Local Illegal Trade Reveals Unknown Diversity and Involves a High Species Richness of Wild Vascular Epiphytes
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BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 136 (2007) 372– 387 available at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon Local illegal trade reveals unknown diversity and involves a high species richness of wild vascular epiphytes Alejandro Flores-Palacios*, Susana Valencia-Dı´az CEAMISH, University Autonomous of Morelos State, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, Cuernavaca, 62209 Morelos, Mexico ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Traffic of plants and animals of wild origin is a major threat to biological diversity creating Received 31 May 2006 a need for legal protection of traded species. Epiphytic vascular plants are a diverse guild Received in revised form which provides the horticultural market with many species. Many epiphytes are under pro- 18 October 2006 tection intended to stop illegal trade at international and local levels. To measure the rich- Accepted 8 December 2006 ness and volume of the epiphytes that are traded illegally on a local level, we monitored an Available online 12 February 2007 illegal sale point in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico for 85 weeks. We recorded 27 traders, 207 spe- cies and 7598 plants. Nineteen species were known for Mexico but not native to Veracruz; Keywords: two others had been collected in Veracruz but had never been reported before for Mexico. Bromeliaceae About 25% of epiphyte richness in Veracruz and 47% of the State’s epiphytic orchids are Harvest traded illegally. Most of the species traded could have been harvested in lower montane Non timber forest products cloud forest (105 species), however all vegetation types of central Veracruz are potential Orchidaceae epiphyte sources. Twenty-seven species protected by Mexican law were traded, along with Traffic 41 species endemic to Mexico and six endemic to Veracruz. We concluded that on a local level, the richness and volume of epiphytes illegally traded are high; in fact, the volume of orchids traded equals the annual average volume of legal Mexican orchid exports. Illegal epiphyte trade occurs worldwide, making necessary crucial increases of protective mea- sures and the development of sustainable ways of harvesting epiphytes. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction pets and in plants with medicinal or horticultural use (e.g. Vovides et al., 1997; McMahan and Walter, 1989; SEMARNAP, Legal protection and regulation of biodiversity is intended to 1997; Herna´ndez and Go´ mez-Hinostrosa, 2002); however, we stop unsustainable forms of exploitation by restricting the lack of data to understand the impact and magnitude of ille- extraction of protected species and certifying those plants gal trade on any scale (Blundell and Mascia, 2005). and animals raised or propagated legally for market. Interna- In Mexico there has been an academic effort to develop tional treaties and national laws have been adopted by many strategies to protect biodiversity. This effort has supported countries to stop illegal trade at local, regional and interna- the development of natural protected areas; especially impor- tional scales (Walter and Gillett, 1998; De Grammont and tant was the development of Biosphere reserves, in which the Cuaro´ n, 2006). Even with these legal measures, illegal trade reserve inhabitants are involved in conservation activities of wild animals and plants remains frequent worldwide and and management practices (Halffter, 1984). Moreover, the spe- is considered one of the most profitable illegal activities for cialists have developed and constantly updated threatened some countries (McMahan and Walter, 1989; SEMARNAP, plant lists (e.g. Vovides, 1981; Vovides et al., 1997). As a partial 1997). Illegal trade is especially intense in animals used as result of this academic initiatives, Mexico signed the CITES * Corresponding author: Tel./fax: +52 777 329 7019. E-mail addresses: alejandro.fl[email protected] (A. Flores-Palacios), [email protected] (S. Valencia-Dı´az). 0006-3207/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.12.017 BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 136 (2007) 372– 387 373 convention in 1991, and more recently Mexican authorities Table 1 – Number of animal and plant species protected developed an official list of threatened species (SEMARNAT, by the Mexican law (SEMARNAT, 2002) and the number of 2002). However, illegal trade is still recognized as a major species in each group in Mexico threat to biodiversity (SEMARNAP, 1997), indicating that these Group Number of Number of Percent initial protection measures have been insufficient and a bet- species species in protected ter understanding of the magnitude of illegal trade is urgently protected Mexico needed. a Epiphytic plants are a diverse guild characteristic of tropi- Fish 186 2122 8.8 b cal forests and represent a substantial proportion of the spe- Amphibians 197 285 69.1 Reptilians 466 693b 67.2 cies richness in those ecosystems (Wolf and Flamenco, 2003). Birds 371 1076c 34.5 Many epiphytic species