Conflicts Between Biodiversity Conservation and Humans

Preface.- 1 A land of illusions and thin air.- 2 The cosmovision of the ancient inhabitants of the desert, a look through the cave painting.- 3 Life in Cuatro Ciénegas, a historical tour of the Coahuila desert between the XVI and XIX centuries, its people, and their relationship with the environment.- 4 Water as a socializing element. Hydraulic culture in New Spain between the 16th and the 18th centuries.- 5 Environmental conservation, water and wetland governance in Mexico.- 6 Cuatro Ciénegas, an aquifer at risk of overexploitation.- 7 Demise of Churince.- 8 Plants as a canary in the mine: A wetland response to ecosystem failure.- 9 Can bacterial populations go extinct? Evolutionary biology and bacterial studies in Cuatro Ciénegas shed light on the extinction process.- 10 Children can save the world, CBTa 22, Rural High school as a social experiment for a sustainable future.- 11 Conservation of the most diverse oasis of the world and the future of our path in the deserts: Lessonsfrom Cuatro Ciénegas to the world.- Index.

Valeria Souza has a bachelor's degree in Biology, master's degree in Genetics and PhD in Ecology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In 1990 Valeria worked with Rich Lenski at Irvine California (UCI), where she gained experience in experimental evolution. In 1993, she took on a research position at UNAM in Mexico, where she still works today. She was one of the first researchers worldwide to study the  evolutionary ecology of microbes. In 1999, Valeria and Dr. Eguiarte were invited by NASA to explore a new world on an expedition that led them to study microbial biodiversity in an unlikely oasis in the Chihuahuan desert. She is an international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

María del Carmen Mandujano studied Biology at the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM), and obtained her PhD from the National Autonomous University (UNAM), prior to completing her postdoctoral studies at New Mexico State University. She is currently a researcher at UNAM's Ecology Institute, where she has been studying various ecological aspects of cacti in Cuatro Ciénegas and Mapimí, in the Chihuahuan Desert, and more recently in the drylands of Querétaro. She has made important contributions to the demography, life history and floral biology of desert plants, especially in cacti. She is the editor of Revista Cactáceas y Suculentas Mexicanas. 
Irene Pisanty studied Biology at the School of Sciences (Facultad de Ciencias) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where she also obtained her Master's degree in Ecology and Environmental Sciences. She is currently an Associate Professor at the same School of Sciences, where she teaches on ecology, population ecology, natural resources and life histories. She is also interested in the implementation of environmental policies based on sound scientific knowledge and worked as a project manager for Ecosystem Conservation at the Commission for Environmental Cooperation