Biodiversity in Times of COVID-19 and its Relationship with the Socio-Economic and Health Context: A Look from the Digital Media.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a pause in people's activities and a socio-economic crisis worldwide due to confinement. This situation is an unprecedented opportunity to understand how these changes may impact biodiversity and its conservation, as well as to study human-nature interaction. Biodiversity plays an essential role in conservation and economic activities, and in countries with greater inequality and low gross domestic product (GDP), biodiversity could have a low priority. Moreover, how biodiversity is prioritized in a society impacts how the citizens view it, and digital news tends to shape biodiversity narratives. The aim of this work was to determine the main trends in biodiversity-related news categories during the COVID-19 pandemic in countries with terrestrial and marine hotspots and relate them to the socioeconomic and public health context of each country. For this, we searched for news on biodiversity and Covid-19 in the first 6 months of the pandemic and related them to GDP, Gini-index, deaths, and infections by Covid-19. Results showed that conservation, public policies, and use of natural resources stood out as the main news categories across countries, with a positive narrative and mostly related to terrestrial rather than marine environments. On the other hand, the socio-economic and public health characteristics of each country had an influence on which aspect of the biodiversity was reflected in the media. For example, countries with greater inequality were associated with tourism news, additionally, countries with low GDP, high cases, and deaths by Covid-19 were associated with news about cultural diversity. In contrast, countries with high GDP and low inequality were associated with news about zoonosis, research and development, public policies, and alien and invasive species.

Review: Knowledge status of predators of the freshwater prawn Cryphiops caementarius (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) in river systems along the North Western Andean region from Perú and Chile

Introduction: Cryphiops caementarius, is an endemic prawn from river ecosystems in Southern Perú and Northern Chile. In these watersheds, natural populations are threatened by multiple anthropic interventions such as mining activities and fishing pressure, but also, by increasing impacts of invasive exotic predators. Information related with predation on C. caementarius is scarce representing a major knowledge gap to ensure suitable management and conservation practices. Accordingly, the further deepening in relevant aspects such as the estimation of populations losses due to predators has been indicated as critical by relevant agencies as FAO. Objective: To conduct a complete registry and classification of C. caementarius predators, updating the knowledge for the Andean region. Methods: A thorough bibliographic review on existing information on C. caementarius' predators from Perú and Chile was carried out calculating percentage of occurrence, relative frequency of species, zoogeographic origin, trophic structure, phenotypic attributes, river zone that inhabits and life stage of incidence. The registry was complemented using semi-structured interviews from prawn´s fishers in central-Northern Chile. Results: C. caementarius is predated along the entire fluvial network (estuary, potamon and rhithron) by 21 species of opportunists, carnivores, omnivores and herbivores, mostly aquatic vertebrates. In turn, these belong to 15 families and six guilds of native, exotic and cosmopolitan species. Approximately 86 % predate on adult prawns, whilst, 71 % on juveniles and 24 % on larvae. More than 40 % of the predation pressure seems to be exerted by native waterfowls and 24 % by exotic fish. Conclusions: The results emphasize the relevance for conservation of native species of predators in the Andean region and the need of control measures on exotic species in a latitudinal basis. Accordingly, this review may serve as an initial decision-making tool for future conservation efforts both on prawns and native biota, but also supporting restocking actions, fisheries management plans and risk assessment for C. caementarius populations across the Andean region.

Introducción: Cryphiops caementarius es un camarón endémico de los ecosistemas fluviales del sur de Perú y norte de Chile. En estas cuencas hidrográficas, las poblaciones naturales están amenazadas por múltiples intervenciones antrópicas, como la actividad minera y presión pesquera, pero también por el creciente impacto de depredadores exóticos invasores. Información relacionada con la depredación sobre C. caementarius es escasa, representando una brecha de conocimiento importante para asegurar apropiadas prácticas de manejo y conservación. En consecuencia, la profundización en aspectos relevantes como la estimación de las pérdidas de población debido a los depredadores, ha sido indicada como crítica por agencias relevantes como FAO. Objetivo: Realizar un registro completo y clasificación de los depredadores de C. caementarius, actualizando el conocimiento para la región Andina. Métodos: Se realizó una revisión bibliográfica exhaustiva de la información existente sobre los depredadores de C. caementarius de Perú y Chile, calculando el porcentaje de frecuencia de ocurrencia y frecuencia relativa para cada especie, además de su respectivo origen zoogeográfico, estructura trófica, atributo fenotípico, zona fluvial que habita y etapa de la vida de incidencia del camarón. El registro se complementó con entrevistas semi-estructuradas a pescadores de camarones del centro-norte de Chile. Resultados: C. caementarius es depredado en diferentes zonas de la red fluvial (estuario, potamon y ritron) por 21 carnívoros, omnívoros y herbívoros, oportunistas y selectivos, en su mayoría vertebrados acuáticos. A su vez, estos se distribuyen en 15 familias y seis gremios, pertenecientes a tres categorías de origen zoogeográfico (nativo, exótico y cosmopolita). Aproximadamente el 86 % de estas especies depreda sobre la fracción adulta, mientras que el 71 % lo hace sobre juveniles y el 24 % sobre estadios larvales. Las aves acuáticas nativas ejercen más del 40 % de la presión depredadora, seguido por peces exóticos con un 24 %. Conclusiones: Los resultados enfatizan sobre relevancia que tiene la conservación de depredadores nativos en la región Andina y la necesidad de medidas de control sobre especies exóticas. En consecuencia, esta revisión puede servir como una herramienta inicial de toma de decisiones para futuros esfuerzos de conservación tanto de camarones como de la biota nativa, pero también apoyando acciones de gestión pesquera y evaluación de riesgos para C. caementarius en toda la región Andina.