Tropical cloud forest plant endemism persistence within crop-fallow systems in a Mesoamerican hotspot area
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Tropical cloud forest plant endemism persistence within crop-fallow systems in a Mesoamerican hotspot area Oscar Pe´rez-Garcı´a
Received: 4 May 2018 / Accepted: 9 October 2020 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) under natural disturbances have shown high endemism in early successional vegetation. However, little is known about anthropogenic disturbances and plant endemism in TMCF under ancient agricultural management. In this sense, I assessed the number of species, abundance, and frequency of endemic vascular plants in temporary plots of cultivated and young fallow areas from two maize-based systems: milpa shifting cultivation (MS) and semi-permanent cropping (SP) in Oaxaca, Me´xico. Overall, both agricultural stages and systems harbored endemic species, seven in total, but most of such species were found in the fallow stage than in the cropping stage, and in the MS system than in the SP system. A single Asteraceae herbaceous endemic species (Melampodium mimulifolium) was commonly recorded in cultivated fields, but almost exclusive to the SP cropping system. Seven species were recorded in fallows, where the narrowrange endemic tree species Clethra integerrima
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-020-00557-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. O. Pe´rez-Garcı´a (&) Universidad Intercultural del Estado de Puebla, Maestrı´a en Ciencias en Manejo Sustentable de Recursos Naturales, Calle Principal a Lipuntahuaca S/N, 73475 Huehuetla, Puebla, Mexico e-mail: [email protected]
(Clethraceae) was the most abundant and frequent, but almost exclusive to the MS cropping system. In more permanent and intensified agricultural systems within biodiversity hotspots, only ruderal endemic herbaceous species can persist. In contrast, in low intensity managed agricultural systems, like ancient agroforestry, not only can endemic tree species prosper, but also restricted endemic trees can be found. Indigenous agricultural systems in biodiversity hotspots should not be seen as a threat, but rather as complementary areas for endemism conservation. Keywords Cloud forest regeneration Maize monoculture Milpa shifting cultivation Narrowrange species
Introduction The presence of endemic plant species is a key factor in defining areas of biodiversity importance, and their richness has been considered essential to qualify an area as a biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al. 2000; Sloan et al. 2014). Endemic plant species are usually associated with primary or pristine ecosystems. Under this approach, open and agricultural areas are considered irrelevant and inhospitable for endemic species and biodiversity conservation (Sloan et al. 2014). However, the agricultural matrix surrounding forest fragments can contribute to
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Agroforest Syst
biodiversity conservation if agricultural areas are managed under agroecological or traditional indigenous farmin
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