According to scientists, primitive and fish-like axolotl-, one of the world’s most endangered amphibians, has successfully adapted to a new environment after being released into Mexican artificial wetlands.
Scientists recently published 18 prisoner-in-law Axolotls in two artificial wetlands near Mexico City in a study that gives hope for the survival of Ambystoma Mexicanuma, a creature that is being put at risk of extinction by pollution and human activity.
Researchers found that smiley face amphibians were fitted with trackers and fed at both sites. Alejandra Ramos, a lead researcher from the University of Baja California’s Autonomous University, told the BBC it was “surprising results.”
The findings are published in the Journal Plos One, suggesting that Axolotl can be successfully restored to native habitat.
What is axolotl?
Legend says axolotl has not always been an amphibian. Long before it became Mexico’s most beloved salamander, it was believed to be the embodiment of the Aztec god of fire and lightning, Xolotl.
Although there are no official estimates for the current population, species endemic to central Mexico were classified as “very at risk” in 2019 by the International Red List of Endangered Species Species in International Conservation of Nature.
They breathe the skin with the gills, allowing it to adapt to their aquatic environment. It can also regenerate the heart, spinal cord, and part of the brain.
Salamanders usually have dark skin, but albino varieties can be kept. They can keep their inventory in their natural habitat for hours, buried in the mud, saving energy and waiting for prey.
At Lake Xochimilco, the main hub located in the southern part of Mexico City, Axolotl numbers plummeted 99.5% in under 20 years. In 1998, researchers estimated that Lake Xochimilco had 6,000 axolotls per square kilometre. By 2014, this number had dropped to just 36.
How is Axolotl at risk?
Mexico is a hot spot for amphibian and reptile biodiversity, due to its unique and diverse habitat, from tropical rainforests and deserts to cloudy and temperate forest areas.
Once used in traditional farming and washed with springs from the mountains, Xochimilco water was filled with big, smiling Axolotls.
However, pollution from the sprawl, the growing city of Mexico City, is undermining the water quality of the city’s canals flowing into the lake. Additionally, rainbow trout, who fled from a nearby farm, drove out the axolotls of the lake around the capital and ate food.
Researchers also found an increasing number of axolotls in Chytrid, a skin-inducing disease that catastrophically reduces amphibian numbers in other parts of the world, from Europe to Australia. Fungi have also been discovered in Mexico, but it is not yet a major problem.
Climate change is another factor that threatens Axolotl, as even small changes in temperature and rainfall disrupt ecosystems and erodes biodiversity.
In 2013, scientists expressed fear that it could disappear completely by 2025.
Axolotl is not the only species of Mexico facing an uncertain future. Pine forest stream frogs, Clarion Knight Snakes and Mexican crocodile lizards are some of the other highly endangered species.
How was Axolotls’ conservation efforts made?
To lay the foundations for the rewild project, researchers meticulously monitored the ecology of axolotls to establish ideal living conditions.
They then worked with a team of local farmers and volunteers to create a wetland “shelter” or artificial wetlands near Xochimilco by installing a natural filtering system to clean the water.
Scientists then released amphibians into two types of wetland environments. It is a restored natural wetland and an artificial wetland designed specifically for conservation.
These environments differ in variables that are important determinants of ecological structure, water chemistry and temperature, and amphibian physiology and behavior.
Axolotls were tagged with radio tracking devices to hold amphibian tabs. One of the key findings of this study was the ability of Axolotls to effectively navigate and produce artificial and restored wetland ecosystems.
Biologists and officials have led efforts to save species and their habitats from extinction, but in recent years, unexpected conservation phenomena have emerged in parallel as creatures benefit from an unexpected revival of interest.
Axolotl attracted international attention after the Minecraft computer game added creatures in 2021. That same year, the Bank of Mexico also decided to print images of animals on a 50-Peso bill.
Axolotls can now be found throughout Mexico as murals, clothing and children’s toys. Some bakeries are inducing the senses with axolotl-shaped cakes and biscuits.
“If we lose this species, we lose some of our Mexican identity,” Luis Zambrano, co-lead researcher at the National University of Mexico, told the BBC.
Could other amphibians be saved too?
Climate change, habitat loss and disease outbreaks are taking a toll on amphibians around the world. Half of the amphibian species have decreased, but a third is extinct.
The team overseeing the Axolotl investigation said public funding is also key to preventing losses for other species.
However, in his six-year term, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was in office from 2018 to 2024, cut funding to the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat by 35%.
Scientists involved in the project hope to restore Axolotl’s population, but they also highlighted the need for government, business and individual engagement.
“Many animals have lost their habitat all over the world,” Ramos said. “And while restoration projects aren’t easy, they can do what they can. They need a lot of people.”
Source link
