El tràfic de fauna salvatge a Espanya : una investigació a la xarxa

Abstract

The introduction of species is one of the five principle causes of the loss of biodiversity and, in the recent past, is a problem which has gathered force. This increase is a consequence of new global forces, such as transport and commerce, are ending a long period of biological isolation. This present study is centred on the amphibians and has, as its objective, to evaluate and to recognise the burden of traffic in fauna on the arrival of new species on a geographic area in which they are not native forms. In order to carry out this project, bibliographical research was carried out in order to understand the problem and to identify the sources which would best serve for the basis of data in a second part. The data base is the foundation of the study as it permits knowledge of: the species of amphibians which have arrived in Spain from Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), those which are protected by the said convention, the species which are found to be commercially available in the internal market in the country and the invasive exotic amphibians which are present in the environment. This generated data was treated to discover the results and confirm or refute the initial predictions, which are the following; (1) the number of transactions regulated by CITES has increased over the past years, (2) there should be no species protected by the Convention being commercially available in Spain and, (3) the commercialization of exotic amphibians has a negative impact not only on the native ecosystem but also on the receiving ecosystem. With the obtained results, the first and third predictions have been confirmed, while the second has been refuted. In this way a significant increase in the number of transactions regulated by CITES has been observed, but only for anura, not for the urodela and the caecilians. On the other hand, based on the numbers of examples commercially available, negative consequences can be inferred from the traffic in fauna for native and receptor ecosystems. Furthermore, protected species were not expected to be found in the businesses studied, but various examples were found in the research carried out. With the study carried out it was hoped to recognise the importance and the consequences of commerce in the affected species, over the originating ecosystems and, often, on the receptor ecosystems in which they can become naturalised