Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Population dynamics of the cactus Mammillaria gaumeri: an integral projection model approach

  • Original article
  • Published:
Population Ecology

Abstract

The Cactaceae family in Mexico is particularly important because members of this family exhibit a high degree of endemism. Unfortunately, many species of the Cactaceae are threatened or endangered. We employed an integral projection model for studies of the population dynamics of Mammillaria gaumeri, an endemic cactus of the Yucatán characterized by a small population size. The integral projection model provides estimates of the asymptotic growth rate, stable size distribution, reproductive values, and sensitivities and elasticities of the growth rate to changes in vital rates. Nine locations of this species were studied along the Yucatan coast over a 9-year period. Individuals were classified by plant volume. Most population growth rate (λ) values were below unity. The highest elasticity values corresponded to the survival of intermediate size individuals. The percentage of germination in the field was low, and consequently, fecundity values were also low. Reproductive values were observed to increase with plant volume. The stable size distribution of M. gaumeri was skewed toward small individuals. For all years, the kernel showed that individual survival determined the population growth rate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Álvarez R, Godínez-Álvarez H, Guzmán U, Dávila P (2004) Aspectos ecológicos de dos cactáceas mexicanas amenazadas: implicaciones para su conservación. Bol Soc Bot Mex 75:7–16 (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson EF, Arias-Montes S, Taylor NP (1994) Threatened cacti of Mexico. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

    Google Scholar 

  • Arias S, Guzmán U, Mandujano MC, Soto M, Golubov J (2005) Las especies mexicanas de cactáceas en riesgo de extinción: una comparación entre los listados NOM-ECOL-2001 (México), la lista roja (UICN) y CITES. Cact Suc Mex 50:100–125 (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Arias-Montes S (1993) Cactáceas: conservación y diversidad en México. In: Gío-Argáez R, López-Ochoterena E (eds) Diversidad Biológica en México. Sociedad Mexicana de Historia Natural, Ciudad de México, pp 109–115 (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle TH, Anderson E (2002) Biodiversity and conservation. In: Nobel PS (ed) Cacti: biology and uses. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 125–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Bravo-Hollis H, Sánchez-Mejorada RH (1978) Las Cactáceas de México volumen I. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México (in Spanish)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bravo-Hollis H, Sánchez-Mejorada RH (1991) Las Cactáceas de México volumen II. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México (in Spanish)

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrillo-Ángeles IG, Golubov J, Rojas-Aréchiga M, Mandujano MC (2005) Distribución y estatus de conservación de Ferocactus robustus (Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose. Cact Suc Mex 50:36–55 (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cervera JC, Andrade JL, Simá JL, Graham EA (2006) Microhabitats, germination, and establishment for Mammillaria gaumeri (Cactaceae), a rare species from Yucatan. Int J Plant Sci 167:311–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Contreras C, Valverde T (2002) Evaluation of the conservation status of a rare cactus (Mammillaria crucigera) through the analysis of its population dynamics. J Arid Environ 51:89–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawley MJ (2007) The R book. Wiley, UK

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Durán R, Trejo-Torres JC, Ibarra-Manríquez G (1998) Endemic phytotaxa of the peninsula of Yucatan. Harvard Pap Bot 3:263–314

    Google Scholar 

  • Easterling MR (1998) Integral projection model: theory, analysis, and application. Ph.D. dissertation. Biomathematics Graduate Program, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

  • Easterling MR, Ellner SP, Dixon PM (2000) Size-specific sensitivity: applying a new structured population model. Ecology 81:694–708

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellner SP, Rees M (2006) Integral projection models for species with complex demography. Am Nat 167:410–428

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Enright NJ, Franco M, Silvertown J (1995) Comparing plant life histories using elasticity analysis: the importance of life span and the number of life stages. Oecologia 104:79–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esparza-Olguín LG, Valverde T, Vilchis-Anaya E (2002) Demographic analysis of a rare columnar cactus (Neobuxbaumia macrocephala) in the Tehuacan Valley, Mexico. Biol Conserv 103:349–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godínez-Álvarez H, Valiente-Banuet A, Valiente-Banuet L (1999) Biotic interactions and the population dynamics of the longlived columnar cactus Neobuxbaumia tetetzo in the Tehuacan Valley, Mexico. Can J Bot 77:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godínez-Álvarez H, Valverde T, Ortega-Baes P (2003) Demographic trends in the Cactaceae. Bot Rev 69:173–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzmán U, Arias S, Dávila P (2003) Catálogo de cactáceas mexicanas. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hastie T, Pregibon D (1992) Generalized linear models. In: Chambers JM, Hastie TJ (eds) Statistical models in S. Wadsworth and Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove, pp 195–247

  • Hernández HM, Bárcenas RT (1995) Endangered cacti in the Chihuahuan desert I. Distribution patterns. Conserv Biol 9:1176–1188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández HM, Bárcenas RT (1996) Endangered cacti in the Chihuahuan desert II. Biogeography and conservation. Conserv Biol 10:1200–1209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández HM, Godínez-Álvarez H (1994) Contribución al conocimiento de las cactáceas mexicanas amenazadas. Acta Bot Mex 26:33–52 (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt D (1999) C.I.T.E.S. Cactaceae checklist, 2nd edn. Royal Botanic Gardens and International Organization for Succulent Plant Study, Kew

  • IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) (1985) Rare, threatened and insufficiently known endemic cacti of Mexico endemic taxa. Threatened Plants Committee, Botanic Gardens Coordinating Body. IUCN, Gland

  • Jiménez-Sierra C, Mandujano MC, Eguiarte LE (2007) Are populations of the candy barrel cactus (Echinocactus platyacanthus) in the desert of Tehuacan, Mexico at risk? Population projection matrix and life table response analysis. Biol Conserv 135:278–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lefkovitch L (1965) The study of population growth in organisms grouped by stages. Biometrics 21:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leirana-Alcocer J, Parra-Tabla V (1999) Factors affecting the distribution, abundance and seedling survival of Mammillaria gaumeri, an endemic cactus of coastal Yucatan, Mexico. J Arid Environ 41:421–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López-Haas AL (2007) Germinación, establecimiento y supervivencia de Mammillaria gaumeri, cactácea rara y endémica de la península de Yucatán. Tesis de Licenciatura, Instituto Tecnológico Agropecuario # 2, Conkal, Yucatán, México (in Spanish with English abstract)

  • Mandujano MC, Golubov J, Huenneke L (2007) Effect of reproductive modes and environmental heterogeneity in the population dynamics of a geographically widespread clonal desert cactus. Popul Ecol 49:141–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Avalos JG, Suzán-Azpiri AH, Salazar CA (1993) Aspectos ecológicos y demográficos de Ariocarpus trigonus (Weber) Schumann. Cact Suc Mex 38:31–37 (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Méndez M, Durán R, