Human population, economic activities, and wild bird conservation in Mexico: factors influencing their relationships at two different geopolitical scales

Abstract

Population growth poses threats to biodiversity, specifically to sensitive species. Therefore, an understanding of the conflict between biodiversity and human population is needed to enable long-term planning of development and conservation policies by state and federal governments and society based on limitations and potentials of environments. We used a geopolitical approach to analyze data on human demography, economic activities, natural vegetation, avian diversity, and protected areas of the 32 states of Mexico and the 30 districts of the state of Oaxaca. Using factor analysis, we identified the biodiversity-rich geopolitical units that have a large human population and are developing intense economic activities. We then carried out a series of linear regressions between the resulting factors to test whether they were related, suggesting areas where conservation conflicts may exist, and found that relations between human activities and natural resources vary from region to region. These results help us identify geopolitical units that require detailed studies of the interactions between population and natural resources, and also highlight the importance of using geopolitical scales as study units, where most conservation and development policies are determined, to inform local stakeholders and decision makers.