by Mexico City (AP) six years ago, residents of a congregation crossed by Kanaal in Mexico City Axolotls were able to pick the big salamander who is reminiscent of a small dragon from the water with their hands because they were so abundant. Now it is almost impossible to find them in the wild.
That is why scientists from the national autonomous university of Mexico Xochimilco’s Dark Waters filter for traces of the DNA of the endangered being.
“We all throw DNA past our path all over the world and that can be caught by filtering air or water,” said biologist Luis Zambrano, of the ecological restoration lab of the university.
While they try to control the decreasing figures from the Axolotls, scientists are increasingly trusting this technique because their nets are emptying during periodic surveys of the population, which is only found in Xochimilco.
They sampling water from the channels and filtering it on Environment -DNA, or the genetic particles left behind by animals and plants that have contact with the water. That is then compared to the profiles in a genetic library that came together by British scientists a few years ago, said Esther Quintero of Conservation International in Mexico, which has been working with Zambrano since 2023.
Scientists collected water from 53 locations in Xochimilco: 10 indoor reflections where water is filtered and the water is cleaner and 43 outside those areas. They found Axolotl -DNA in the protected areas and in one place outside.
Referring to the only unprotected area, Zambrano said, “It’s very little”, but a sign that there is the possibility of resilience, even with continuous damage to the environment and pollution of the channels.
So far, the researchers have only searched a third of Xochimilco with the environment -DNA technique and the manual work with NETs, but they are planning to continue the work and hopefully present a updated census early next year.
However, the trend is not good. Out of an estimated 6,000 Axolotls per square kilometer in 1998, there were only 36 per square kilometer in the last census in 2014.
Zambrano emphasizes that the work of his team has shown that nature conservation works and that the efforts to protect the species also improve water quality, which increases the number of pollinators in the area and means that Mexico City makes better use of the water of Xochimilco.
But policy makers can do more, he said, such as prohibiting the opening of dance clubs, spas and football fields on the traditional artificial islands of Xochimilco, known as Chinampas. Instead, the government must stimulate traditional agricultural production of the islands, so that farmers can actually earn life with it.
If the habitat is determined, the Axolotl can take care of the rest.
“The Axolotl reproduces a lot because it lays a lot of eggs … It can easily recover and we know how,” said Zambrano.
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