José Rafael Ferrer-Paris

UNSW Sydney | UNSW · School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES)

Ecological traps occur when rapid environmental change makes organisms' habitat selection cues misleading and leads them to prefer poor quality habitats. Such traps can threaten the persistence of affected populations, so techniques to predict and map potential traps are of great conservation interest. Here we present a novel method for visualizing...

We developed a field survey protocol based on the North American Breeding Bird Survey to evaluate the efficiency and reliability of a bird monitoring scheme in the Neotropics. A team of 21 amateur and professional ornithologists conducted bird counts at 27 locations distributed throughout Venezuela between March and April 2010. Locations selected f...

Efficient monitoring of biodiversity-rich areas in conflict-affected areas with poor rule of law requires a combination of different analytical approaches to account for data biases and incompleteness. ➢ Study Location: Canaima National Park, Venezuela ➢ Start and Interruption: Monitoring initiated in 2015, interrupted in 2016 by large-scale minin...

Canid species are highly adaptable, including to urban and peri‐urban areas, where they can come into close contact with people. Understanding the mechanisms of wild canid population persistence in these areas is key to managing any negative impacts. The resource dispersion hypothesis predicts that animal density increases and home range size decre...

Protected and conserved areas (PCAs) are key ecosystem management tools for conserving biodiversity and sustaining ecosystem services and social cobenefits. As countries adopt a 30% target for protection of land and sea under the Global Biodiversity Framework of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, a critical question emerging is,...

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity set the agenda for global aspirations and action to reverse biodiversity loss. The GBF includes an explicit goal for maintaining and restoring biodiversity, encompassing ecosystems, species and genetic diversity (goal A), targets for ecosystem prot...

Efficient monitoring of biodiversity-rich areas in conflict-affected areas with poor rule of law requires a combination of different analytical approaches to account for data biases and incompleteness. In the upland Amazon region of Venezuela, in Canaima National Park, we initiated biodiversity monitoring in 2015, but it was interrupted by the esta...

Dung removal by macrofauna such as dung beetles is an important process for nutrient cycling in pasturelands. Intensification of farming practices generally reduces species and functional diversity of terrestrial invertebrates, which may negatively affect ecosystem services. Here, we investigate the effects of cattle-grazing intensification on dung...

El comercio y uso de vida silvestre es un problema complejo que se ve afectado por la dinámica temporal y geográfica de las redes de comercio y tráfico que estimulan la extracción y consumo de recursos. Para estudiar la historia de valoración, consumo y tráfico de la cotorra cabeciamarilla (Amazona barbadensis), el cardenalito (Sporagra cucullata)...

This document uses the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems guidelines to diagnose the collapse of the Tropical glacier ecosystems of the Cordillera de Mérida in Venezuela.Tropical glaciers are rapidly disappearing, particularly in isolated mountain peaks and lower elevations. These glaciers are fundamental substrates for unique cryogenic ecosystems in trop...

Climate change has pervasive impacts on Earth’s ecosystems, but the diversity and complexity of ecosystems makes estimating the severity of impacts and the resulting risk of collapse difficult. In this perspective, we conceptualise the challenge of understanding how climate change alters ecosystems, and how to reliably measure those changes in ecos...

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity set the agenda for global aspirations and action to reverse biodiversity loss. The Framework includes an explicit goal for maintaining and restoring biodiversity, encompassing ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity (Goal A), targets for ecosyst...

Implementation of conservation planning and management strategies for threatened dung beetle species have been hampered by lack of reliable information about temporal and spatial patterns in abundance. Distinguishing “real” patterns responding to ecological processes, from “artifacts” created by sampling limitations, is not a simple task. Pitfall t...

Insights into declines in ecosystem resilience, their causes and effects, can inform pre-emptive action to avoid ecosystem collapse and loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. Empirical studies of ecosystem collapse are rare and hampered by ecosystem complexity, non-linear and lagged responses, and interactions across scales....

Insights into declines in ecosystem resilience and their causes and effects can inform preemptive action to avoid ecosystem collapse and loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human well‐being. Empirical studies of ecosystem collapse are rare and hampered by ecosystem complexity, nonlinear and lagged responses, and interactions across scales...

