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10 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-67. 2013 In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Ffolliott, Peter F.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Collins, Loa C., comps. 2013. Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III; 2012 May 1-5; Tucson, AZ. Proceedings. RMRS-P-67. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Biodiversity in the Madrean Archipelago of Sonora, Mexico Thomas R. Van Devender, Sergio Avila-Villegas, and Melanie Emerson Sky Island Alliance, Tucson, Arizona Dale Turner The Nature Conservancy, Tucson, Arizona Aaron D. Flesch University of Montana, Missoula, Montana Nicholas S. Deyo Sky Island Alliance, Tucson, Arizona Introduction Flowery rhetoric often gives birth to new terms that convey images and concepts, lead to inspiration and initiative. On the 1892-1894 expedition to resurvey the United States-Mexico boundary, Lieutenant David Dubose Gaillard described the Arizona-Sonora borderlands as bare, jagged mountains rising out of the plains like islands from the sea” (Mearns 1907; Hunt and Anderson 2002). Later Galliard was the lead engineer on the Panama Canal construction project. In 1951, Weldon Heald, a resident of the Chiricahua Mountains, coined the term ‘Sky Islands’ for the ranges in southeastern Arizona (Heald 1951). Frederick H. Gehlbach’s 1981 book, Mountain Islands and Desert Seas: A Natural History of the US-Mexican Borderlands, provided an overview of the natural history of the Sky Islands in the southwestern United States. The ‘desert seas’ in the valleys are desert grassland and Chihuahuan desertscrub in the north, Sonoran desertscrub to the west, and foothills thornscrub in the south. Variants of the term include Sky Island region (McLaughlin 1995; Gottfried and others 2005; Skroch 2008), sky-island ranges (Felger and Wilson 1995, Fishbein and others 1995), and sky island bioregion (Fishbein and others 1995; Skroch 2008). Today we mostly use ‘Sky Island Region’ with capital letters. The best name in Spanish is Islas Serranas, rather than the literal translation Islas del Cielo, because cielo means both ‘sky’ and ‘heaven.’ The analogy to oceanic islands (Warshall 1995) is limited because Sky Islands differ from true insular areas in high species diversity, low local and regional endemism, and low percent- ages of non-native species (McLaughlin 1995). While any isolated area is a potential area for speciation in small populations, there are relatively few species restricted to the Sky Island Mountains. The term Madrean’ comes from the Sierra Madre. The Mexican Plateau is a vast area of grasslands and desertscrub between the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico and ca. 1,300 km to the south the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in south-central Mexico. The Plateau is open to incursions of frigid Arctic air from the north, and the Sierra Madres Oriental and Occidental create a double rain shadow and the Chihuahuan Desert. Madrean is a general term used to describe things related to the Sierra Madres. In a biogeographical analysis of the herpetofauna of Saguaro National Monument, University ofArizona herpetologist and ecologist Charles H. Lowe was probably the first to use the term ‘Madrean Archipelago’ to describe the Sky Island ranges between the Sierra Madre Occidental in Sonora and Chihuahua and the Mogollon Rim of central Arizona (Lowe, 1992). Warshall (1995) and McLaughlin (1995) expanded and defined the area and concept. Biodiversity In 2007, Conservation International named the Madrean Pine-oak Woodlands as a global biodiversity hotspot. This was a very large area that included the Sierra Madre Oriental in eastern Mexico, the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) in western Mexico, and the Sky Is- land ranges north of them into Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The Sierra Madre Occidental extends in western Mexico from Zacatecas and Jalisco north to Chihuahua and Sonora. The southwestern United States is famous for its diversity of animals and plants, and in many groups diversity increases southward in Sonora into the Sierra Madre Occidental and the New World tropics. Species richness is enhanced in the Sky Island Region for many reasons. The western half of North America is mountainous, with topographically diverse habitats and vegetation zoned along eleva- tional-climatic gradients. Biotic communities are concentrated in small geographic areas compared to the eastern United States where vegetation mostly changes along a north-south latitudinal gradient. The Madrean Archipelago is a convergence zone for five biotic provinces (fig. 1). The Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateaus to the north have temperate climates. In the mid-continent, the grasslands of the Great Plains extend from Canada south to New Mexico,Texas, and the Mexican Plateau. In the south, a mosaic with desert grassland in the valleys and Chihuahuan desertscrub on adjacent limestone slopes extends westward into southeasternArizona and northeastern Sonora. On the western edge of the Sky Island Region, Sonoran desertscrub surrounds Sky Island ranges. In the south, more tropical oak wood- lands and pine-oak forests are in the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sky Island mountaintops. In the lowlands, foothills thornscrub (FTS) and tropical deciduous forest are present. The transition between the New World tropics and the northern temperate zone is at about 29°N in

