Dr Ximena Velez-Liendo
Research Associates
Chester Zoo Conservation Fellow
I am a conservation biologist with fifteen years of experience in Andean bear ecology and conservation in Bolivia. For my PhD at the Ecology and Evolution Lab at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, I use habitat models, landscape connectivity analysis and human expansion models to identify key conservation areas for bears in Bolivia. Previously for my Master’s degree in Geographical Information Systems at Leicester University, I studied deforestation and its social-economic causes in the buffer area of Carrasco National Park, Bolivia.
I am a co-chair of the Andean bear Expert Team, Bear Specialist Group IUCN since 2007, and past council member of the International Bear Association since 2001 and currently running for Vice-President of the Americas.
Research focus
Conserving large carnivores is a pressing issue worldwide. The ecological and conservation roles of bears, as keystone and umbrella species, and even the cultural importance of this group addressed by the scientific community, is rarely reflected at the local level where communities suffer diverse costs from coexisting with bears. This is a joint project of Chester Zoo and WildCRU which aims to assess human-bear conflict occurring in the Inter-Andean dry forests of Tarija, Bolivia, an ecosystem already identified as a priority for Andean bear research and conservation, and to estimate bear’s population size.
Whilst currently listed as Vulnerable in all five countries where this bear’s inhabit, and globally by the IUCN, this categorization is based on inferred trends of their population, habitat models and human-bear conflict. Thus, this project will generate the first population estimations and quantify effects of human-bear conflict, which are vital for national and global assessment of Andean bears.
Links:
https://www.actforwildlife.org.uk/what-we-fight-for/animals-under-threat/bears/
Food shortages fueling bear-human conflicts in Bolivian Andes
Follow me:
https://twitter.com/XimeVLiendo
Selected Publications
Velez-Liendo, X. & García-Rangel S. Tremarctos ornatus. IUCN 2016. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (En prensa).
Moraes, M., L. Painter, X. Velez-Liendo and S. Acebey. 2015. The intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES) – Challenges for the scientific community. Instituto de Ecología. La Paz Bolivia.
Van Horn, R. C., Zug, B., Appleton, R. D., Velez-Liendo, X., Paisley, S. L., & LaCombe, C. 2015. Photos provide information on age, but not kinship, of Andean bear. PeerJ PrePrints 3: e1392.
Velez-Liendo X., F. Adriaensen and E. Matthysen. 2014. Landscape assessment of habitat suitability and connectivity for Andean bears in the Bolivian Tropical Andes. Ursus 25 (2) 172-187.
Van Horn, R.C., B. Zug, C. LaCombe, X. Velez-Liendo and S. Paisley. 2014. Human visual identification of individual Andean bears Tremarctos ornatus. Wildlife Biology, 20(5):291-299.
Wallace, R.B., A. Reinaga, T. Siles, J. Baiker, I. Goldstein, B. Ríos-Uzeda, R. Van Horn, R. Vargas, X. Velez-Liendo, L. Acosta, V. Albarracín, J. Amanzo, P. De La Torre, E. Domic, M. Enciso, C. Flores, A. Kuroiwa, R. Leite-Pitman, K. Noyce, S. Paisley, B. Peña, H. Plenge, R. Rojas Vera Pinto, T. Tapia y H. Vela. 2014. Unidades de Conservación Prioritarias del Oso Andino en Bolivia y en Perú. Wildlife Conservation Society, Centro de Biodiversidad y Genética de la Universidad Mayor de San Simón de Bolivia, Universidad Cayetano Heredia de Perú y Universidad de Antwerpen de Bélgica. La Paz, Bolivia. 82 pp.
Velez-Liendo X, D. Strubbe & E. Matthysen. 2013. Effects of variable selection on modelling habitat and potential distribution of the Andean bear in Bolivia. URSUS 24(2):127-138.
Velez-Liendo, X. and S. Paisley. 2009. Ursidae. Capitulo 21. In. Wallace, R.B., D.I. Rumiz and H. Gómez Cerveró. La Distribución y Ecología de los Mamíferos Medianos y Grandes de Bolivia. Editorial Fundación Simón Patiño, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
Goldstein, I., X. Velez-Liendo, S. Paisley and D.L. Garshelis 2008 Tremarctos ornatus. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org
Kojima, N., M. Laba, X. Velez-Liendo, A.V. Bradley, A. C. Millington and P. Baveye 2006 Causes of the apparent scale independence of fractal indices associated with forest fragmentation in Bolivia. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, November 2006
Aguirre, L. F., X. Velez-Liendo, A. Muñoz y A. Selaya. 2003. Patrones de distribución y zoogeografía de los murciélagos de Bolivia. Revista Boliviana de Ecología y Conservación Ambiental. 14: 3-17.
Millington, A. C., Velez-Liendo X. and Bradley, A. 2002 Scale Dependence in Multitemporal Mapping of Forest Fragmentation in Bolivia: Implication for Explaining Temporal Trends in Landscape Ecology and Applying These to Biodiversity Conservation. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing
