© Jeff Chemnick

Species of the Day: Dioon caputoi

Dioon caputoi is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. There are only four known populations of this small, distinctive cycad, all of which occur within the Tehuacán–Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve along the border between the Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca.

Habitat destruction due to ranching and agriculture has devastated many Mexican cycads. Geographical range Although plant collecting from the wild has been less severe than elsewhere in the world, www.iucnredlist.org various Mexican species, including Dioon caputoi, have been decimated by collectors. None of www.cycadsg.org the populations of this species now number more than 120 individuals, and all comprise mostly Help Save Species adult plants due to poor natural recruitment of seedlings. www.arkive.org Although Dioon caputoi receives some protection from international trade under its listing on Appendix II of CITES, additional conservation measures are still urgently needed to prevent extraction of plants and further habitat loss. Continued population monitoring as part of a long- term management plan, and the additional re-introduction of artificially propagated plants, will contribute to the survival of this range-restricted species.

The production of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is made possible through the IUCN Red List Partnership: Species of the Day IUCN (including the Species Survival Commission), BirdLife is sponsored by International, Conservation International, NatureServe and Zoological Society of London.