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  • 10 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-67. 2013

    In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Ffolliott, Peter F.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Collins, Loa C., comps. 2013. Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III; 2012 May 1-5; Tucson, AZ. Proceedings. RMRS-P-67. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

    Biodiversity in the Madrean Archipelago of Sonora, Mexico

    Thomas R. Van Devender, Sergio Avila-Villegas, and Melanie Emerson Sky Island Alliance, Tucson, Arizona

    Dale Turner The Nature Conservancy, Tucson, Arizona

    Aaron D. Flesch University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

    Nicholas S. Deyo Sky Island Alliance, Tucson, Arizona

    Introduction Floweryrhetoricoftengivesbirthtonewtermsthatconveyimagesandconcepts, leadtoinspirationandinitiative.Onthe1892-1894expeditiontoresurveytheUnitedStates-Mexicoboundary,LieutenantDavidDuboseGaillarddescribedtheArizona-Sonoraborderlandsas“bare, jagged mountains rising out of the plains like islands from the sea” (Mearns1907;HuntandAnderson2002).LaterGalliardwastheleadengineeronthePanamaCanalconstructionproject. In1951,WeldonHeald,aresidentoftheChiricahuaMountains,coinedtheterm‘SkyIslands’fortherangesinsoutheasternArizona(Heald1951).FrederickH.Gehlbach’s1981book,Mountain Islands and Desert Seas: A Natural History of the US-Mexican Borderlands, providedanoverviewof thenaturalhistoryof theSky Islands inthesouthwesternUnitedStates.The‘desertseas’inthevalleysaredesertgrasslandandChihuahuandesertscrubinthenorth,Sonorandesertscrubtothewest,andfoothillsthornscrubinthesouth.VariantsofthetermincludeSkyIslandregion(McLaughlin1995;Gottfriedandothers2005;Skroch2008),sky-islandranges(FelgerandWilson1995,Fishbeinandothers1995),andskyislandbioregion(Fishbeinandothers1995;Skroch2008).Todaywemostlyuse‘SkyIslandRegion’withcapitalletters.ThebestnameinSpanishisIslas Serranas,ratherthantheliteraltranslationIslas del Cielo,becausecielo meansboth‘sky’and‘heaven.’Theanalogytooceanicislands(Warshall1995)islimitedbecauseSkyIslandsdifferfromtrueinsularareasinhighspeciesdiversity,lowlocalandregionalendemism,andlowpercent-agesofnon-nativespecies(McLaughlin1995).Whileanyisolatedareaisapotentialareaforspeciationinsmallpopulations,therearerelativelyfewspeciesrestrictedtotheSkyIslandMountains. Theterm‘Madrean’ comesfromtheSierraMadre.TheMexicanPlateau is a vast area of grasslands and desertscrub between theRockyMountainsinNewMexicoandca.1,300kmtothesouththeTrans-MexicanVolcanicBeltinsouth-centralMexico.ThePlateauis

    opentoincursionsoffrigidArcticairfromthenorth,andtheSierraMadresOriental andOccidental create adouble rain shadowandtheChihuahuanDesert.MadreanisageneraltermusedtodescribethingsrelatedtotheSierraMadres.InabiogeographicalanalysisoftheherpetofaunaofSaguaroNationalMonument,UniversityofArizonaherpetologistandecologistCharlesH.Lowewasprobablythefirsttousetheterm‘MadreanArchipelago’todescribetheSkyIslandrangesbetweentheSierraMadreOccidentalinSonoraandChihuahuaandtheMogollonRimofcentralArizona(Lowe,1992).Warshall(1995)andMcLaughlin(1995)expandedanddefinedtheareaandconcept.