are important in the international Mammals 295 525d 56.2 horticultural market, especially species from Araceae, Brome- Plants 980 24 601e 4.0 liaceae, Orchidaceae and ferns. Consequently, tropical forest Cactaceae 285 570f 50.0 canopies are sources of valuable non-timber forest products Orchidaceae 181 1150g 15.7 h (NTFP) (Verhoeven and Beckers, 1999). As with other groups, Palmae 64 100 64.0 Zamiaceae 43 48i 89.6 eradication or extinction of epiphytic species are affected by Agavaceae 39 198j 19.7 a combination of deforestation, fragmentation, and illegal k Pinaceae 36 60 60.0 collecting (Koopowitz, 1992; Turner et al., 1994; Williams-Line- Bromeliaceae 21 326l 6.4 ra et al., 1995; Olmsted and Jua´rez, 1996; Sosa and Platas, 1998; Another 96 311 21 873e 1.4 Pickens et al., 2003). In Singapore, for example, epiphytes ac- plant families counted for the largest number of plant extinctions or eradi- The number of Mexican species was taken from: cations (Turner et al., 1994). In Yucatan State, Mexico, 22 a Pe´rez et al. (1998). epiphytic orchid species have been eradicated (Olmsted and b Flores-Villela (1998). Jua´rez, 1996), while in Veracruz, six epiphytic orchid species c Ceballos et al. (2000). have been eradicated and one is proposed as extinct (Sosa d Ceballos and Oliva (2005). and Platas, 1998). e Espejo-Serna et al. (2004a). f Herna´ndez and Go´ mez-Hinostrosa (2002). Some epiphytes can be collected when populations are g Espejo-Serna and Lo´ pez-Ferrari (1997, 1998). large enough (Wolf and Konings, 2001; Pickens et al., 2003). h Quero (1994). Unfortunately, the methods used to collect NTFP are aimed i Vovides (2000). at the quickest profit, depleting the resources. Exception are j Garcı´a-Mendoza (1995). cases in which the people involved depend heavily on them, k Narave-Flores and Taylor (1997). follow traditional management practices, or have ecological l Espejo-Serna et al. (2004b). knowledge (Ticktin and Johns, 2002; Shaanker et al., 2004). The only study that documents changes in harvested vascu- lar epiphyte populations is that of the fern Platycerium 2. Methods stemaria (P. Beauv.) Desv. (Polypodiaceae); where commercial harvest reduced plant frequency on trees and modified 2.1. Study area plant distribution in cocoa plantations (Porembski and Bie- dinger, 2001), suggesting that collection pressure reduced The research took place in the Xalapa-Coatepec area in cen- abundance and restricted sites where the species can tral Veracruz, Mexico (Fig. 1). The region features intense hor- survive. ticultural activity, with wild plants sold legally and illegally. Epiphytes, especially orchids, are protected plants, both The zone is mountainous (Fig. 1), and lies within an hour’s nationally and internationally. In Mexico, the national list of drive of the coast. Therefore, many different vegetation types protected plants covers 980 species (SEMARNAT, 2002), of are easily accessible from Xalapa-Coatepec, including pine which at least 19% are epiphytes; Orchidaceae has the second forest, lower montane cloud forest, oak forest, and tropical highest number of protected species among plant families dry forest. The coastal area of central Veracruz contains man- (Table 1). Despite this legal protection, wild epiphyte traffic groves, tropical evergreen forest, and sand dune vegetation is common in markets and streets (e.g., Aguilar, 2001; Peralta (Rzedowski, 1978). and Torres, 2004); ironically, some epiphyte species have been A partial flora for the state of Veracruz exits (Sosa and reported for some regions on the basis of this activity (e.g., Go´ mez-Pompa, 1994) and can be complemented by more re- Cha´vez and Arenas, 1996). In fact, some protected species cent lists of Orchidaceae (Espejo-Serna and Lo´ pez-Ferrari, (e.g., the orchid Laelia speciosa (Kunth.) Schltr.) are subject to 1997, 1998), Bromeliaceae (Espejo-Serna et al., 2004b), Pterido- systematic collection. No studies have focused on local epi- phyta (Palacios-Rı´os, 1992, Melhtreter unpub. data), and a phyte traffic, which makes it impossible to assess the effec- partial guide to the epiphytes of Veracruz (Hietz and Hietz- tiveness of protection measures or know whether the only Seifert, 1994); according to these sources, Veracruz features species affected are those of high horticultural value. We at least 604 epiphytic plant species. The most diverse groups hypothesized that if legal protection is effective, then the ille- of epiphytes are Orchidaceae (262 species), Pteridophyta (168 gal trade of wild harvested epiphytes will be low, infrequent at species), and Bromeliaceae (68 species). In different localities any scale and that those plants harvested will be offered of central Veracruz the ecology of epiphyte communities has rooted to conceal any signs of wild origin. been studied (e.g. Hietz and Hietz-Seifert, 1995; Garcı´a-Franco, 374 BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 136 (2007) 372– 387 Fig. 1 – Central area of Veracruz, Mexico. The area surrounding Xalapa-Coatepec is mountainous with altitudes between 1200 and 1400 m asl; however, the Gulf of Mexico is ca. 60 km east of Xalapa, and 20 km west of Xalapa the zone reaches elevations of up to 4200 m asl.