A morphometric study of the Abies religiosa–hickelii–guatemalensis complex (Pinaceae) in Guatemala and Mexico.

This morphometric study of the geographic variation in the Abies religiosa–hickelii–guatemalensis complex is based on samples from 15 Guatemalan and 12 Mexican populations, two populations of A. religiosa s.str. and A. hickelii s.str., and herbarium specimens of A. hickelii, A. vejarii and varieties of A. guatemalensis. The multivariate methods employed were principal components analysis, and UPGMA clustering. The multivariate and univariate analyses based on 231 operational taxonomic units imply that although morphological differences exist distinct morphospecies cannot be recognized within the A. religiosa–hickelii–guatemalensis complex. A Mantel’s test reports that taxonomic dissimilarities are significantly related to geographic distance. We suggest, therefore, that A. religiosa, A. hickelii and A. guatemalensis are merged so that A. hickelii is referred to as A. religiosa subsp. hickelii (Flous & Gaussen) U. Strandby, K.I. Chr. & M. Sørensen, comb. et stat. nov. and A. guatemalensis as A. religiosa subsp. mexicana (Martínez) U. Strandby, K.I. Chr. & M. Sørensen, comb. nov. According to our analyses A. vejarii cannot retain its status as a separate taxon as the material studied is nested within A. religiosa subsp. mexicana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]