Is geographical rarity frequent among the cacti of the Chihuahuan Desert?

With the aim of assessing the extent of geographical rarity of Mexican Cactaceae, we calculated the distribution size (area of occupancy) of 142 species from the Chihuahuan Desert. In addition, using 2 variables (number of localities and range size), we preliminarily assessed their conservation stat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRevista mexicana de biodiversidad Vol. 81; no. 1; pp. 163 - 175
Main Authors Hernández, Héctor M., Gómez-Hinostrosa, Carlos, Hoffmann, Gibrán
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Portuguese
Published Instituto de Biología 01.04.2010
Subjects
Biodiversity Conservation
cactáceas
areas of occupancy
IUCN Red List
Desierto Chihuahuense
áreas de ocupación
Mexico
México
cacti
tamaño de distribución
Chihuahuan Desert
distribution size
Lista Roja de la UICN
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ISSN2007-8706

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Summary:With the aim of assessing the extent of geographical rarity of Mexican Cactaceae, we calculated the distribution size (area of occupancy) of 142 species from the Chihuahuan Desert. In addition, using 2 variables (number of localities and range size), we preliminarily assessed their conservation status using the current IUCN Red List criteria. The results showed enormous variation in the areas of occupancy, although from the biogeographic and conservation perspective the most exceptional group comprises the extremely narrow endemics (42 species), whose range is restricted to areas smaller than 10 km2. Our results reinforce the reputation of this plant family as exceptionally rare geographically. We suggest that geographical rarity of Cactaceae in the Chihuahuan Desert is a natural phenomenon; however, we propose that the range of several species has been influenced by human activities. Regarding the conservation status of the species, 75 of them are categorized as Least concern. The remaining 67 species (47.2%) fall in 1 of the 3 categories of threat (27 Vulnerable, 11 Endangered, and 29 Critically endangered). These figures confirm the critical conservation status of Mexican Cactaceae.
ISSN:2007-8706