Espejo & Lopez 1999 (Article) Mexico

Mexican Bromeliaceae: diversity and notes on their conservation

Author(s):—A. Espejo-Serna & A.R. López-Ferrari

Publication:—Harvard Papers in Botany vol.4(1): 119-128. (1999)

Abstract:—A summary of the diversity of Bromeliaceae in Mexico is presented. Twenty-three genera are recorded for the country, with 328 species and 27 varieties or subspecies, representing 12% of the world’s total. The high number of endemic taxa is remarkable: 209 species are endemic to Mexico, representing 63.7% of the total number of Bromeliaceae species recorded for the country. The greatest bromeliad diversity is found in the mesophilous cloud forests, which, although covering only 0.5% to 1% of the country, contain 25.6% of the bromeliad taxa. A brief distributional analysis shows that some 210 species, representing 65% of the Mexican taxa, could be included in the Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-ECOL-059-l994 categorized at least as Rare (R). finally, proposals are made for the conservation of Mexican bromeliad diversity.

Keywords:—Bromeliaceae, conservation, distribution, diversity, endemism, Mexico