    Biodiversity In2007,ConservationInternationalnamedtheMadreanPine-oakWoodlandsasaglobalbiodiversityhotspot.ThiswasaverylargeareathatincludedtheSierraMadreOrientalineasternMexico,theSierraMadreOccidental(SMO)inwesternMexico,andtheSkyIs-landrangesnorthofthemintoTexas,NewMexico,andArizona.TheSierraMadreOccidentalextendsinwesternMexicofromZacatecasandJalisconorthtoChihuahuaandSonora.ThesouthwesternUnitedStatesisfamousforitsdiversityofanimalsandplants,andinmanygroupsdiversityincreasessouthwardinSonoraintotheSierraMadreOccidentalandtheNewWorldtropics. SpeciesrichnessisenhancedintheSkyIslandRegionformanyreasons.ThewesternhalfofNorthAmerica ismountainous,withtopographicallydiversehabitatsandvegetationzonedalongeleva-tional-climatic gradients. Biotic communities are concentrated insmallgeographicareascomparedtotheeasternUnitedStateswherevegetationmostlychangesalonganorth-southlatitudinalgradient. TheMadreanArchipelagoisaconvergencezoneforfivebioticprovinces(fig.1).TheRockyMountainsandColoradoPlateaustothenorthhavetemperateclimates.Inthemid-continent,thegrasslandsoftheGreatPlainsextendfromCanadasouthtoNewMexico,Texas,andtheMexicanPlateau.Inthesouth,amosaicwithdesertgrasslandinthevalleysandChihuahuandesertscrubonadjacentlimestoneslopesextendswestwardintosoutheasternArizonaandnortheasternSonora.OnthewesternedgeoftheSkyIslandRegion,SonorandesertscrubsurroundsSkyIslandranges.Inthesouth,moretropicaloakwood-landsandpine-oakforestsareintheSierraMadreOccidentalandSkyIslandmountaintops.Inthelowlands,foothillsthornscrub(FTS)andtropicaldeciduousforestarepresent.ThetransitionbetweentheNewWorldtropicsandthenortherntemperatezoneisatabout29°Nin

  • USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-67. 2013 11

    Biodiversity in the Madrean Archipelago of Sonora, Mexico Van Devender, Avila-Villegas, Emerson, and others

    east-centralSonora.ThenorthernlimitsofFTSinSonoraareatabout30°11’NeastofSinoquipeintheRíoSonoraValleyand30°26’NatPresaAngosturaontheRíoBavispeatthesouthernendoftheSierraElTigre.FTSdoesnotreachArizona,butthedistributionsofquiteafewFTSspeciescrosstheborderintosouthernArizonaindesertgrasslandoroakwoodland.

    Sky Island Bioblitzes Todaytheterm‘bioblitz’ispopular,meaninganintensiveeffortinashortperiodtodocumentthediversityofanimalsandplantsinanarea.ThefirstbioblitzinthesouthwesternUnitedStateswasthe1848-1855surveyofthenewboundarybetweentheUnitedStatesandMexicoaftertheTreatyofGuadalupeHidalgoof1848endedtheMexican-AmericanWar.TheborderbetweenElPaso,Texas,andtheColoradoRiverinArizonawassurveyedin1855-1856,followingtheGadsdenPurchasein1853.Besidessurveyingandmarkingtheborderwithmonuments, theseexpeditionsmadeextensiveanimalandplantcollections,oftenbyarmyphysicians.BotanistsJohnM.Bigelow,CharlesC.Parry,ArthurC.V.Schott,EdmundK.Smith,GeorgeThurber,andCharlesWright(fig.2)andzoologistJohnH.ClarkcollectedbetweentheSantaRitaCopperMines(=SilverCity),NewMexicoandSantaCruz,SonorainthemodernArizona-Sonoraborderlands.OnthesecondUnitedStates-MexicoBoundarySurveyin1892-1894,EdgarA.Mearns(fig.3)collected30,000animalandplantspecimens.ThemammalswerepublishedinthebookMammals of the Mexican Boundary of the United States (Mearns1907). In1890,NorwegianCarlS.LumholtzledananthropologicalexpeditionthroughnortheasternSonora.Hepublishedapopulartraveloguein1902.Sweden’sCarlV.Hartmanwasabotanistinchargeofgeneralbiologicalcollections(fig.4).

