Search

Antecedentes: Los sistemas agrosilvícolas (SA) integran diversidad agrícola, forestal y cultural. En regiones costeras de México han sido poco estudiados, particularmente los manejados por mixtecos y afromexicanos de la costa de Oaxaca. Preguntas: ¿Qué SA se encuentran en comunidades mixtecas y afromexicanas?, ¿Cuáles son las especies útiles, formas de manejo, prácticas agrícolas y agroforestales de los SA? Especies de estudio: Diversas. Sitio y años de estudio: Santa María Chicometepec, Cerro de la Esperanza, Collantes, Santa Elena Comaltepec, San Agustín Chayuco, Santiago Tetepec, Oaxaca. Octubre 2021 a octubre 2022. Métodos: Se realizaron 60 entrevistas semiestructuradas a especialistas locales en tres comunidades mixtecas y tres afromexicanas. Se preguntó acerca de especies útiles, sistemas agrosilvícolas, prácticas agrícolas, agroforestales y de manejo. Se realizaron recorridos y colectas de ejemplares de herbario. Se describió cada sistema por sus prácticas agroforestales y de manejo. Se registró el número de especies útiles por categoría de uso y grupo cultural. Resultados: Se documentaron y describieron seis SA: milpa, potreros, solares, acahuales, piñal y cocotal. Las prácticas agrícolas en comunidades mixtecas se realizan con herramientas e insumos básicos y la producción tiene un fin de autoconsumo y venta local, mientras que en comunidades afromexicanas son tecnificadas y su destino es la venta regional. Linderos y árboles aislados fueron las prácticas agroforestales más comunes. Conclusiones: Mixtecos y Afromexicanos comparten SA, formas de manejo y prácticas agroforestales, difieren en las prácticas agrícolas. En los SA se conservan principalmente especies comestibles y maderables. El número de especies útiles es similar en comunidades mixtecas y afromexicanas.

Euphorbia fulgens is an ornamental species cultivated in Europe and endemic to Mexico; its ecological, genetic, and evolutionary aspects are not known. The objectives of this study were to determine its distribution, describe the places it inhabits, and analyze the diversity and genetic structures of wild populations of E. fulgens. A bibliographic review of the herbarium specimens and a field evaluation were carried out to develop a potential distribution map based on a multi-criteria analysis of the climatic and topographic variables. Three populations (forty-five individuals) from pine–oak and cloud forests located in the Southern Sierra of Oaxaca were analyzed using ten microsatellite loci. The analysis was conducted using Arlequin v. 3.5, Mega v. 10, and Structure v. 2.3 programs. Eight loci were polymorphic, and a total of thirty-eight alleles were obtained. The average number of alleles per polymorphic locus was 4.6. The average heterozygosity of the three populations was high (Ho = 0.5483), and genetic differentiation between populations were low, with a high genetic flow, suggesting that it could be an ancestral population that became fragmented and was just beginning to differentiate genetically. The information generated on this restricted distribution species can be used in conservation programs pertaining to human activities that endanger the habitats where it is found.

Morphological variation is useful in conservation and genetic improvement programs. Euphorbia fulgens, a range-restricted local endemic species of Mexico, is used locally during the altars in the festivities of different saints and is also cultivated as an ornamental plant mainly in Europe. Thus, in the present study, morphological variation was evaluated in wild populations and cultivated populations. Characterization of 90 individuals from three wild populations (the only ones recorded to date) was done by measuring 30 morphological traits both vegetative and reproductive. Thereafter, seeds were collected, and established under greenhouse conditions, and 39 morphometric variables were evaluated in adult plants. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done for wild and cultivated groups independently, and when significant differences were found, Tukey’s comparison of means was applied (p < 0.05). To identify the traits responsible for the differences between wild and cultivated groups, a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was conducted. Morphological variation was found among wild populations, and this variation decreased in cultivated populations, mainly in reproductive structures. The LDA separated the wild populations from the cultivated groups, according to inflorescence length, petiole length/blade length ratio, and leaf roundness. The variables that determined the separation of individuals between wild and cultivated populations were cyme number, foliar Feret diameter, and inflorescence length, variables that can be important for breeding strategies and artificial selection.

Background. Non-timber forest products are being integrated into conservation strategies. Medicinal plants are considered a reason to conserve the source forests. Question. Can the use of medicinal plants motivate forest conservation? Study site and dates. The study was conducted in Santiago Camotlán, Distrito Villa Alta, Oaxaca, a humid mountainous area in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico, from August 2011 to May 2013. Methods. Ecological Land Units were characterized, and the relative importance of medicinal plants was evaluated. The ethnobotanical methods included participatory mapping, open interviews, semi-structured interviews and free lists with local specialists, as well as members of 17 systematically selected households, collection of characteristic and medicinal plant species, and plant walks with local specialists. For each species, a newly proposed Knowledge, Use and Perception Index based frequency of mention in free lists, frequency of use and perceived importance was calculated. Results. Local people divided their territory primarily by physical geographic characteristics and utilization. Nine units were distinguished: village and roads, home gardens, pastures, cultivated fields (maize, beans, sugar cane and coffee), cloud forest, semi-evergreen tropical forest and evergreen tropical forest, secondary growth (acahuales), and riparian vegetation. The most important medicinal plants were Salvia microphylla, Lippia alba and Artemisia absinthium, all cultivated in home gardens; weedy vegetation provided the majority of all medicinal plants. Individuals interested in preserving medicinal species transplanted them into a home garden. Conclusion. For people in the study area, the presence and use of medicinal plants was not a decisive reason for forest conservation.