TY - JOUR
T1 - Pinus chiapensis, a keystone species
T2 - Genetics, ecology, and conservation
AU - del Castillo, Rafael F.
AU - Argueta, Sonia Trujillo
AU - Sáenz-Romero, Cuauhtémoc
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Raul Rivera Garcia and Nahum Sánchez-Vargas for field work, Emma Cisneros for bird identification, and the careful revisions and constructive comments of two anonymous reviewers. This manuscript is an expanded version of a talk given at the 2.02.15 IUFRO Conference of Breeding and Genetic Resources of Five-Needle Pines held in September 2008 in Yangyang, South Korea. The authors greatly thank, J.N. King, R. Sniesko and E.R. Noh for their kind invitation. Funding was provided by grants of Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CEGEPI), SIBEJ-CONACyT, The Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species, and the European Commission INCO IV program (BIOCORES project contract no. ICA4-CT 2001-10095) and INCO V program (REFORLAN FP6-2004-INCO-DEV-3 032132).
PY - 2009/5/10
Y1 - 2009/5/10
N2 - We present an overview of recent studies carried out on Pinus chiapensis (Mart.) Andresen (Pinus strobus var. chiapensis Mart.) and provide management and conservation recommendations. Because of its wood quality, and being commonly used by 12 ethnic groups, this pine is an outstanding forest resource at mid-altitude humid mountains of southern Mexico and Guatemala. P. chiapensis appears to be a distinctive species, closely related with North American white pines, and a potential valuable resource for establishing breeding programs with such species. P. chiapensis is the most abundant tree species in early successional stands of the tropical montane cloud forest playing a key role in ecosystem regeneration particularly in areas managed under slash-and-burn practices. However, many natural stands of this pine are severely reduced. Molecular studies based on isozymes and DNA markers reveal low genetic diversity, the lowest compared with its closest relatives (P. ayacahuite, P. monticola and P. strobus). Heterozygosity and seed viability increase significantly with population size, and inbreeding depression appears to significantly decrease seed viability, suggesting the involvement of genetic factors on population decline. Low population size is associated with both lack of perturbation in well-preserved habitats and high deforestation rates in severely disturbed habitats. Conservation and management practices require preserving and restoring connections between suitable habitats to enhance gene flow between populations, and on careful programs that monitor and control slash-and-burn practices. Restoration practices should use seeds from as many tree sources as possible to reduce inbreeding risks. Spline climate models predict significant increases in temperature, decreases in precipitation and consequently an increase of aridity along the range of P. chiapensis. Thus, assisted migration would be needed to match present genotypes to forecasted climate changes.
AB - We present an overview of recent studies carried out on Pinus chiapensis (Mart.) Andresen (Pinus strobus var. chiapensis Mart.) and provide management and conservation recommendations. Because of its wood quality, and being commonly used by 12 ethnic groups, this pine is an outstanding forest resource at mid-altitude humid mountains of southern Mexico and Guatemala. P. chiapensis appears to be a distinctive species, closely related with North American white pines, and a potential valuable resource for establishing breeding programs with such species. P. chiapensis is the most abundant tree species in early successional stands of the tropical montane cloud forest playing a key role in ecosystem regeneration particularly in areas managed under slash-and-burn practices. However, many natural stands of this pine are severely reduced. Molecular studies based on isozymes and DNA markers reveal low genetic diversity, the lowest compared with its closest relatives (P. ayacahuite, P. monticola and P. strobus). Heterozygosity and seed viability increase significantly with population size, and inbreeding depression appears to significantly decrease seed viability, suggesting the involvement of genetic factors on population decline. Low population size is associated with both lack of perturbation in well-preserved habitats and high deforestation rates in severely disturbed habitats. Conservation and management practices require preserving and restoring connections between suitable habitats to enhance gene flow between populations, and on careful programs that monitor and control slash-and-burn practices. Restoration practices should use seeds from as many tree sources as possible to reduce inbreeding risks. Spline climate models predict significant increases in temperature, decreases in precipitation and consequently an increase of aridity along the range of P. chiapensis. Thus, assisted migration would be needed to match present genotypes to forecasted climate changes.
KW - Assisted migration
KW - Breeding programs
KW - Climate change
KW - Conservation
KW - Disturbance
KW - Economic value
KW - Extinction
KW - Facilitation
KW - Genetic diversity
KW - Inbreeding depression
KW - Keystone species
KW - Phylogeny
KW - Pinus chiapensis
KW - Secondary succession
KW - Soil
KW - Tropical montane cloud forest
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=64549098123&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.foreco.2009.03.004
DO - 10.1016/j.foreco.2009.03.004
M3 - Artículo de revisión
AN - SCOPUS:64549098123
SN - 0378-1127
VL - 257
SP - 2201
EP - 2208
JO - Forest Ecology and Management
JF - Forest Ecology and Management
IS - 11
ER -