An endemic Mexican species found in dry tropical forest margins. It may be threatened by loging and fire.
Description
Taxonomic Notes
This species is quite similar to P. oocarpa in general aspect, but there are distinct characters of the seed cones indicating that this taxon is a species.
Distribution
Endemic to Mexico: Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit, and Sinaloa
This species is found in dry tropical forest margins, in small, isolated populations in soils with lots of igneous rock on hillsides. The largest forest of this species is 10 miles NW of the town of Magdalena, Jalisco, and is approximately 10 km2. The main threats are fire, resin tapping and illegal logging for firewood (Perez de la Rosa 2001).
Habitat and Ecology
Pinus praetermissa occurs in open, dry pine-oak woodlands or tropical broad-leaved forests, often on rocky slopes. Its altitudinal range is 900-1,900 m a.s.l. The dry season is from November to May, annual precipitation varies between 1,000-1,500 mm. Associated pines are P. devoniana, P. lumholtzii, P. pseudostrobus, and possibly P. oocarpa, but further investigation is necessary to evaluate its sympatry with these and other pines.
Human Uses
This scattered species is rarely recognized as distinct from P. oocarpa by loggers and consequently no specific uses are known. It is likely to be exploited for timber together with other species
Conservation Status
Global Status
Near Threatened
Global Rationale
The assessment is based on Pinus praetermissa's known distribution based on herbarium specimen data. Even when estimated with a grid width of 10 km to allow for undiscovered localities, its area of occupancy (AOO) is below the threshold for Vulnerable. Five locations are calculated on this basis using the GIS Conservation Assessment Tool with ArcView mapping, but there are probably some more isolates to be found. There is only suspicion of decline due to extensive logging, which involves mainly P. oocarpa, with which this species often occurs and to which it is similar at least to local foresters. Additional threats are fire, resin tapping and illegal logging for firewood (Perez de la Rosa 2001). This species nearly meets criteria B2ab for listing as Vulnerable, but declines are unknown) and is therefore it is assessed as Near Threatened.
Conservation Actions
Occurrence in protected areas is not known. Further surveys are required to determine what is happening to this species
Farjon, A. and Styles, B. 1997. Pinus (Pinaceae). Flora Neotropica. Monograph 75. The New York Botanical Garden, New York
Pérez de la Rosa, J.A. 2001. Variación Morfológica y Taxonomía de Pinus grupo “Oocarpa” (Martínez, 1948), Pinaceae. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
