MODELING OF ECOLOGICAL NICHE OF THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS ABIES (PINACEAE) IN MEXICO: SOME TAXONOMICAL IMPLICATIONS AND FOR ITS CONSERVATION

In Mexico and the northern part of Central America, firs (Abies, Pinaceae) are distributed disjunctly in temperate mountain zones. Depending on the taxonomic proposal used, six to ten species of Abies have been recognized for this area, six of which are generally considered endemic to Mexico and included in different risk categories. Given such taxonomic uncertainty and the economic importance of the genus (e.g. Abies is the fourth timber resource of Mexico), more information is needed for the sustainable management of all these taxa. Herein, ecological niche models were determined for eight species and two varieties of Abies currently recognized in Mexico (A. concolor, A. durangensis var. duragensis, A. durangensis var. coahuilensis, A. flincki, A. guatemalensis, A. hickelii, A. jaliscana, A. religiosa, and A. vejari) by using the Maximum entropy algorithm available in Maxent. The bioclimatic and topographyc layers included in the models were gathered from Worldclim and Hydro1k, while the occurrence data were obtained from various "cleaned" databases (CONABIO, GBIF, MEXU). The results suggest that A. concolor has the more distinct ecological niche among all Mesoamerican firs. Furthermore, and with the exception of A. religiosa, the high suitability areas for all fir taxa lay outside any federal or state protected area, which highlights the need of expanding or creating new protected areas for these species.