Abstract

ACEBEY, Amparo R.; KROMER, Thorsten; VAZQUEZ-TORRES, Mario  and  TEJERO-DIEZ, J. Daniel. Ferns and lycophytes from the Los Tuxtlas biosphere reserve, Veracruz, Mexico. Bot. sci [online]. 2015, vol.93, n.2, pp.313-344. ISSN 2007-4476.  https://doi.org/10.17129/botsci.124.

We present an updated list of ferns and lycophytes from the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve, product of extensive field work and review of 1,380 herbarium specimens and literature. We recorded 246 taxa, distributed in 73 genera and 24 families, representing 43 and 24% of the pteridophytes of Veracruz State and Mexico, respectively. We found 35 new records for the Reserve, including two for Veracruz (Elaphoglossum glabellum y E. pringlei). Polypodiaceae (39 species), Dryopteridaceae (32), and Pteridaceae (31) were the largest families, whereas Asplenium (22), Thelypteris (18), Trichomanes (13) and Elaphoglossum (12) were the most species-rich genera. A low percentage of widespread species (7%) was recorded, 58% occur in tropical America mainly from Mexico to South America including the West Indies, 23% in Mexico and Central America, and 7% are endemic to Mexico. The altitudinal distribution shows the highest species-richness between 760 and 1,200 m elevation; the most species-rich vegetation types were the humid montane forest (134) and tropical lowland rainforest (115), the latter contains a high number of species, which highlighs its value for conservation. Furthermore, a high level of epiphytism (37.4%) stands out, particularly among humid montane forest species. We consider 65% of the taxa as rare or very rare, probably due to their habitat specificity.

Keywords : conservation; distribution; epiphytes; pteridophytes; species-richness.

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