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Mammillaria (Cactaceae) Como Indicadora Del Estado De Conservación Del Ecosistema

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Mammillaria (Cactaceae) Como Indicadora Del Estado De Conservación Del Ecosistema Restauración, consevación y manejo Mammillaria (Cactaceae) como indicadora del estado de conservación del ecosistema Teresa Valverde1 y Víctor Manuel Chávez2 1Grupo de Ecología de Poblaciones, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, 2Laboratorio de Cultivo de Tejidos Vegetales, Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México [email protected] grandes, más contaminadas y más pobladas del mundo. Introducción Esto ha determinado que la frecuencia e intensidad de incendios, por ejemplo, se haya incrementado de mane- Aunque la Reserva Ecológica del Pedregal de San Án- ra sustancial (Fig. 1). Si bien es posible que ocurrieran gel de Ciudad Universitaria (referida en adelante como incendios eventuales de manera natural en algunos de Reserva del Pedregal) protege sólo alrededor del 2% del los ecosistemas del Valle de México, el aumento en la área que ocupaba originalmente este ecosistema, su co- frecuencia de este tipo de perturbaciones, asociado a munidad vegetal sigue teniendo una riqueza extraordi- las actividades humanas, puede ocasionar cambios en naria (Carrillo-Trueba, 1995). su composición florística, causando la desaparición de especies nativas y la entrada de especies ruderales ca- En fechas recientes, Castillo et al. (2004) colectaron 337 racterísticas de zonas perturbadas. especies vegetales en la Reserva del Pedregal (315 es- pecies de plantas vasculares y 22 pteridofitas). Estos au- Según lo anterior, cabe preguntarse: ¿cuál es el estado tores hacen notar la discrepancia entre su lista florística y de conservación de la Reserva del Pedregal? Claramente la reportada por Rzedowski (1954) para el matorral xeró- los cambios recientes en la composición florística que filo de la Reserva, pues después de una colecta exhaus- hemos documentado, en particular la mayor frecuencia tiva y detallada, encontraron sólo 152 de las especies de especies ruderales, representan una luz de alarma que había reportado Rzedowski. Entre las razones que que debe tenerse en cuenta. Por otro lado, es impor- podrían explicar este cambio notable en la composición tante contar con un monitoreo constante de su estado florística de la comunidad, se menciona el hecho de que de conservación para poder tomar las medidas que per- la misma se encuentra en un proceso dinámico de suce- mitan preservar de la mejor manera este ecosistema. sión primaria y que, además, ha sufrido una reducción Algunos autores han propuesto que la evaluación del dramática en el área en los últimos 50 años (Castillo et al., desempeño de las especies más vulnerables de un eco- 2004). Además de los factores mencionados en el párrafo sistema puede utilizarse como una medida de su estado anterior, sin duda también ha habido un aumento en la de conservación (Primack, 1993; Soulé, 1993). Según frecuencia e intensidad de los disturbios que afectan al esta idea, las especies vulnerables nos pueden servir de Pedregal de San Ángel (como incendios, tiraderos de “termómetros”, de modo que su comportamiento de- basura, extracción de roca, efectos asociados a la cer- mográfico, su desempeño y su vigor nos pueden hablar canía con vías de comunicación, áreas habitacionales, del estado de conservación del ecosistema. Las cactá- entre otros), lo cual probablemente ha tenido un efecto ceas, en general, se han clasificado como especies natu- sobre el cambio en la composición florística que se ha ralmente vulnerables (Godínez-Alvarez et al., 2003), por observado en este ecosistema. La Reserva del Pedregal lo que pueden ser útiles para dicha evaluación. se encuentra inmersa en una de las áreas urbanas más 497 Mammillaria (Cactaceae) como indicadora Valverde y Chávez del estado de conservación del ecosistema a b FIG. 1. Aspecto general de a) la zona perturbada (que sufrió un incendio pocos meses antes del inicio del estudio) y b) la zona conservada de la Reserva del Pedregal de San Ángel en las que se llevó a cabo el estudio demográfico de Mammillaria magnimamma, entre 1996 y 1998. En este capítulo se evalúa en qué medida el cono- nimamma Haworth (Fig. 2), Opuntia lasiacantha Pfeiff., cimiento ecológico con el que se cuenta sobre dos O. tomentosa Salm-Dyck y O. tunicata Link et Otto. Sin de las cactáceas que se distribuyen en el Pedregal embargo, M. discolor se distribuye únicamente en las (Mammillaria magnimamma y M. san-angelensis) nos regiones más elevadas del derrame del Xitle. Por otro brinda información sobre el estado de conservación lado, M. elegans se reconoció posteriormente como un de este ecosistema. En la primera sección utilizamos sinónimo de M. san-angelensis (Bravo-Hollis y Sánchez- la información derivada de una serie de estudios de- Mejorada, 1991). Valiente-Banuet y de Luna (1994) re- mográficos y ecofisiológicos llevados a cabo con M. portan, además, a Opuntia robusta Wendland, que no es magnimamma; y en la segunda nos abocamos a con- una