Towards conservation of the remarkably high number of daisy trees (Asteraceae) in Mexico

Rosario Redonda-Martínez*, Patricio Pliscoff, Andrés Moreira-Muñoz, Esteban Manuel Martínez Salas, Marie Stéphanie Samain

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mexico is floristically the fourth most species-rich country in the world, and Asteraceae is the most diverse vascular plant family in this country. The species exhibits a wide range of growth forms, but the tree-like habit, appropriately named daisy trees, is heavily underestimated, even though slightly different tree definitions are handled. Very little is known about their precise species number or conservation status in Mexico, so we update here the list of known Mexican daisy tree species, summarize their very diverse uses, present a general panorama of their present and future distribution, and discuss their conservation status. A bibliographic review and herbarium study were carried out, carefully curated taxonomical ocurrence maps were prepared for each species, and a climatic suitability modelling approach was used to characterise the spatial patterns of Mexican Asteraceae trees. With 149 daisy tree species, the country ranks second at a global level; within the country, their greatest diversity is found in central and western Mexico. A decrease in diversity is estimated in areas that currently host the highest species richness, whereas the hotspot regions are estimated to show an increase in species diversity, so climate change is not a threat to all Mexican daisy tree species.

Original languageEnglish
Article number534
Pages (from-to)1-24
Number of pages24
JournalPlants
Volume10
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Biogeographic provinces
  • Compositae
  • Endemism
  • Nectariferous plants
  • Ornamental species
  • Protected areas
  • Species distribution modelling
  • Traditional medicine

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