Protected and Conserved Areas (PCAs) are key ecosystem management tools for conserving biodiversity and sustaining ecosystem services and social co-benefits. As countries converge on a 30% target for protection of land and sea under the post-2020 framework of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, a critical question emerging is, “w...

As the United Nations develops a post-2020 global biodiversity framework for the Convention on Biological Diversity, attention is focusing on how new goals and targets for ecosystem conservation might serve its vision of ‘living in harmony with nature’1,2. Advancing dual imperatives to conserve biodiversity and sustain ecosystem services requires r...

New localities for the species Oxysternon ebeninum (Nevison, 1890) are recorded in Amazonas state, Venezuela, where the environmental conditions of these places are significantly different to those previously reported in the literature.

Learned vocalizations play a key role in parrot social dynamics and vocal dialects have been documented for several mainland species, but to date no studies of geographically structured call variation in parrot species have examined the role of isolation on islands. In a study of the Brown-throated Parakeet (Eupsittula pertinax), which inhabits 5 s...

The Garden Hunting hypothesis establishes that heterogeneous agroforestry landscapes maintain a species richness similar to that of virgin forests, but with a species composition dominated by herbivores. Here, camera trap surveys and spatially explicit interviews are combined on the extent and occurrence of indigenous Pemón hunting in a mosaic of s...

We provide an overview of the use of species distribution modeling to address research questions related to parrot ecology and conservation at a global scale. We conducted a literature search and applied filters to select the 82 most relevant studies to discuss. The study of parrot species distribution has increased steadily in the past 30 years, w...

Background Human encroachment and overexploitation of natural resources in the Neotropics is constantly increasing. Indigenous communities all across the Amazon, are trapped between a population rise and a hot debate about the sustainability of hunting rates. The Garden Hunting hypothesis states that shifting cultivation schemes (conucos) used by A...

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response,...

The order Psittaciformes is one of the most prevalent groups in the illegal wildlife trade. Efforts to understand this threat have focused on describing the elements of the trade itself: actors, extraction rates, and routes. However, the development of policy-oriented interventions also requires an understanding of how research aims and actions are...

Ecosystems are critically important components of Earth’s biological diversity and as the natural capital that sustains human life and well-being. Yet all of the world’s ecosystems show hallmarks of human influence, and many are under acute risks of collapse, with consequences for habitats of species, genetic diversity, ecosystem services, sustaina...

Myanmar is highly biodiverse, with more than 16,000 plant, 314 mammal, 1131 bird, 293 reptile, and 139 amphibian species. Supporting this biodiversity is a variety of natural ecosystems—mostly undescribed—including tropical and subtropical forests, savannas, seasonally inundated wetlands, extensive shoreline and tidal systems, and alpine ecosystems...

Myanmar is highly biodiverse, with more than 16,000 plant, 314 mammal, 1131 bird, 293 reptile, and 139 amphibian species. Supporting this biodiversity is a variety of natural ecosystems-mostly undescribed-including tropical and subtropical forests, savannas, seasonally inundated wetlands, extensive shoreline and tidal systems, and alpine ecosystems...

The global decline in psittacid populations highlights the need for monitoring programmes that allow us to estimate the level of confidence that can be placed in a non-detection observation in order to assess changes in range status. We used the detection/non-detection records for 26 psittacid species detected during the first national bird monitor...

The Gran Sabana is a region of great biogeographical and conservation value that has been recently threatened due to increasing overexploitation, of natural resources and illegal mining. Systematic survey methods are required in order to study species responses to landscape transformation. The main objectives of this study were: 1) to test the rela...

Governments have committed to global targets to slow biodiversity loss and sustain ecosystem services. Biodiversity state indicators that measure progress toward these targets mostly focus on species, while indicators synthesizing ecosystem change are largely lacking. We fill this gap with three indices quantifying past and projected changes in eco...