especie nativa del Pedregal, sino que se sospecha siderar algunas experiencias de propagación in vitro que algunos individuos provenientes de los ejemplares de M. san-angelensis (por medio del cultivo de teji- del Jardín Botánico han colonizado las zonas núcleo. dos) como una probable estrategia de conservación En el trabajo de Castillo et al. (2004) se reportan sola- para ésta y otras especies vulnerables. mente dos mamilarias (M. magnimamma y M. elegans) y tres opuntias (O. robusta, O. tomentosa y O. rzedowskii Las cactáceas del Pedregal Scheinvar, siendo esta última una sinonimia de O. lasia- cantha). Adicionalmente, aunque se ha reconocido a M. México es el más importante centro de concentración san-angelensis como una especie por propio derecho de cactáceas, con un alto índice de endemismos a nivel (Bravo-Hollis y Sánchez-Mejorada, 1991), en una publi- genérico (73%) y específico (78%) (Hernández y Godínez, cación más reciente se le incluye como una subespecie 1994). Existen poco más de 550 especies reconocidas de M. haageana (Guzmán et al., 2003). de cactáceas que se distribuyen en nuestro país (Hunt, 1992), lo cual constituye alrededor del 40% de las espe- La baja diversidad de cactáceas en el Pedregal de San cies descritas de esta familia (Anderson et al., 1994). Ángel probablemente esté relacionada con el clima templado que allí prevalece, pues, en general, la diversi- A pesar de que la comunidad del Pedregal de San Ángel dad de cactáceas en las regiones templadas de México se ha clasificado como un matorral xerófilo (Castillo et no es muy alta (Bravo-Hollis, 1978). Sin embargo, las es- al., 2004), su diversidad de cactáceas es más bien baja pecies presentes son una mezcla muy interesante y de en comparación con la de otros matorrales xerófilos orígenes diversos, pues mientras el género Mammillaria del país. Las especies de cactáceas que reportó Rze- se originó en las regiones áridas de México, las opuntias dowski (1954) para el Pedregal de San Ángel fueron seis: provienen de Sudamérica (Castillo et al., 2004). Mammillaria discolor Haworth, M. elegans DC, M. mag- 498 Restauración, consevación y manejo ¿Qué sabemos de las mamilarias del Pedregal? El género Mammillaria es muy numeroso y el más popular para su comercialización, por lo que sus po- blaciones silvestres sufren de una extensiva colecta de ejemplares (Ramírez Malagón et al., 2007). Guzmán et al. (2003) reconocen 1,025 especies y subespecies me- xicanas de Mammillaria y muchas de ellas han sido con- sideradas como amenazadas o en peligro de extinción (NOM-ECOL-059-2001). Este género aparentemente es de origen polifilético y se le considera casi endémico de nuestro país, ya que algunas especies extienden su distribución hacia el sur de los E.U.A. y otras hacia las Antillas, Centroamérica y el norte de Sudamérica (Bra- vo-Hollis y Sánchez-Mejorada, 1991). Mammillaria magnimamma Las dos especies que se distribuyen en la Reserva del Pedregal, M. magnimamma y M. san-angelensis, pre- sentan características morfológicas y ecológicas muy disímiles. Se cree que las poblaciones de ambas espe- cies han registrado disminuciones en su abundancia en las últimas décadas, lo que constituye un elemento de preocupación. FIG. 2. Distribución de los individuos de Mammillaria magnimamma en a) una zona conservada y b) una zona perturbada de la Reserva En la Reserva del Pedregal, M. magnimamma muestra del Pedregal. Tomado de Valverde et al. (1999). una temporada de reproducción relativamente larga. Los botones florales empiezan a emerger en febrero y el máximo de floración se observa entre marzo y abril, extendiéndose ésta hasta el mes de junio. Los frutos se ra y fisonomía de la vegetación que sugieren una alta observan principalmente durante junio, julio y agosto. incidencia de disturbios (Fig. 1a). Por otro lado, el sitio Las plantas reproductivas producen entre 4 y 5 botones conservado estaba situado hacia el interior de la Zona florales por individuo, pero un número mucho menor Núcleo y presentaba un estrato arbóreo relativamente (menos de 1) alcanzan a originar un fruto (Quijas-Fon- bien desarrollado (con Buddleia cordata como domi- seca, 1999; Valverde et al., 2004). nante), por lo que había una menor radiación lumínica y suelos más profundos y desarrollados; además, no En 1997 un grupo de investigadores de la Facultad se observaron evidencias de incendios recientes ni de de Ciencias estudiaron dos poblaciones de M. mag- disturbios evidentes (Fig. 1b). Se estudió la abundancia, nimamma en la Zona Núcleo Poniente de la Reserva. distribución y dinámica poblacional de M. magnima- Se eligieron para ello dos sitios, uno que se consideró mma en cada uno de estos dos sitios y se registró que “perturbado” y otro “conservado”. El sitio perturbado la densidad poblacional era de 662 ± 5 ind/ha (prome- se encontraba cerca de la Avenida de Los Insurgentes, dio ± desviación estándar) en la zona conservada, y de con vegetación predominantemente herbácea, un es- 638 ± 5 ind/ha en la zona perturbada (Valverde et al., trato arbóreo prácticamente ausente, con evidencias 1999).
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