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Background. Non-timber forest products are being integrated into conservation strategies. Their relevance for obtaining medicinal plants is frequently cited as a reason to conserve 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 healers, as well as members of 17 systematically selected households. Medicinal plant species, and plants considered characteristic for an Ecological Land Unit by local specialists, were collected during plant walks with both healers and experts on the territory. 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 vegetation ("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. Key words: Ecological Land Units, home gardens, Knowledge, Use and Perception Index, tropical forest, wild plant collection. ResumenAntecedentes. Los productos forestales no maderables están siendo integrados en las estrategias de conservación. Su relevancia para la obtención de plantas medicinales se cita frecuentemente como una razón para conservar los bosques. Pregunta. ¿El uso de plantas medicinales puede motivar la conservación de bosques? Sitio y años de estudio. El estudio se llevó a cabo en Santiago Camotlán, Distrito Villa Alta, Oaxaca, en un área montañosa húmeda de la Sierra Norte de Oaxaca, México, de agosto 2011 a mayo 2013. Métodos. Se caracterizaron unidades ambientales y se evaluó la importancia relativa de las plantas medicinales. Los métodos etnobotánicos incluyeron mapeo participativo, entrevistas abiertas, entrevistas semiestructuradas y listados libres con curanderos, así como miembros de 17 hogares seleccionados sistemá-ticamente. También se recolectaron en caminatas botánicas, plantas medicinales con curanderos y plantas consideradas características de cada unidad ambiental por conocedo...

In recent years, species of the genus Euphorbia with potential for ornamental use have been proposed in response to the demand for flower growers to have Mexican varieties since most of the ornamental varieties that are marketed come from abroad. This work is aimed to determine the distribution of Mexican species of Euphorbia subsect. Stormiae and evaluate if they can be used as ornamental plants. A data matrix was prepared with herbarium specimens and field collections, distribution maps were prepared and analyzed based on growth habit, climate types and soil types with Geographic Information Systems. The potential for use of a species was defined based on aesthetic values, and it was documented in which phase of the process of generating new horticultural crops they are. The states where the highest number of species are located are: Jalisco (6), Nayarit (5) and Sinaloa (5). Based on their geographic distribution, two groups were established: annual herbs with a wide distribution and perennial herbs or shrubs with a restricted distribution. The species mainly in warm and termperate subhumid climates and on lithosol, regosol, and cambisol soils. The aesthetic values that were presented mostly correspond to showy bracts. Euphorbia cornastra, E. pulcherrima and E. strigosa are in phase II of the research process towards new crops. The species are distributed mainly in the states located on the Pacific slope of Mexico and most of them are endemic. The potential for ornamental use of a species is defined both by its aesthetic value and by their behaviour when cultivated.

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.

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.