    Río Mayo-Yécora Baseline

    Inthe1930s,HowardScottGentrywasarecentgraduatefromtheUniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley.Insearchofemployment,hewenttotheNewWorldtropicsintheÁlamosareainsouthernSonora,inhopesofsellingbiologicalspecimenstomuseumcollections.His

    plantcollectionswerepublishedinthebookRío Mayo Plants(Gentry1942).Inthe1970s,80s,and90s,PaulS.MartinledexpeditionsfromtheUniversityofArizona,whichretracedGentry’stravels,explorednewareas,andresultedinarevisionoftheRíoMayoflora(Martinandothers1998).ThislargeareaincludestheSierraMadreOccidentalineasternSonoraandwesternChihuahua. StudiesofthefloraandfaunaoftheYécoraareaintheSMOineastern Sonora provide baseline information needed to comparebiotasintheMadreanArchipelagowiththemainlandSierraMadreOccidental,puttingthebiodiversityofSkyIslandrangesinregionalcontext.MexicanFederalHighway16(MEX16),oneofthefewhighwaysthatcrossestheSMO,providesawest-to-eastelevationaltransectfromtheRíoYaqui(180m)easttotheChihuahuaborder,42kmeastofYécora(fig.5).

    Figure 2—(A) The U.S.-Mexico Boundary and Gadsden Purchase Surveys of 1848-1857 went through Guadalupe Canyon (photo by T. R. Van Devender). (B) Arthur C.V. Schott and (C) Charles Wright were expedition botanists.

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    Figure 3—(A) The second U.S.-Mexico Boundary Survey in 1892-1894 was led by Edgar A. Mearns. (B) The Arizona-Sonora Boundary is between the Sierra San José and the Huachuca Mountains (photo by T. R. Van Devender).

    Figure 1—Map of the biotic convergence in the Madrean Archipelago (map by Nick Deyo).

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    Van Devender, Avila-Villegas, Emerson, and others Biodiversity in the Madrean Archipelago of Sonora, Mexico

    deYécoraregionon36fieldtripsfrom1995to2008.Thisflorawith1,776taxain3,300km2isverydiverse,ca.30%morediversethantheHuachucaMountainsinsoutheasternArizona(Reina-G.andVanDevender2005).Thereare2,125observationsof301speciesofbirdsfromtheMunicipiodeYécoraintheMadreanArchipelagoBiodiversityAssessment(MABA)database(http://www.Madrean.org).

    Borderlands Exploration

    HigherSkyIslandmountainrangessuchastheSierrasdelosAjos,Elenita, Marquita, and Tigre have extensive pine-oak forest andmixed-coniferforestsonthehighestpeaks(fig.6;Marshall1957).ThebiotasoftheseareasaretemperatemixturesofSierraMadreanandRockyMountainspecies. Inthe1930sand1940s,theUniversityofMichiganhadaveryactivebiologicalexplorationprograminMexico.In1935,BarryCampbellcollectedamphibiansandreptilesintheSierraelTigre,Sonora.From1938-1941,StephenS.Whiteledthreebotanicalexpeditionstoex-ploretheRíoBavisperegionofnortheasternSonora(fig.7).TheRíoBavispeflorawith1200species(currently995taxaafterrevision)in549generain114familiesfromawiderangeofhabitatsintheregionwasthefirstmodernfloraintheSonoranborderlands(White1948). Ornithologist and intrepid explorer JoeT.Marshall studied thebirdsanddominantplantsofpine-oakwoodlandinmountainrangesin southeasternArizona,northeasternSonora, and in thenorthernSierraMadreOccidentalinChihuahuainthesummersof1951-1953

    Figure 4—The Lumholtz Expedition. (A) Carl S. Lumholtz. (B) Botanist Carl V. Hartman. (C) Sketch of the church in Bacadéhuachi in Lumholtz (1902).

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    Figure 5—Sunset in the Sierra Madre Occidental west of Yécora, Sonora (photo by Erik F. Enderson).

    Between1953and2005,herpetologist-ecologistCharlesH.LowecollectedamphibiansandreptilesintheYécoraareafortheUniver-sityofArizonaHerpetologicalCollectionon33tripsinvolving26people.From2004to2008,ErikF.EndersonandRobertL.BezydocumentedtheYécoraareaherpetofaunathroughphotographyon40fielddays.VanDevenderandAnaL.Reina-GuerreroattheArizona-SonoraDesertMuseum(ASDM)studiedthefloraoftheMunicipio

  • USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-67. 2013 13

    Biodiversity in the Madrean Archipelago of Sonora, Mexico Van Devender, Avila-Villegas, Emerson, and others

    (Marshall,1957).InSonora,heworkedintheSierrasAconchi,Azul,“Cananea”(=Elenita-Mariquita),Oposura(=LaMadera),andPinitos. Beginningin1963,RaymondM.Turner,J.RodneyHastingsandlater Tony L. Burgessmade numerous trips to Sonora and Baja,California,todocumentthedistributionsof414speciesofplantsintheSonoranDesert.Theirobservations,collections,andecologicalsummarieswere included in thebookSonoran Desert Plants. An Ecological Atlas (Turnerandothers1995).

