Background and AimsEthnobotanical studies in Mexico have documented that Mesoamerican peoples practise systems of in situ management of wild and weedy vegetation directed to control availability of useful plants. In situ management includes let standing, encouraging growing and protection of individual plants of useful species during clearance of vegetation, which in some cases may involve artificial selection. The aim of this study was to review, complement and re-analyse information from three case studies which examined patterns of morphological, physiological and genetic effects of artificial selection in plant populations under in situ management in the region.MethodsInformation on wild and in situ managed populations of the herbaceous weedy plants Anoda cristata and Crotalaria pumila, the tree Leucaena esculenta subsp. esculenta and the columnar cacti Escontria chiotilla, Polaskia chichipe and Stenocereus stellatus from Central Mexico was re-analysed. Analyses compared morphology and frequency of morphological variants, germination patterns, and population genetics parameters between wild and managed in situ populations of the species studied. Species of columnar cacti are under different management intensities and their populations, including cultivated stands of P. chichipe and S. stellatus, were also compared between species.Key ResultsSignificant differences in morphology, germination patterns and genetic variation documented between wild, in situ managed and cultivated populations of the species studied are associated with higher frequencies of phenotypes favoured by humans in managed populations. Genetic diversity in managed populations of E. chiotilla and P. chichipe is slightly lower than in wild populations but in managed populations of S. stellatus variation was higher than in the wild. However, genetic distance between populations was generally small and influenced more by geographic distance than by management.ConclusionsArtificial selection operating on in situ managed populations of the species analysed is causing incipient domestication. This process could be acting on any of the 600–700 plant species documented to be under in situ management in Mesoamerica. In situ domestication of plants could be relevant to understand early processes of domestication and current conditions of in situ conservation of plant genetic resources.

Plant Management in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, Mexico. Plant management types currently practiced in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, México, were documented and analyzed based on ethnobotanical studies conducted in 13 villages with six indigenous groups and Mestizo people. The information was organized in a data base, and then detailed and guided to a consensus through six workshops carried out by ethnobotanists working in the area. From a total of 1,608 useful plant species, we identified 610 with at least one management type other than simple gathering. Managed species are mainly used as food, fodder, medicinal, and ornamental, and they belong to 101 plant families. The higher species numbers were recorded in Cactaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Crassulaceae, and Agavaceae. Nearly 60% of the managed species are native to the region and the rest are introduced from other regions of Mexico and the world. In total, 400 species are ex situ managed out of their natural environments through seed sowing and/or planting their vegetative propagules or entire young plants; 373 species are in situ managed in their natural habitats as follows: all these species are deliberately left standing during vegetation clearance, 76 species are also enhanced intentionally favoring their abundance through modifications of their habitat, or directly by planting their propagules, and 51 receive protection through regulations, particular strategies of extraction, and actions against herbivores, competitors, freezing, radiation, and drought. Most management forms involve artificial selection at different intensity levels. The information allows visualizing co-occurrence of incipient and advanced forms of management at different intensity levels within and among species, which helps to postulate testable hypotheses on factors influencing plant management and domestication in an important area for studying the origins of agriculture.Manejo de plantas en el Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán, México. Se documentaron los diferentes tipos de manejo de plantas que practican actualmente los pobladores del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán, México. El análisis se basa en estudios etnobotánicos llevados a cabo en 13 comunidades campesinas con seis grupos indígenas y poblados mestizos. La información se organizó en una base de datos, la cual posteriormente se detalló y se consensó a través de seis talleres en los que participaron los etnobotánicos trabajando en la región y cuyos trabajos son la base de esta investigación. De un total de 1,608 especies de plantas útiles, identificamos 610 con al menos un tipo de manejo distinto a la recolección simple. Las especies 1 manejadas pertenecen a 101 familias botánicas y se utilizan principalmente como alimento, forraje, medicina y ornamentales. Los mayores números de especies manejadas se registraron entre las Cactaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Crassulaceae y Agavaceae. Aproximadamente 60% de las especies manejadas son nativas de la región y el resto son introducidas de otras regiones de México y del mundo. En total, 40...

BackgroundThe Tehuacán Valley, Mexico is a region with exceptionally high biocultural richness. Traditional knowledge in this region comprises information on nearly 1,600 plant species used by local peoples to satisfy their subsistence needs. Plant resources with higher cultural value are interchanged in traditional markets. We inventoried the edible plant species interchanged in regional markets documenting economic, cultural and ecological data and about their extraction and management in order to: (1) assess how commercialization and ecological aspects influence plant management, (2) identify which species are more vulnerable, and (3) analyze how local management contributes to decrease their risk. We hypothesized that scarcer plant species with higher economic value would be under higher pressure motivating more management actions than on more abundant plants with lower economic value. However, construction of management techniques is also influenced by the time-span the management responses have taken as well as biological and ecological aspects of the plant species that limit the implementation of management practices. Plant management mitigates risk, but its absence on plant species under high risk may favor local extinction.MethodsSix traditional markets were studied through 332 semi-structured interviews to local vendors about barter, commercialization, and management types of local edible plant species. We retrieved ethnobotanical information on plant management from ten communities in a workshop and sampled regional vegetation in a total of 98 sites to estimate distribution and abundance of plant species commercialized. Through Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) we analyzed the amount of variation of management types that can be explained from socioeconomic and ecological information. A risk index was calculated relating distribution, abundance, economic value and management of plant resources to identify the most vulnerable species.ResultsWe recorded 122 edible plant species interchanged in the main regional markets. CCA explained significantly 24% of management variation, spatial distribution and plant parts used being particularly important in management decisions. The indeterminate 76% of variation suggests that management decisions depend on particular variables that are not explained by the ecological and socioeconomic factors studied and/or their high variation in the context at the regional scale. The risk index indicated that management was the factor that mostly influences decreasing of risk of interchanged plant species. We identified Clinopodium mexicanum, Pachycereus weberi, Dasylirion serratifolium, Disocorea sp., Ceiba aesculifolia, Neobuxbamia tetetzo, Lippia graveolens, Litsea glaucescens, L. neesiana, Jatropha neopauciflora, Agave potatorum and other agave species used for producing mescal among the more endangered plant species due to human pressure, their relative scarcity and limited or inexistent management.ConclusionSpatial distribution and plant parts used are particularly ...

Polaskia chichipe, a columnar cactus, is cultivated for its edible fruits in central Mexico. This study analyzed whether artificial selection has modified its reproduction patterns and caused barriers to pollen exchange between wild, managed in situ, and cultivated populations. Anthesis was diurnal (∼16 h in winter, ∼10 h in spring) as well as partly nocturnal (∼12 h in winter, ∼3 h in spring), and flowers were pollinated by bees, hummingbirds, and hawk moths. Manual cross-pollination was ∼37-49% effective in all populations. Self-pollination was ∼12% successful in the wild, but twice as successful (∼22-27%) in managed and cultivated populations. Diurnal pollination was ∼35-55% effective in winter and 100% in spring. Nocturnal pollination was successful only in winter (15%). Crosses among individuals were more effective within populations than among populations, including populations under a similar management regimen. The least successful crosses were between wild and cultivated populations. Flowers were produced in all populations from January to March, but flowering peaks differed by 1 mo among wild, managed, and cultivated populations and by 2 mo between wild and cultivated populations. The latter interrupted pollen exchange in May. Seeds from managed and cultivated populations germinated faster than those from wild individuals. Domestication has seemingly favored self-compatible P. chichipe plants with higher fruit yield, a longer period of fruit production, and faster seed germination, attributes that have resulted in partial reproductive barriers between wild and manipulated populations.