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The Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is an icon of culture, a revered aquarium pet, and a highly valued animal model in biomedical
research. Unfortunately, Mexican axolotls are critically endangered in their natural Xochimilco habitat in Mexico City. If axolotls go extinct,
current efforts to conserve the Xochimilico ecosystem will be undermined, as will efforts to genetically manage the laboratory populations that
are needed to sustain research efforts around the world. A concerted global effort is needed to protect and manage this irreplaceable species in
natural and laboratory environments.
BioScience XX: 17. The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights
reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
doi:10.1093/biosci/biv153 Advance Access publication XX XXXX, XXXX
polymorphisms that will allow the empirical assessment and comment on eighteenth-century society and politics. French
prioritization of axolotls for import and sharing. and English societies were breaking down under the weight
To complement efforts in building a global axolotl DNA of inequality, injustice, and poverty; the time was ripe for
registry, it will be important to develop methods for cryopre- social and political change. The pressures that threaten one
serving sperm and to implement long-term genetic planning of Mexicos most treasured natural resources are equally
using proven pedigree analysis and genetic-management weighty and, like A Tale of Two Cities, have complex political
tools. For example, simulations using PMx (Ballou et al. and social components.
2010) estimate that 89% of current genetic variation in the Although the Mexican government has enacted plans to
AGSC can be maintained for a period of 100 years if mean improve the Xochimilco ecosystem and water conservation,
kinship is used to guide the breeding program. Our strategy these plans have been difficult to implement. Partly, this
will be to manage separate axolotl subpopulations within reflects a lack of understanding about the resilience of urban
the AGSC and select breeding pairs to reduce inbreeding. wetlands and the need for consistent, long-term actions that
Establishing separate subpopulations of sufficient and con- prioritize environmental health and conservation ethics.
stant size has the potential to retain more genetic variation The same local government that enacted policies to protect
than a larger continuous population (Lacy 1987, Margan Xochimilco by implementing garbage-cleaning programs
etal. 1998). The overall management strategy outlined above on canals is now supporting the construction of a highway
will ensure the conservation of irreplaceable axolotl stocks over the wetlands (Zambrano et al. 2013). If this highway
while allowing the AGSC to continue operations as an inter- were built, it would almost certainly increase water and air
national genetic stock center for biological research. pollution and facilitate the further urbanization of the area.
To compensate, they have promoted conservation actions
A path forward based on the liberation of farmed axolotls into deteriorated
The title of our article traces to Charles Dickens A Tale canals without studies of the genetics, health, or demog-
of Two Cities. That books overarching message was to raphy of these introduced animals. Xochimilco cannot be
resurrected if policy decisions do not recognize whats at . 2011. Axolotiada. Fondo de Cultura Econmica.
stake: Xochimilco and the natural species it contains are Bojorquez-Tapia LA, Ezcurra E, Mazari-Hiriart M, Diaz S, Gomez P,
Alcantar G, Megarejo D. 2000. Basin of Mexico: A history of water-
irreplaceable resources of incalculable value to Mexico and shed mismanagement. Pages 129137 in Ffolliott PF, Baker MB Jr.,
others around the world. Edminster CB, Dillon MC, Mora KL, eds. Land Stewardship in the
As for the axolotls in the AGSC, their future is also precar- Twenty-First Century: The Contributions of Watershed Management
ious. Will it be possible to import axolotls globally with the US Department of Agriculture. US Department of Agriculture, Forest
growing concern about the spread of infectious diseases that Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.
Bride IG, Griffiths RA, Melendez-Herrada A, McKay JE. 2008. Flying an
are decimating some salamander species (Yap et al. 2015)? amphibian flagship: Conservation of the axolotl Ambystoma mexicanum
Another concern is how AGSC axolotls will be sustained through nature tourism at Lake Xochimilco, Mexico. International Zoo
into the future. The NSF funded the AGSC axolotl collection Yearbook 42: 116124.
for several decades. However, the NSF so radically changed Burns E. 2009. Repensar la Cuenca: Gestion de Ciclos del Agua en el Valle
their funding mechanism (NSF 13-557) for maintaining liv- de Mxico. UAM-Centli Mxico.
Charlesworth D, Charlesworth B. 1987. Inbreeding depression and its evolu-
ing stocks that it no longer provided a sustainable means of tionary consequences. Annual Review Ecology Systematics 18: 237268.
support for axolotls and other animal models. Fortunately, Contreras V, Martine-Meyer E, Valiente-Riveros E, Zambrano L. 2009.
funding was secured from the National Institutes of Health Recent decline and potential distribution in the last remnant area of the
in 2015 to extend support of the AGSC through 2020. microendemic mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum). Biological
Prez V, Blanco LJ. 2010. Evaluacin de amenazas por inundaciones en el development, and evolution studies. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols 8
centro de Mxico: El caso de Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal (19982005). (art. pdb.emo128).
Investigaciones Geogrficas 73: 2240. Zambrano L, Vega E, Herrera G, Prado EA, Reynoso VH. 2007. A popula-
Reib C, Olsson L, Hobfeld U. 2015. The history of the oldest self-sus- tion matrix model and population viability analysis to predict the fate
taining laboratory animal: 150 years of axolotl research. Journal of of an endangered species in a highly managed water system. Animal
Experimental Zoology 324: 393404. Conservation 10: 297303.
Rojas TR. 1998. La Cosecha del Agua en la Cuenca de Mxico. Ciesas. Zambrano L, Valiente E, VanderZanden MJ. 2010. Stable isotope variation
Rubio MS. 2014. Capacidad de Carga de Refugios Experimentales para of a highly heterogeneous shallow freshwater system. Hydrobiologia
Ambystoma mexicanum en Xochimilco, Mxico. Masters thesis. 646: 327336.
National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico. Zambrano L, Cordova-Tapia F, Ayala CAA, Glvez KL, Ortz HGA,
Shaffer HB, Voss, SR. 1996. Phylogenetic and mechanistic analysis of Navarro-Prez de Leon NM, Manzur-Trujillo D, Pacheco RM, Acosta
a developmentally integrated character complex: Alternate life his- SSD, Aguilar AL. 2013. Opinin Sobre los Posibles Impactos de
tory modes in ambystomatid salamanders. American Zoologist 36: la Autopista Urbana Oriente Tramo Muyuguarda-Bilbao. Unin
2435. de Cientficos Comprometidos con la Sociedad. (7 October 2015;
Smith HB. 1989. Discovery of the axolotl and its early history in biological www.uccs.mx/images/library/file/Observatorio_socioambiental/MIAS/
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Pages 312 in Malacinski GM, Armstrong JB, eds. Developmental Biology Zambrano L, Mena H, Ayala C, Merlo A, Tovar A, Sumano C, Navarro
of the Axolotl. Oxford University Press. M, Rubio M, Trejo M. 2015. Plan de Accin para la Conservacin
Tovar A. 2014. Determinacin de la Estructura Trfica de Refugios de Ambystoma mexicanum. Laboratorio de Restauracin Ecolgica,