    Beginningin1964,StephenM.RussellandGaleMonsonwenttoSonora toobservebirdson150 tripsand692fielddays.Theirobservationsof525specieswerepublishedinthebookThe Birds of Sonora(RussellandMonson1998).Beginningin2000,AaronD.FleschexpandedontheirfieldobservationsinnorthernSonora(Flesch2008). Inthe1980sand1990s,theUnitedStatesFishandWildlifeService,ÁreaNaturalProtegida(ANP)Ajos-Bavispe(aComisiónNacionaldeÁreasNaturalesProtegidas[CONANP)reserve),UniversityofArizona,andTheNatureConservancyPlantCollectionsorganizedexpeditionstotheSierradelosAjosjusteastofCananea:FrankW.Reichenbacherin1982,PaulS.Martinin1983and1991,PeterWarrenandEstherSaucedoin1989,andRichardS.Felger,MarkFishbein,George M. Ferguson, Dale S. Turner, James Malusa, FlorentinoGarza-S.,andMartínHaroinOctober1992andJuly1993(Fishbeinandothers1995).Turner,Garza-S.,andHaroreturnedonazoologicalexpeditionin1998alongwithCecilSchwalbe,TaylorEdwards,CarlOlson,YarPetryszyn,DavePrival,andothers(Albertiandothers1998). Withafewexceptions,documentationofanimalsandplantsintheArizona-Sonoraborderlandswasmostlyneglectedafter the1848-1857and1892-1894boundarysurveys.Evencommon,widespreadspecieshadnotbeencollectedorobserved.Beginningin2001,VanDevenderandReina-Guerrero(2005)begancollectingandobservingplantsinLa Frontera,theareainnorthernSonorawithin100kmoftheArizonaborder,aspartofseveralinventoryprojects. LeonardoVarela-Espinosa andAlbertoBúrquez-Montijo at theUniversidadNacionalAutónomadeMéxicoinHermosillostudiedthefloraoftheSierraSanJavieronseventripsfromJuly1996toMay1997(Varela-Espinosa2005).TheSierraSanJavieristhesouthernmostSkyIslandwithtropicaldeciduousforestbelowoakwoodland.Since1994,HerbarioUniversidaddeSonora(USON)hasgrownintoamajorregionalcollection.In2003-2004,CuratorJ.JesúsSánchez-Escalante,ManuelEspericueta-Betancourt,andReynaA.Castillo-GámezfromUSON,andVanDevenderandReina-GuerreroatASDMstudiedthefloraoftheSierradeMazatán(Sánchez-Escalanteand

    Figure 7—Stephen S. White and José Vera-Santos in the Sierra El Tigre on 13 October 1941.

    Figure 6—(A) View from the Sierra de los Ajos (photo by Dale S. Turner). (B) Mixed-conifer forest in Sierra El Tigre (photo by George M. Ferguson).

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    Van Devender, Avila-Villegas, Emerson, and others Biodiversity in the Madrean Archipelago of Sonora, Mexico

    others2005).Thisrangeisthesouthwestern-mostSkyIslandlocated70kmeastofHermosilloincentralSonora.BetweenMarch2009andSeptember2011,Sánchez-Escalante,DeniseZ.Ávila-Jiménez,DavidA.Delgado-Zamora,andLilianaArmenta-CotafromUSON,andVanDevenderandReina-GuerreroatSkyIslandAlliancestudiedthefloraofRanchoElAribabiintheSierraAzulonsevenfieldtrips.ElAribabiConservationRanchintheSierraAzulwasdesignatedanÁreaNaturalProtegidaPrivadabyCONANPinMarch2011. InJuly-August2005,biologistsfromtheUniversityofArizonaandtheSonoranDesertResearchStationinventoriedthefaunaandfloraalongtheRíoÁros,atributaryoftheRíoYaquiineast-centralSonora (O’Brien and others 2006). Participants included CharlesO’Brien,AaronD.Flesch,EricWallace,MichaelD.Bogan,SamiaCarrillo-Percástegui,SkyJacobs,andCharlesvanRiperIII. InApril-May2008,SkyIslandAllianceorganizedanexpeditiontotheSierraElTigretoobserveplantsandanimals(Avila-VillegasandJacobs2008).ParticipantswereSergioAvila-Villegas,PaulCondon,SkyJacobs,MattSkroch,RobertVilla,RodolfoVilla,andlandowners.

