Cloud forests of Mexico: conservation and restoration of their tree component

Abstract

González-Espinosa,  M.,  Meave,  J.A.,  Ramírez-Marcial,  N.,  Toledo-Aceves,  T.,  Lorea-Hernández,  F.G.,  Ibarra-Manríquez,  G. (2012). Cloud forests of Mexico: conservation and restoration of their tree component. Ecosistemas 21(1-2):36-54

The cloud forest of Mexico, a plant formation widely known in this country as mesophyllous montane forest (bosque mesófilo de montaña), comprises a diverse array of plant associations that collectively occupy nearly 1% of the national territory. Because of its fragmented distribution at mid- and high elevations of the humid mountain ranges (mostly but not continuously between 1500 and 2500 m altitude), its complex biogeographic history, and its adjacency with many other vegetation types, Mexican cloud forests host at least 10% of the country’s vascular plant flora, estimated at around 27 000 species. A recent appraisal showed that of a total of 762 tree species that thrive in these forests, at least 60% are in one of the various threat categories defined by the IUCN (23% Vulnerable, 27% Endangered, and 11% Critically Endangered). Current trends of population growth, land use/land cover change, and global climate change demand conservation and restoration actions to help revert their effects. The conventional conservation model consisting in the establishment of natural protected areas may be viable and still necessary in some areas to preserve the integrity of cloud forests as a whole. Nevertheless, novel restoration strategies are needed across most of its original range that are capable of reconciling the sustainable exploitation of these forests and the well-being of their inhabitants with the conservation of the extraordinary natural heritage that these forests signify for Mexico and the world.