado de México, utilizando cámaras trampa.Palabras Cla...

Understanding the consequences of biotic and abiotic variability on population dynamics is fundamental to assessing anthropogenic impacts, such as global climate disruption, on populations and species. Our understanding from studies to date is poor, although some long-term studies of small mammals in temperate ecosystems have elucidated the roles o...

The northernmost Peruvian Andes, a unique biogeographic region characterized by the confluence of multiple distinct ecosystems (i.e. Amazon basin, Pacific rainforest, the Sechura Desert, the northern and central Andes), is the southernmost geographic range limit of the South American shrews representing the genus Cryptotis. In the northernmost Peru...

Captura y reubicación jaguares

ResumenLa nutria de río del norte (Lontra canadensis) se considera extinta en México porque no hay registros desde el siglo pasado. La nutria de río neotropical, en contraste, está ampliamente distribuida en las tierras tropicales y subtropicales del país. Existen registros recientes de nutrias, identificadas como L. longicaudis en el Río San Pedro...

Understanding the effects of global climate disruption on biodiversity is important to future conservation efforts. While taxonomic diversity is widely studied, functional diversity of plants, and recently animals, is receiving increasing attention. Most studies of mammals are short-term, focus on temperate habitats, and rely on traits described in...

Temporal dynamics of observed species richness (dots and lines) and 95% confidence interval predicted by the selected models (gray area). For the dry season, filled dots represent the dry season of 1992, characterized by unusually high levels of precipitation. For the wet season, filled dots are for the period 1990–1997, open dots are for the perio...

Residual plots for the selected models for deviations of functional diversity from null model predictions according to species occurrence (dFDo). Black lines and dots represents data for upland forest, while gray lines and dots are those for arroyo forest. (PDF)

Model selection for the dynamics of species richness in the dry season. Results for the 30 best-performing models (i.e., lowest AICc values) are shown; the selected model is highlighted in bold. R2: determination coefficient, ΔAICc: difference between model’s AICc and the lowest AICc value, k: number of parameters fitted, n: sample size (i.e., time...

Model selection for the dynamic of deviations of functional diversity (according to biomass) from null model expectations in the dry season. Results for the 30 best-performing models (i.e., lowest AICc values) are shown; the selected model is highlighted in bold. R2: determination coefficient, ΔAICc: difference between model’s AICc and the lowest A...

Abundance database arroyo forest. Abbreviations are: Bm (Baiomys musculus), Lp (Liomys pictus), Mg (Megasorex gigas), Ns (Nyctomys sumichrasti), Oc (Oryzomys mexicanus), Om (Oryzomys melanotis), Ob (Osgoodomys banderanus, Pp (Peromyscus perfulvus), Rf (Reithrodontomys fulvescens), Sm (Sigmodon mascotensis), Sp (Spilogale pygmaea), Tc (Tlacuatzin ca...

Residual plots for the selected models for species richness. Black lines and dots are for upland forest and gray lines and dots are for arroyo forest. For the dry season, filled dots are for the dry season of 1992, characterized by unusually high levels of precipitation, the effect of which was statistically removed. For the wet season, continuous...

Residual plots for the selected models for deviations of functional diversity from null model predictions according to number of individuals (dFDn). Black lines and dots represents data for upland forest, while gray lines and dots are those for arroyo forest. (PDF)

Residual plots for the selected models for deviations of functional diversity from null model predictions according to biomass (dFDw). Black lines and dots represents data for upland forest, while gray lines and dots are those for arroyo forest. (PDF)

Model selection for the dynamics of deviations of functional diversity (according to species’ occurrence) from null model expectations in the dry season. Results for the 30 best-performing models (i.e., lowest AICc values) are shown; the selected model is highlighted in bold type. R2: determination coefficient, ΔAICc: difference between model’s AIC...

Model selection for the dynamics of deviations of functional diversity (according to species’ occurrence) from null model expectations in the wet season. Results for the 30 best-performing models (i.e., lowest AICc values) are shown; the selected model is highlighted in bold. R2: determination coefficient, ΔAICc: difference between model’s AICc and...

Average weight of species. Abbreviations are: Bm (Baiomys musculus), Lp (Liomys pictus), Mg (Megasorex gigas), Ns (Nyctomys sumichrasti), Oc (Oryzomys mexicanus), Om (Oryzomys melanotis), Ob (Osgoodomys banderanus, Pp (Peromyscus perfulvus), Rf (Reithrodontomys fulvescens), Sm (Sigmodon mascotensis), Sp (Spilogale pygmaea), Tc (Tlacuatzin canescens...