    Madrean Archipelago Conferences Asrecentlyastwodecadesago,fewpeopleknewoftheMadreanArchipelagoasadistinctregionandtheevidenceforitsimportancewasscatteredamongmanydisciplinesintwocountries.InSeptem-ber1994,aconferenceentitledBiodiversity and Management of the Madrean archipelago: The Sky Islands of Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexicowasorganizedby theRockyMountainForest andRangeExperimentStation,U.S.ForestService, alongwith Sky IslandAlliance (DeBano and others 1995).Therewere69presentationsand20posters.ThesecondMadreanArchipelagoConferenceinMay2004wasentitledConnecting Mountain Islands and Desert Seas: Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago.Therewere93presentationsand14posters.ThelackofinformationfromtheSkyIslandRegioninMexicowasnotedinbothconferences. InMay2012,thethirdMadreanArchipelagoconferenceassembledthecurrentstateofourknowledgeabouttheuniquenaturalandcul-turalresourcesoftheMadreanregionandcontinuedthediscussionofmanagementpracticesusefulformaintainingthoseresourceswith24sponsoringorganizations.Itbroughttogetherresearchers,partnersin resource stewardship, land managers, educators and students,government officials, consultants, and the interested public frombothsidesofthebordertoexaminetheMadreanArchipelagoofthesouthwesternUnitedStatesandnorthwesternMexico.Therewere151presentationsandposters,includingsubstantialadvancesintheknowledgeofanimalandplantdistributionsinMexico.

    Madrean Archipelago Bodiversity Assessment OneoftheconclusionsofbothoftheMadreanconferenceswasthattherewasanurgentneedforinformationfromtheMexicanportionoftheSkyIslandRegion.SkyIslandAlliancewasaprincipalorganizerforbothoftheseconferences.Inspring2009,theNorthernMexicoConservation Program at SIA initiated theMadreanArchipelagoBiodiversityAssessment(MABA)project,inpartfundedbyagrantfromtheVeoliaEnvironmentFoundation.Theconceptofdocument-ingallplantandanimalspeciesintheMexicanSkyIslandRegionforuseinconservation,landmanagement,research,andeducationwasproposedbyformerSIAExecutiveDirectorMattSkroch,DaleTurner,andAaronD.Flesch.

    TheonlineMABAdatabase(http://www.madrean.org)wascre-atedtomakeobservationsandimagesavailabletothepublic.TheFLORAhalfofthedatabaseisdirectlylinkedtotheSouthwesternEnvironmentalInformationNetwork(SEINet)database,whichhasdataforover2millionherbariumspecimens.TheFAUNAhalfofthedatabasewasanewdatabase.TheMABAdatabasediffersfromSEInetinthatmanyrecordsareobservationsratherthanspecimens,andthatobservationsareoftenillustratedwithcolorimages.Histori-calrecordsarefrommuseumcollections,literature,fieldnotesandotherdatabases.NewobservationsaremadeonfieldtripstoremotehighdiversitySkyIslandranges.Studyareaswereselectedbasedontheneedforbiologicalobservations,conservationinitiatives,andop-portunitiestocollaboratewithlandowners,landmanagers,andlocalresearchers. WhileobservationsaremadeonallMABAtrips,expeditionstohighpriorityareaswith25-45participantsareespeciallyproductive.These are unprecedented groups of animal and plant specialists,landowners,agencybiologists,universityprofessorsandstudents,journalists,photographers,andvolunteers(fig.8).In2009-2011,therewerefiveMABAExpeditions.InSeptember2009,17participantswenttotheSierraSanLuisonCuencaLosOjosFoundationproperty.InMarch2010,25participantswenttotheSierraElTigreonprivaterancheswithintheANPAjos-Bavispe.InAugust2010,39participants,includingprofessorsandstudentsfromthenearbyUniversidaddelaSierra(UNISIERRA),went to theSierraLaMaderaonprivateranches,partiallywithintheANPAjos-Bavispe.InApril-May2011,40participantswenttotheCiénegadeSaracachiandtheSierraSanAntonio.TheCiénegaisanimportantwetlandnaturalareaonRanchoAguaFríathatwasproposedasanÁreaNaturalProtegidaEstatalbytheComisióndeEcologíayDesarrolloSustentabledelEstadodeSonora(CEDES)in2010.TheSierraSanAntonioisprivatelyowned.InAugust2011,45participantswent to theSierraBacadéhuachi,whichismostlyprivatelyowned.RincóndeGuadalupe,ownedbytheCatholicDioceseofHermosillo,hasexcellentpotentialforprotectionasanaturalarea. TheMABAdatabaseistheprimarysourceofbiologicalrecordsforthestateofSonora.FLORAcontains112,623Sonoranobservations,including20,606fromMABA,20,331fromthebookSonoran Desert Plants. An Ecological Atlas (Turnerandothers1995),and13,285fromtheComisiónparaelUsoyConocimientodelaBiodiversidad(CONABIO).FAUNAcontains128,843Sonoranrecords,including60,856fromMABA,39,022fromthebookThe Birds of Sonora (Rus-sellandMonson,1998),33,993fromtheeBirddatabase,and27,404fromCONABIO.Species numbers in the MABA database provide preliminary diversity estimates for the Madrean Archipelago in So-nora. There are ca. 2880 plant taxa in northeastern Sonora. Insects are very diverse, but only 1380 taxa are documented in the Sky Islands Region. Vertebrates are better represented: fish (39 species), amphib-ians and reptiles (104 species), birds (358 species), and mammals (76 species). Surprisingly, diversity appears to decrease southward, but it probably reflects the north-northwest to south-southeast orientation of the ranges, and decreasing area and fewer biological inventories to the south.