In 2014, the International Union for Conservation of Nature adopted the Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) criteria as the global standard for assessing risks to terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems. Five years on, it is timely to ask what impact this new initiative has had on ecosystem management and conservation. In this policy perspective, w...

Forests of the Americas and the Caribbean are undergoing rapid change as human populations increase and land use intensifies. We applied the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) criteria and simple cost-efficiency analyses to provide the first regional perspective on patterns of relative risk integrated across multiple threats. Based on six indicators...

In 2014, the International Union for Conservation of Nature adopted the Red List of Ecosystems (IUCN RLE) criteria as the global standard for assessing risks to terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems. Identifying and quantifying the impacts of biodiversity assessments on the status of nature is key to justifying continued investment in asse...

Little is known about the diversity and biology of Calliphoridae in northern South America, especially in Venezuela. In particular, the effects of deforestation/ urbanisation (and their associated synanthropic processes) on Calliphor idae species remains poorly known. In this context, the goal was to evaluate the relationship between Calliphoridae...

Despite its biogeographic importance, the mammals of Maracaibo lake basin have been poorly studied. The objectives of this study were to: 1) provide a list of the mammal species detected by combining information from camera traps and other sources, and 2) describe diurnal and annual activity patterns for some of the species detected. Camera-trappin...

It has long been recognized that plant invasions may alter carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles, but the direction and magnitude of such alterations have been rarely quantified. In this study, we quantified the effects caused by the invasion of a noxious exotic plant, Kalanchoe daigremontiana (Crassulaceae), on C and N mineralization and enzymatic an...

Despite its biogeographic importance, the mammals of Maracaibo lake basin have been poorly studied. The objectives of this study were to: 1) pro- vide a list of the mammal species detected by combining information from camera traps and other sources, and 2) describe diurnal and annual activity patterns for some of the species detected. Camera-trapp...

Species distribution models (SDM) can be valuable for identifying key habitats for conservation management of threatened taxa, but anthropogenic habitat change can undermine SDM accuracy. We used data for the Red Siskin (Spinus cucullatus), a critically endangered bird and ground truthing to examine anthropogenic habitat change as a source of SDM i...

Habitat fragmentation, wildfire and hunting are anthropogenic disturbances that pose direct threat to wildlife and have gained increasing importance for conservation. Do some level of disturbances enhance biodiversity in the Gran Sabana of Venezuela? (Intermediate Disturbance Hipotesis, Conell 1987) Which mammals diet group tolerate habitat fragmen...

Este documento forma parte de la Iniciativa para el Mapeo de la Biodiversidad Neotropical (NeoMapas) y resume la información básica sobre el clima, vegetación y uso de la tierra en una región de Venezuela que ha sido seleccionada para el muestreo de grupos indicadores de biodiversidad. La ruta o ``transección'' Altagracia de Orituco (Código NM08) e...

Design and testing of a replicable, scalable capacity-building model for species conservation - Volume 50 Issue 4 - Haidy Rojas, Dinora Sánchez, Daniel Lew, José R. Ferrer-Paris, Jon Paul Rodríguez, J. Celsa Señaris, Grisel Velásquez, Douglas Rodríguez-Olarte, Carliz Díaz

RESUMEN: Identificar y cuantificar cambios espacio-temporales de distribución de especies es útil para el manejo de especies invasoras, problemas de salud pública y la conservación de la biodiversidad. Estudiar cambios en la distribución requiere comparar datos de diferentes periodos de tiempo, lo cual pudiese representar diferencias de muestreo má...

A good indicator species should be easy to sample, identify and measure, and be informative about its ecological context. We analysed data from a nation-wide dung beetle survey in Venezuela in order to assess the indicative response of Oxysternon festivum (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) to vegetation and climatic condition in the Orinoco river basin. Ou...

Ante las alertas sobre el incremento de los incendios en la Sierra de Perijá en el primer trimestre de 2016 elaboré una serie de imágenes que permiten visualizar la acumulación de incendios mensuales entre enero de 2015 y marzo 2016 (hasta el 16 de marzo) en el área de los municipios Machiques de Perijá, Rosario de Perijá y Jesús María Semprum del...

