The need for multidisciplinary conservation: a case study of Ceratozamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales) in eastern Mexico
L IL Í MARTÍNEZ-DOMÍ NGUEZ,FE RNANDO NICOLALDE-MOREJ Ó N DEN NI S WM.S TEVE NSO N,QUIY A RI J. S ANTIA G O -J IMÉN EZ OCT AV IO ROJ AS -SOTO and FRANC ISC O VERGARA-S IL VA
Abstract As an evolutionary lineage cycads are rare, and the extinction risk is high for many species. The genus Ceratozamia, one of the most diverse in Mexico, is experi- encing drastic reductions of its habitat.Ceratozamia is wide- ly distributed along the Sierra Madre Oriental, a complex mountain range, in a region characterized by high ecological and cultural diversity. Since 1990, various conservation and management strategies have been applied to this taxon in Mexico but evidence for the effectiveness of these mea- sures is lacking. Ceratozamia in the Mexican Sierra Madre Oriental is highly diverse and endemic, offering a model for analysing geographical distribution patterns with eco- logical niche modelling. It also presents an opportunity for assessing the success of conservation and management strategies that have been implemented in this area. Here, we examined three aspects that are considered fundamental for the development and evaluation of conservation strat- egies: (1) taxonomy, (2) ecology and (3) sociocultural an- thropology. Our findings suggest a pessimistic outlook for the long-term survival of Ceratozamia species in their nat- ural environment, indicating the need to review the current IUCN Cycad Action Plan for the genus. To improve the protection of Ceratozamia and other taxonomic and/or ecological assemblages, we encourage a multidisciplinary approach, with increased collaboration between natural and social scientists.
Keywords Ceratozamia, cycads, ecological niche model- ling, Mexico, multidisciplinary approach, protected areas, socio-cultural perceptions
Supplementary material for this article is available at
doi.org/10.1017/S0030605320000204
Introduction T
he genus Ceratozamia (Zamiaceae: Cycadales) is wide- ly distributed and highly diverse in Mexico, with 30
species occurring in the country (Calonje et al., 2019). Nearly 40%of Ceratozamia species are endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental, a complex mountain range that harbours the greatest diversity of species belonging to this genus. Given the threatened status of Ceratozamia (the genus is listed on CITES Appendix I, and several spe- cies are categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List; CITES, 2019), there is an urgent need to develop conserva- tion strategies, but this is hampered by a paucity of infor- mation on cycad distribution. Cycads grow slowly, can live for several hundred years
LILÍ MARTÍNEZ-DOMÍNGUEZ* and FERNANDO NICOLALDE-MOREJÓN (Corresponding author,
DENNISWM.STEVENSON The New York Botanical Garden, New York, USA
QUIYARI J. SANTIAGO-JIMÉNEZ Facultad de Biología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
OCTAVIO ROJAS-SOTO Laboratorio de Bioclimatología, Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
FRANCISCO VERGARA-SILVA Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular, Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, Mexico
*Also at: Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
Received 3 July 2019. Revision requested 12 September 2019. Accepted 25 March 2020. First published online 24 March 2021.
orcid.org/0000-0003-1423-7474) Laboratorio de Taxonomía
Integrativa, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, 91190, Veracruz, Mexico. E-mail
enicolalde@uv.mx
and struggle to survive in disturbed habitats, making them important indicators of habitats in good conservation status (Norstog & Nicholls, 1997). Assessing cycad distribution could thus contribute to the mapping of priority areas for ecosystem conservation in Mexico. The most threatened vegetation types in Mexico are oak, pine–oak and cloud for- ests, which occur widely in the Sierra Madre Oriental and are characteristic habitats for most species of Ceratozamia (Contreras-Medina, 2004). The Cycad Action Plan (Donaldson, 2003) is an inter-
national initiative of the IUCN Cycad Specialist Group fo- cusing on sustainable use and ex situ conservation. These approaches have led to a number of international initiatives (Graham et al., 2011; Griffith et al., 2015), with the main focus being on the cultivation of cycads in nurseries. This is also the case in Mexico, where the most frequently pro- posed conservation action has been the establishment of nurseries to support sustainable management of cycads, which are often planted for ornamental purposes (Vovides & Iglesias, 1994; Vovides et al., 2002). The conservation of Ceratozamia is hampered by poor taxonomic curation of botanical specimens deposited in
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Oryx, 2021, 55(6), 947–956 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605320000204
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