    Conclusions TheMABAprojecthaspulledtogetherinformationfrombiologi-calexpeditionsintheMadreanArchipelagofromthelast160years.The knowledge of plant and animal distributions has increaseddramaticallysince1950,reflectingfieldworkbyAmericanbotanists,herpetologists,ornithologists,andmammalogists,thedevelopmentofbiologyprogramsattheUniversidadesdeSonoraanddelaSierra,

  • USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-67. 2013 15

    Biodiversity in the Madrean Archipelago of Sonora, Mexico Van Devender, Avila-Villegas, Emerson, and others

    theCONABIOnationalbiodiversitydatabase,andtheSonoranstateÁreaNaturalesProtegidasprogrambyCEDES.The2010bookDi-versidad Biológica de Sonora,editedbyFranciscoMolina-FreanerandVanDevender, summarized the stateofknowledgeofplants,animals,andvegetationinSonora.Theseaccomplishmentsareonlythebeginning—theopportunitiesforadditionalnaturalhistorystudiesintheMadreanArchipelagoareenormous!

    Acknowledgments For their support and participation onMABAExpeditions,wethankMario Cirett and Rosa Elena Jiménez-Maldonado ofANPAjos-Bavispe;GertrudisYanes-Arvayo,HugoSilva-Kurumiya,MaríadelaPazMontañez-A.,andtheirstudentsofUNISIERRA;J.JesúsSánchez-Escalante of UNISON; Martín Villa-Andrade, GonzáloLuna-Salazar,MartínReyes-Juárez, andRogelioMolina-Freaner;andEnriqueYescasofSonoraEs magazine.Fortheirfieldobserva-tionsandgreatcompany,wethankAnaLiliaReina-Guerrero,JohnPalting,GeorgeFerguson,ChipHedgcock,SkyJacobs,CarlTomoff,SteveHale,RobertVilla,andTrevorHare.Wethankcocineros del campo OmarGutiérrez-Castro andRobertoTorres-García for tor-tillas y frijoles. MarcTrinksandCarolinePatrick-BirdwellhelpedwithMABAtriplogistics.WethankMelanieEmersonandtheSIABoardofDirectorsfortheirsupportoftheMABAproject.BioblitzFathersPaulMartin,SteveRussell,WendellMinckley,CharlesLowe,RaymondTurner,HowardGentry,PaulMartin,StephenWhite,Joe

    Figure 8—MABA group at Rincón de Guadalupe in the Sierra Bacadéhuachi in August 2011 (photo by Chris Marzonie).

    Marshall,EdgarMearns,JohnLemmon,JohnBartlett,andWilliamH.Emorywalkedthebiodiversitypathlongbeforeus.

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