DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE Chamaedorea (Arecaceae) GENUS IN MEXICO

Abstract

The Chamaedorea (Arecaceae) genus is a diverse group of palms, whose distribution is restricted to the American continent; however, there is a lack of detailed information about its diversity and distribution in Mexico. Using records from databases, the species wealth at the state and regional level was determined, in addition to the potential number of species and the effect of the latitude, altitude, and climate conditions on their abundance, diversity, as well as the potential distribution areas, size of the climatic niche of the species, and degree of overlapping. The results indicated that in Mexico there are 51 species distributed almost exclusively in the Neotropical region, concentrated mostly in the Southeast and
Southwest of the country, with greater diversity in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico. A gradient of diversity was identified as a result of the latitude, a significant correlation between abundance of records and altitude. The highest number of species is located in regions with warm and semi-warm climates, with altitudes no higher than 2000 m. The results suggest that the amount and seasonal distribution of rainfall exert an important effect on their abundance and diversity. The potential distribution, principal components, conglomerates and size of climatic niches allowed identifying species that only develop under very specific environmental conditions, while others are widely distributed, in which case the overlapping of their niches was very high.