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espanolLas larvas y pupas de Liometopum apiculatum, una especie de hormiga conocida como escamolera (Lap), se valoran por su sabor y valor nutricional. En la actualidad, la demanda en restaurantes, precios altos y otros factores han amenazado a sus poblaciones; sin embargo, en Mexico no existe una evaluacion de riesgo para Lap. Por lo tanto, se recopilo informacion para evaluar el estado de conservacion de L. apiculatum. El Metodo de Evaluacion de Riesgo (MER) del Apendice I en la Norma Mexicana NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 determina la categoria de riesgo de una especie con base en puntajes de cuatro criterios y la coloca como “Extinta en el medio silvestre, Sujeta a proteccion especial, Amenazada o en peligro de extincion”. En este estudio los puntajes fueron para el Criterio A (area de distribucion del taxon), 3 puntos (distribucion restringida); Criterio B (estado del habitat respecto a su desarrollo natural), 1 punto (apto o no limitante); Criterio C (vulnerabilidad biologica), 1 punto (vulnerabilidad baja); y el criterio D (impacto de la actividad humana en el taxon) 3 puntos (impacto medio). La suma de los puntajes de los cuatro criterios del MER indico que Lap (la hormiga escamolera) deberia incluirse en la categoria de Sujeta a proteccion especial (SSP). Esta informacion se puede utilizar para disenar politicas de manejo y conservacion de insectos comestibles en Mexico. EnglishThe larvae and pupae of Liometopum apiculatum, an ant species known as “escamolera” (Lap), are valued for their flavour and nutritional value. Currently demand at restaurants trade, high price and other factors have threatened their populations. However, in Mexico there is no risk assessment for this species. Therefore, information was compiled to evaluate the conservation status of L apiculatum. The species Risk Assessment Methodology (MER) of Appendix I in the Mexican Standard NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 determines the risk category of a species based on scores of four criteria and places a species as “Extinct in the wild, subject to special protection, threatened or in danger of extinction”. In this study, the related scores were, for Criterion A (taxon distributional area), 3 points (restricted distribution); Criterion B (habitat status regarding its natural development), 1 point (apt, or not limiting); Criterion C (biological vulnerability), 1 point (low vulnerability); and criterion D (impact of human activity on the taxon) scored 3 points (medium impact). The sum of the scores of the four MER criteria indicated that Lap(the escamolera ant) should be placed in the category of Subject to special protection (SSP). This information shall be used to design management and conservation policies for edible insects in Mexico.

The study of biodiversity, requires analysis of several aspects, such as scale in space and time to understand the underlying processes. In this study, amphibian distribution patterns of Southern Altiplano biogeographic province of Mexico, local and regional scales are analyzed. For the local scale, environmental heterogeneity was analyzed for 22 amphibian breeding sites, based on satellite imagery in raster format: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference moisture index (NDWI), land surface temperature (LST), and the topographic moisture index (TWI). For regional scale, alpha and beta diversity components were analyzed at three spatial resolutions (1/2 °, 1/4 ° and 1/8 °) from primary and secondary data of biodiversity. At local level, NDVI and NDWI were consistent with observed in field; However, LST was the variable with highest contribution (16.04%) to explain amphibian composition. At regional level, alpha and beta diversity components change (are underestimated or overestimated) based on spatial resolution at a fixed scale. In addition, the alpha and beta diversity index values were consistent at local scale. In general, scale perspectives provide relevant information to define the Southern Altiplano as a region with greater environmental heterogeneity. Implications of this study are very useful to identify priority areas for study of biodiversity in semi-arid regions. Findings of this thesis can help to implement actions and measures of management and conservation of natural resources, specifically for amphibians, vertebrate group highly vulnerable to landscape transformation and climate change., Thesis. M. Sc. in Innovation in Natural Resources Management, Colegio de Postgraduados, Campus San Luis Potosí, 2019