Livestock is an economic activity, dedicated to the breeding of animal species to take advantage of them and of its derivative products, as well as of livestock exploitation itself. However, when relating it to the sustainable use of natural resources in Northwest Mexico, there can be seen some situations that need to be addressed. The present study aims to analyze the production and conservation status of natural resources of beef cattle activity in the cow-calf system in Sonora, Mexico. The diagnosis was based on aspects of regionalization of livestock, the specific characteristics and issues of the systems, and the productive status of rangelands. The results showed that, despite the existence of signs of wildlife utilization and the importance of protecting the habitat status for livestock development in the state of Sonora, Mexico, it is important to implement a series of actions in order to increase the sustainable productivity of soil, soil water resources, the recovery of vegetation cover, improvement of livestock management practices, needs of research and technology transfer, as well as institutional linkage and training of professional human resources.

The Pacific oyster culture in Mexico began 45 years ago, first with spat imported from the USA and now with spat produced in several local hatcheries. Oyster farmers do not know the parameters that define the quality of the spat they buy, among them the level of genetic variability available in the lots offered. In order to evaluate and compare the genetic variability in spat produced by four Mexican hatcheries, an attempt was made to amplify and sequence the non-coding region and the ND5 gene of the oyster mitochondrial DNA with oligos reported in the scientific literature. The amplification of the non-coding region was not possible due to the bad design of the oligos. Despite the integrity of the extracted oyster DNA, the ND5 gene was not able to be amplified possibly due to the modification of the oligo recognition site in the gene. The generational separation of the oyster cultivated in Mexico from its original source population makes it necessary to obtain new mitochondrial sequences in order to design new oligos suitable for the populations established in Mexico.

The Central Gulf Coast, subdivision of the Sonoran Desert, requires urgent actions to ecological restoration and development of sustainable alternatives to promote the generation of economic benefits in a manner consistent with the conservation of natural resources. Four sites were selected in the coastal region of the municipality of Hermosillo between 28°42'04" and 28°52'24" North and 111°45'39" and 111°56'48" West. Sites are representative of the various plant associations with variants in soil structure, topography and intensities of use. General plant diversity, plant density, height and canopy cover from shrub/tree plants, and basal cover from herbaceous plants were evaluated at each site. Species richness indices, equity and diversity among plant communities were compared. Major plant associations were identified as 1) Sarcocaulescent scrub, 2) Halophytes Communities, 3) Arbo-crasicaulescent scrub, and 4) Arbo-suffrutescent scrub. Sixty five plant species in 26 families were identified. Families with higher number of species were Cactaceae (12), Euphorbiaceae (7), Fabaceae (7) and Malvaceae (5). Species richness and diversity indices indicated differences between sites. Values of relative importance are identified among plant associations for subsequent analysis of productive and ecological trends as well as for the assessment of wildlife diversity and population parameters associated to each condition of the vegetation. This work is aimed to generate integral models for identifying feasibility and setting priorities for ecological restoration practices in the Sonoran Desert.