Oryx Vol 41 No 3 July 2007 Review The conservation status of West Indian palms (Arecaceae) Scott Zona, Rau´l Verdecia, Angela Leiva Sa´nchez, Carl E. Lewis and Mike Maunder Abstract The conservation status of 134 species, sub- ex situ and in situ conservation projects in the region’s species and varieties of West Indian palms (Arecaceae) botanical gardens. We recommend that preliminary is assessed and reviewed, based on field studies and conservation assessments be made of the 25 Data current literature. We find that 90% of the palm taxa of Deficient taxa so that conservation measures can be the West Indies are endemic. Using the IUCN Red List implemented for those facing imminent threats. categories one species is categorized as Extinct, 11 taxa as Critically Endangered, 19 as Endangered, and 21 as Keywords Arecaceae, Caribbean, Palmae, palms, Red Vulnerable. Fifty-seven taxa are classified as Least List, West Indies. Concern. Twenty-five taxa are Data Deficient, an indica- tion that additional field studies are urgently needed. The 11 Critically Endangered taxa warrant immediate This paper contains supplementary material that can conservation action; some are currently the subject of only be found online at http://journals.cambridge.org Introduction Recent phylogenetic work has changed the status of one genus formerly regarded as endemic: Gastrococos is now The islands of the West Indies (the Caribbean Islands shown to be part of the widespread genus Acrocomia sensu Smith et al., 2004), comprising the Greater and (Gunn, 2004). Taking these changes into consideration, Lesser Antilles, along with the Bahamas Archipelago, endemism at the generic level is 14%. Several other the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Cayman Islands, are genera, such as Pseudophoenix, Roystonea, Acoelorraphe recognized as a hotspot of biological diversity with and Thrinax, are near-endemics to the West Indies, also .50% endemism in the flora (Biodiversity Hotspots, occurring in southern Florida, the Yucata´n Peninsula, 2004; Smith et al., 2004). Palms (family Arecaceae or the Atlantic coast of Central America, or the northern Palmae) are among some of the most conspicuous plants coast of South America. The remaining genera are in the region. In terms of ecosystem function, palms are shared with North, Central or South America. The West keystone species (Terbough, 1986); moreover, palms are Indian endemic palm genera have few species, a pattern some of the most economically important wild plants, consistent with most endemic seed plant genera in the providing extractable resources (fibre, wood, sugar/ region (Francisco-Ortega et al., unpubl. data). There are alcohol, and animal feed) for people in the region (Read, 134 taxa of palms in the West Indies. A few, such as 1988; Horst, 1997). Palms are also an important part of Acrocomia aculeata, Desmoncus polyacanthos and Sabal every tourist’s image of a tropical vacation paradise. palmetto, are widespread, with ranges extending well There are 21 genera of palms in the West Indies. Of beyond the West Indian region. Most species, however, these, Zombia, Hemithrinax and Calyptronoma are endemic. are endemic or near-endemic (reaching continental coasts). We recognize 118 taxa as strictly endemic to Scott Zona (Corresponding author), Carl E. Lewis and Mike Maunder IUCN/ the West Indies. SSC Palm Specialist Group, Center for Tropical Plant Conservation, Fairchild The status of West Indian palms has been assessed Tropical Botanic Garden, 11935 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, Miami, Florida before, either globally or by country. The first regional 33156, USA. E-mail [email protected] assessment was that of Dransfield et al. (1988), based on Rau´ l Verdecia IUCN/SSC Palm Specialist Group, Jardı´n Bota´nico Las Tunas, data amassed in the IUCN Threatened Plants Unit Las Tunas, Cuba. database. At that time the taxonomy of several West Angela Leiva Sa´ nchez IUCN/SSC Palm Specialist Group, Jardı´n Bota´nico Indian genera was poorly understood. Consequently, Nacional, Carr. El Rocı´o, Km. 3 ½, Calabazar, CP 19230, La Habana, Cuba. many of the taxa in Dransfield et al. (1988) are no longer Received 17 April 2006. Revision requested 14 August 2006. recognized, and the names on that list are difficult to Accepted 6 October 2006. reconcile with those on current floristic lists. The second 300 ª 2007 FFI, Oryx, 41(3), 300–305 doi:10.1017/S0030605307000404 Printed in the United Kingdom Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.180, on 05 Oct 2021 at 13:24:35, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605307000404 West Indian palms 301 conservation assessment was Johnson & the IUCN/SSC Results Palm Specialist Group (1996), a global assessment that Our Red List assessments for each taxon are presented listed only those palms thought to be highly threatened; in the Appendix with, for comparison, the Red List it did not assign a