Aldaba Núñez Fabián Augusto, Veltjen Emily, Martínez Salas Esteban Manuel, Samain Marie-Stéphanie
Red de Diversidad Biológica del Occidente Mexicano, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Pátzcuaro 61600, Michoacán, Mexico.
Systematic and Evolutionary Botany Lab, Department of Biology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Plants (Basel). 2021 Mar 31;10(4):673. doi: 10.3390/plants10040673.
The Mexican state of Veracruz has suffered very high deforestation rates in the last few decades, and despite the establishment of protected areas and conservation projects, primary forest is now mainly persisting in mostly small, scattered, fragmented remnants. New species of section in this state have been described with little to no reference to the already existing ones, potentially resulting in over-splitting, obscuring their taxonomic delineation and conservation status, and consequently conservation programs. To study the conservation units and their genetic diversity, we here employ 15 microsatellite markers on a highly representative sampling of 254 individuals of what are presumed to be five species. The results support at least three species and maximum five main conservation units. We propose downgrading the latter to four, given morphological, ecological, demographical, and geographical considerations. Two out of the three sympatrically occurring species in the rainforest in the Los Tuxtlas volcanic area have weak genetic evidence to be considered separate species. Similarly, the individuals in the Sierra de Zongolica in central Veracruz, who bear a very high morphological and genetic similarity to , have weak genetic evidence to be recognised as a separate species. Nonetheless, the individuals could be identified as based on morphology, and further research including the full range of this species is recommended.
在过去几十年里，墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州的森林砍伐率一直很高。尽管设立了保护区和开展了保护项目，但目前原始森林主要仅存于大多面积小、分散且碎片化的残余区域。该州新描述的物种分类几乎没有参考已有的分类，这可能导致过度分类，模糊了它们的分类界定和保护状况，进而影响保护计划。为了研究保护单元及其遗传多样性，我们在此对254个个体进行了极具代表性的采样，这些个体据推测属于五个物种，并使用了15个微卫星标记。结果支持至少三个物种以及最多五个主要保护单元。考虑到形态学、生态学、人口统计学和地理学因素，我们建议将后者减少为四个。在洛斯图克斯塔斯火山地区雨林中同域分布的三个物种中，有两个物种作为独立物种的遗传证据不足。同样，韦拉克鲁斯中部宗戈利卡山脉的个体与[某物种]在形态和遗传上有很高的相似性，作为独立物种的遗传证据也不足。尽管如此，这些个体可根据形态学鉴定为[某物种]，建议开展包括该物种整个分布范围的进一步研究。
