Background: Traditional ecological knowledge is an important part of biocultural heritage of societies; it has been reported their disappearance and in some cases this phenomenon has been associated with socioeconomic factors such as formal education. Questions and/or Hypotheses: How does traditional knowledge about edible plants vary between three groups of young Southern Tepehuans from different educational contexts? Study site and dates: Southern Durango, Mexico; September 2017 to November 2018. Methods: Traditional knowledge was compared among young Southern Tepehuan informants from three educational contexts: rural students, urban students and non-students. Each informant answered a questionnaire about 20 selected wild edible plants and wrote a free list of additional species. The results of these instruments allowed to determine a traditional knowledge grade per person. The statistical analyzes performed were ANCOVA and Chi-square tests. Results: Educational context, as well as age and gender proved to be variables statistically significant, not so the interaction between educational context and gender. Non-students hold the highest knowledge grade, and no significant difference was found in the traditional knowledge among rural and urban students. Conclusions: As has been documented in studies for other ethnic groups, our results suggest that traditional knowledge tends to disappear among Southern Tepehuans due to changes in lifestyles induced by formal education, such as reduced access to nature, nutritional transition and disuse of indigenous languages. To preserve the biocultural heritage, it is essential to apply novel strategies favoring alternative ways of knowledge transmission.

Ants are eusocial insects of wide functional and taxonomic diversity, with worldwide distribution in various terrestrial ecosystems (some introduced by man), with the exception of the poles and in the high mountain peaks. About 15,947 species have been described. In Mexico, 973 are known within 94 genera, and for the state of Durango 60 species are registered within 25 genera. However, the Formicidae knowledge in Durango State is limited as it has received little attention; this is mainly due to the lack of specialists, as well as the territorial extension of it. In order to know the myrmecofauna of the state of Durango, collections were made every 15 days between August 1, 2016 and August 1, 2017, in 56 sites in 19 municipalities located in different ecoregions of the State. Forty (40) species belonging to 24 genera were collected; the Myrmicinae subfamily was the most diverse with 21 species, followed by Formicinae (12 spp.), Dolichoderinae (5 spp.) and Dorylinae and Ponerinae with one species each. Ten (10) more ant species are registered for the state of Durango, the richness increasing from 60 to 70 species and from 25 to 32 genera. This study represents the first effort to know the myrmecofauna of the state of Durango, Mexico.

Durango State has the denomination of origin for the production of mezcal, which is made from Agave durangensis, mainly in an artisanal way; therefore, differences in the fermentation process affect the quality of the final product. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the diversity of culturable yeasts involved in the artisanal and semi-technified process of mezcal production in the State of Durango. Three distilleries with different production processes were monitored at different fermentation stages (beginning, mid-fermentation, and end of fermentation) in the spring and summer seasons. A greater diversity was found in the distillery of Nombre de Dios in both the spring and summer production seasons (H’ = 1.464 and 1.332, respectively), since it maintains an artisanal production process. In contrast, the distillery of Durango, where a Saccharomyces cerevisiae commercial inoculum is used to start fermentation, presented low diversity indexes (H’ = 0.7903 and 0.6442) and only S. cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces marxianus, and, sporadically, Pichia manshurica were found. Results suggest that the yeast microbiota involved in mezcal fermentation during the different seasons is affected by the type of inoculum; changes include the presence of some species that were only identified during a specific season in alcoholic fermentation, such as Torulaspora delbrueckii and Pichia kluyveri.

Ants, as eusocial insects essential to terrestrial ecosystems, are found across a wide range of habitats around the world. In Durango, Mexico, the convergence of Nearctic and Neotropical regions promotes high species diversity. This study analyzed ant diversity patterns across five vegetation types in the state. From August 2016 to September 2017, we collected 1,590 specimens representing 5 subfamilies, 14 tribes, 23 genera, and 36 species. Myrmicinae was the most diverse subfamily (19 species), followed by Formicinae (10 species), Dolichoderinae (5 species), with Ponerinae and Dorylinae each represented by a single species. We assessed alpha diversity using Hill numbers (0D, 1D, 2D) and spatial beta diversity through Jaccard (incidence) and Bray-Curtis (abundance) indices. Results showed that the Xerophytic Shrubland (MX) exhibited the highest species richness (0D) and diversity (1D, 2D). Abundance-based beta diversity ranged from 0.52 % to 0.95 %, indicating significant differences in species composition among habitats. This study highlights the remarkable ant diversity in Durango, influenced by distinct vegetation types, with Xerophytic Shrubland showing the highest diversity. These findings underscore the importance of environmental factors in shaping ant community distribution and richness, providing valuable information for biodiversity conservation.

Knowing the sex of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) individuals can provide information to set harvesting rates and management activities. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify the sex through classification function by using faecal pellet morphometry. Faeces were collected for 12 months in Durango, Mexico; their morphometric variables were measured, the faecal DNA was extracted, and the SRY gene marker was amplified to identify sex. A neural network and fuzzy logic sex classification functions were obtained. The outputs were validated with the SRY gene results. Data from adults in the winter were used to obtain the classification functions. Classification functions could accurately classify sex in 94.4% with neural networks and 86.9% with fuzzy logic. The neural network classified more accurately the sex of adult white-tailed deer studied in winter with the faecal pellets morphometry than with the fuzzy logic analysis. This technique can be a tool for non-invasive studies and monitoring of populations.

En esta revisión se evalúa la diversidad de ejemplares de Lepidóptera depositados en la Colección Entomológica del CIIDIR-Durango, resaltando su importancia en la investigación, conservación y apoyo didáctico. Esta revisión se orientó principalmente en el inventario de las especies contenidas, así como en determinar su riqueza, diversidad y evaluar la cobertura de las colectas en Durango. Los resultados revelaron que la colección cuenta con 1027 ejemplares distribuidos en 17 familias y 86 especies, con mayor representación de Noctuidae. Esta colección se considera como un recurso valioso para comprender la distribución de estos insectos en la región, enfatizando su importancia hacia aquellos investigadores interesados en su diversidad. Se subraya la necesidad de continuar con la recolección y estudio de la fauna de Lepidoptera para optimizar la información y el conocimiento sobre la diversidad de este grupo en Durango