Potential distribution and geographic characteristics of wild populations of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae) Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

Wild specimens of Vanilla planifolia represent a vital part of this resource primary gene pool, and some plants have only been reported in Oaxaca, Mexico. For this reason, we studied its geographical distribution within the state, to locate and describe the ecological characteristics of the areas where they have been found, in order to identify potential areas of establishment. The method comprised four stages: 1) the creation of a database with herbarium records, 2) the construction of the potential distribution based on historical herbarium records for the species, using the model of maximum entropy (MaxEnt) and 22 bioclimatic variables as predictors; 3) an in situ systematic search of individuals, based on herbarium records and areas of potential distribution in 24 municipalities, to determine the habitat current situation and distribution; 4) the description of the environmental factors of potential ecological niches generated by MaxEnt. A review of herbarium collections revealed a total of 18 records of V. planifolia between 1939 and 1998. The systematic search located 28 plants distributed in 12 sites in 95 364 Km2. The most important variables that determined the model of vanilla potential distribution were: precipitation in the rainy season (61.9 %), soil moisture regime (23.4 %) and precipitation during the four months of highest rainfall (8.1 %). The species potential habitat was found to be distributed in four zones: wet tropics of the Gulf of Mexico, humid temperate, humid tropical, and humid temperate in the Pacific. Precipitation oscillated within the annual ranges of 2 500 to 4 000 mm, with summer rains, and winter precipitation as 5 to 10 % of the total. The moisture regime and predominating climate were udic type I (330 to 365 days of moisture) and hot humid (Am/A(C) m). The plants were located at altitudes of 200 to 1 190 masl, on rough hillsides that generally make up the foothills of mountain systems, with altitudes of 1 300 to 2 500 masl. In natural conditions, distribution of the species is not limited to high evergreen forests, since it was also found in mountain mesophyll and tropical evergreen forests. The location of new specimens of V. planifolia in its wild condition reduces the potential distribution area by 66 %. This area is fragmented into three geographically separated areas. Habitat reduction was due to the increased number of located plants that define the environmental conditions into a more accurate level. Conservation actions can thus be designed and implemented, focusing on more specific areas within the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Variación morfológica del labelo de Vanilla pompona (Orchidaceae) en Oaxaca, México

“…La recolecta del material biológico se realizó en 8 sitios (tabla 1) de Oaxaca, estado ubicado entre los 15°39' -18°42' N, 93°52' -98°32' O. Con una superficie de 95,364 km 2 (INEGI, 2010). Los sitios fueron seleccionados considerando el reporte de presencia de la especie (Soto-Arenas y Dressler, 2010), las características ambientales de precipitación, régimen de humedad y zona ecológica (tabla 2), dado que estos factores determinan la distribución potencial del género Vanilla (Hernández-Ruíz et al, 2016).…”

Factors associated with the distributions of orchids in the Jeseníky Mountains, Czech Republic

“…Despite the long history of studies on orchids, only a minute part of previous papers concerning potential and spatial distribution, niche conservatism, phytogeography, migration routes or conservation strategies of this taxonomic group included the use of species distribution models (e.g. Tsiftsis et al 2011;Angulo et al 2012;Kolanowska 2013;Wan et al 2014;Vogt-Schilb et al 2015;Hernandez-Ruiz et al 2016;Reina-Rodríguez et al 2016;Vollering et al 2016).…”

Selección cualitativa del esqueje en la sobrevivencia y desarrollo morfogenético de Vanilla planifolia Andrews

“…La recolección de material, conservación y evaluación del germoplasma es crítico, tanto en las zonas de distribución natural como en los centros de dispersión secundaria (Duval et al, 2006). Los esfuerzos para la búsqueda sistemática de parientes silvestres en Mesoamérica, son muy pocos (Azofeifa-Bolaños et al, 2014;Hernández-Ruíz et al, 2016) y no se conoce la diversidad intraespecífica de las vainillas costarricenses en relación con individuos de América Central y México. Aun así, la importancia del acervo genético primario de V. planifolia en Costa Rica es una prioridad, debido a la diversidad de genes que se podría aportar a la reducida base genética de las plantaciones comerciales, confirmada con varios estudios moleculares (Bory et al, 2008b;Lubinsky et al, 2008;Minoo et al, 2008).…”

“…Aunque se han realizado esfuerzos para conservar el acervo genético de Vanilla spp., en México, Costa Rica y Colombia (Azofeifa-Bolaños et al, 2014;Flanagan y Mosquera-Espinosa, 2016;Hernández-Ruíz et al, 2016), no existe información sobre la capacidad de aclimatización y algunas respuestas morfogenéticas en etapas iniciales de establecimiento de individuos silvestres de V. planifolia, dentro de un programa de conservación integral a largo plazo. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar la capacidad de aclimatización y el desempeño morfogenético de esquejes procedentes de poblaciones silvestres de V. planifolia en condición de invernadero.…”