Temporal dynamics for the observed dFDn (dots and lines) and 95% confidence interval predicted by the selected models (gray area). (PDF)

Thirteen species of small mammals identified during the 19-year study of tropical dry forests in Mexico. (PDF)

Model selection for the dynamics of species richness in the wet season. Results for the 30 best-performing models (i.e., lowest AICc values) are shown; the selected model is highlighted in bold. R2: determination coefficient, ΔAICc: difference between model’s AICc and the lowest AICc value, k: number of parameters fitted, n: sample size (i.e., time...

Model selection for the dynamics of deviations of functional diversity (according to number of individuals) from null model expectations in the dry season. Results for the 30 best-performing models (i.e., lowest AICc values) are shown; the selected model is highlighted in bold. R2: determination coefficient, ΔAICc: difference between model’s AICc a...

Model selection for the dynamics of deviations of functional diversity (according to number of individuals) from null model expectations in the wet season. Results for the 30 best-performing models (i.e., lowest AICc values) are shown; the selected model is highlighted in bold. R2: determination coefficient, ΔAICc: difference between model's AICc a...

Model selection for the dynamic of deviations of functional diversity (according to biomass) from null model expectations in the wet season. Results for the 30 best-performing models (i.e., lowest AICc values) are shown; the selected model is highlighted in bold. R2: determination coefficient, ΔAICc: difference between model’s AICc and the lowest A...

Acronyms and short description of variables in S7 to S14 Tables. (PDF)

Functional traits database. The traits on every category (habitat, habitat (stratum) use, diet and temporal activity) are multivariate variables standardized so the sum of the variables on every category sum 1. Habitat was obtained from IUCN (and its category numbers are included) [72], proportions of use were obtained from compilations, just as th...

Temporal dynamics for the observed dFDo (dots and lines) and 95% confidence interval predicted by the selected models (gray area). (PDF)

Temporal dynamics for the observed dFDw (dots and lines) and 95% confidence interval predicted by the selected models (gray area). (PDF)

Plots for residuals of the selected models for the four variables, back-transformed to species richness. Lines represent the expected association with the same variable in the previous season, after accounting for the effects of other variables. Black lines and dots represents data for upland forest, while gray lines and dots are those for arroyo f...

Abundance database upland forest. Abbreviations are: Bm (Baiomys musculus), Lp (Liomys pictus), Mg (Megasorex gigas), Ns (Nyctomys sumichrasti), Oc (Oryzomys mexicanus), Om (Oryzomys melanotis), Ob (Osgoodomys banderanus, Pp (Peromyscus perfulvus), Rf (Reithrodontomys fulvescens), Sm (Sigmodon mascotensis), Sp (Spilogale pygmaea), Tc (Tlacuatzin ca...

To date, only one record of mineral licking exists for sloths (i.e., Choloepus didactylus) from Ecuador. Here we present the first record of mineral licking for C. hoffmanni from a tropical rainforest in Costa Rica. This behavior has been mainly associated with detoxification in herbivores, but no evidence exists for such needs in sloths. Hasta la...

Identifying which species are at greatest risk, what makes them vulnerable, and where they are distributed are central goals for conservation science. While knowledge of which factors influence extinction risk is increasingly available for some taxonomic groups, a deeper understanding of extinction correlates and the geography of risk remains lacki...

Variable importance plot from the random forest model. Plot shows rank order of importance of all predictors included in the model. Because we used raw (non-imputed) data to build the conditional inference forest, variables with lots of missing data were biased against in terms of their relative importance. However, two of the top three most import...

Cohen’s kappa distribution for the random forest holdout sample and full model. (PDF)

Performance statistics for random forest model of mammal extinction risk. (DOCX)

Geographic distribution of landcover types used in the random forest model, based on the ESA GlobCover 2009 project (28). (GIF)

Area under ROC-curve plots showing true positive rates versus false positive rates for the random forest holdout sample and full model. (PDF)

Species at risk, according to the IUCN Red List and random forest model predictions. IUCN Red List Status is listed for each species: CR = Critically Endangered, DD = Data Deficient, EN = Endangered, EX = Extinct, EW = Extinct in the Wild, LC = Least Concern, NT = Near Threatened, VU = Vulnerable. Species already identified as threatened by the Red...