Las moscas de la Familia Calliphoridae son consideradas muy importantes en la entomología forense y la salud pública. La introducción de especies de moscas exóticas de la misma Famila pueden modificar la estructura de las comunidades y el cursos sucesional natural que se observa en los cadáveres. En el presente trabajo, se documenta el registro de...

Abstract Members of the speciose subtribe Pronophilina (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) are Neotropical butterflies predominantly found in cloud forests. A few species live exclusively in open habitats above the tree line: paramo and puna biomes. This habit requires special adaptation to particular physical and climatic conditions of the oreal zone in the...

Especie endémica de la cordillera de Mérida, entre los estados Mérida, Táchira y Trujillo. Habita el ecotono entre bosque montano y páramo, a una altitud que varía entre 2900 y 3300 m, en especial bordeando la vegetación boscosa y, usualmente en las cercanías de su planta hospedera. Su hábitat está naturalmente fragmentado y las marcadas diferencia...

Diaphanos curvignathos se describió a partir de una serie tipo conformada por once ejemplares, todos provenientes del páramo de Ortiz, estado Trujillo, entre 2850 y 3100 m de altitud. Constituye una de las tres especies del género endémicas de esa región de Venezuela. Se ha visto en pajonales y bambusales bajos, intercalados con frailejón, siendo m...

Se conoce en al menos tres localidades de la sierra de Santo Domingo, dentro del parque nacional Sierra Nevada. No se han determinado los límites exactos de su hábitat, pero considerando la distribución de otras especies del mismo género, pareciera estar restringida a los alrededores de las lagunas que rodean al Pico Mucuñuque, entre los 3400 y 360...

Lymanopoda orientalis presenta una extensión alar que oscila entre 20 y 22 mm. Tiene alas de color marrón oscuro brillante que se aclaran ligeramente en el margen anal; en la cara ventral predomina el marrón chocolate con una banda rojiza y otra ocre hacia los lados, con cuatro pequeños ocelos en las alas posteriores. No se conoce a la hembra de es...

Especie endémica de los Andes venezolanos. Se encuentra a intervalos altitudinales más altos que otros satíridos, entre los 3400 y 4100 m de altitud, en las sierras nevadas de Mérida, Santo Domingo y la serranía de La Culata. Habita en el páramo abierto, muy por encima del límite del bosque, llegando al superpáramo (región periglacial) (Viloria 199...

Informe técnico generado por el laboratorio de Ecología Espacial del Centro de Estudios Botánicos y Agroforestales del Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, con resultados parciales y preliminares para su libre difusión. El informe incluye información sobre la caracterización del clima, uso de la tierra, vegetación y la exploración d...

Informe técnico generado por el laboratorio de Ecología Espacial del Centro de Estudios Botánicos y Agroforestales del Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, con resultados parciales y preliminares para su libre difusión. El informe incluye información sobre la caracterización del clima, uso de la tierra, vegetación y la exploración d...

El escarabajo estercolero africano, Digitonthophagus gazella, (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) en la región Neotropical, ¿beneficioso o perjudicial? Los escarabajos coprófagos de la subfamilia Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) contribuyen al ciclaje de nutrientes, el control de parásitos y la dispersión secundaria de semillas, y proveen efectivos s...

The genus Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816 is known for its high species richness and the diversity of hostplant associations. Here, I analyse the role of hostplant distribution, environmental variables and biogeographic regions in limiting the distribution of two african species of Charaxes: Charaxes cithaeron (C. & R. Felder, 1859) and Ch. xiphares (S...

El presente trabajo propone una estrategia sencilla de optimización del diseño muestreal para escarabajos coprófagos que puede ser aplicada a muestreos basados en trampas atrayentes en amplias escalas geográficas y generalizada a otros tipos de muestreo. Para ello, analizamos muestras colectadas en ocho localidades con hábitats contrastantes y dife...

We aggregated data on butterfly-host plant associations from existing sources in order to address the following questions: (1) is there a general correlation between host diversity and butterfly species richness?, (2) has the evolution of host plant use followed consistent patterns across butterfly lineages?, (3) what is the common ancestral host p...