conservation assessment to other assessments of Dransfield et al. (1988), Johnson & the species. More recently, several publications have IUCN/SSC Palm Specialist Group (1996), and the cur- addressed the conservation status of palms within rent global Red List status (IUCN, 2006). The number of a particular geopolitical region (Henderson et al., 1990; taxa in each Red List category by island or island group Moya & Leiva, 2000; Zona et al., 2003; Berzaı´n et al., 2005; and overall, summarized from our assessments in the Galeano & Bernal, 2005). Appendix, and also the number of taxa and endemic Threats to native palms in the West Indies include land taxa by island or island group, are presented in Table 1. clearing for agriculture and construction, overexploita- The 134 taxa are not uniformly distributed throughout tion for timber, thatch or other products, anthropogenic the region. Of the 11 taxa that we assess as Critically fires, habitat degradation, livestock, competition from Endangered nine occur in Cuba, which also has the introduced exotic plants, and introduced pathogens and greatest number of palm species, and two in Haiti. There pests. Of these, land clearing poses the greatest threat. are 118 (88%) taxa strictly endemic to the West Indies. Assessing the conservation status of palms in the West One hundred and nineteen taxa (89%) occur in only one Indies is a critical first step in prioritizing conservation of the island areas considered in this assessment but of resources and activities. The need for an up to date, these, six (or 4% of the total West Indian taxa) also occur complete global assessment of the West Indian palms in areas outside the West Indies. A significant propor- was the impetus for this paper. tion of the remaining 113 island taxa are probably point endemics, i.e. with a restricted geographic range. The exact number of point endemics cannot be determined Methods without further taxonomic study. The islands included in this assessment are the Bahamas Archipelago (including the Turks & Caicos Islands), Discussion Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, the Lesser Extinct and Critically Endangered species Antilles, and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (Fig. 1). We have used the taxonomy of the World Checklist of Only one West Indian palm, Roystonea stellata, is catego- Palms (Govaerts & Dransfield, 2005), along with the rized as Extinct. This palm was endemic to the Meseta genera recognized by Dransfield et al. (2005), as these de Maisı´, in extreme eastern Guanta´namo Province, are the most up to date and are widely regarded as the Cuba. It was described from a single specimen by arbiter of palm taxonomy. We included only those Brother Leo´n in 1943 but repeated exploration for the palms believed to be native to the region; introduced palm has failed to relocate it (Zona, 1991). In September or naturalized species were excluded. We also consid- 2005 RV searched for this palm and distributed photo- ered one taxon, Zombia antillarum var. gonzalezii of graphs among many local people of the characteristic the Dominican Republic, that was not included in fruits of R. stellata but without success. R. stellata is not Govaerts & Dransfield (2005) either as a recognized known to be in cultivation. taxon or synonym. We believe that, until its taxonomic Attalea crassispatha is endemic to Haiti, where ,30 adult status can be resolved, this taxon should not be palms persist in severely degraded habitats (Henderson excluded from assessment. One taxon listed by Govaerts et al., 1990; Timyan & Reep, 1994). These palms are & Dransfield (2005), Copernicia x escarzana, was not occasionally felled, and children eat the immature seeds. included in our assessment, as we believe it to be Seedlings are over-browsed by livestock. Conservation synonymous with C.xburretiana. Copernicia yarey var. measures, including ex situ cultivation in Haiti and other robusta was treated as a synonym of C. yarey by Govaerts countries, and livestock exclosures around mature palms, & Dransfield (2005) but we recognize and evaluate it as have been initiated (Timyan & Reep, 1994), but long-term a distinct variety. success cannot yet be evaluated. We used the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria Pseudophoenix lediniana is endemic to a limited area in version 3.1 (IUCN, 2001, 2006) to assess the conservation Departement de l’Ouest, Haiti, where ,50 adults sur- status of each taxon. Our sources of data are published vive (Henderson et al., 1990; Zona, 2002). The site is accounts of the palm flora, along with personal obser- traditionally respected by the local people but lacks any vations made during field work since 1985. Field work legal protection. The palm fruits are gathered for animal in Cuba was by RV and ALS; field work elsewhere in the feed (Read, 1968), and therefore the species’ long-term West Indies was by the remaining authors. viability is in doubt.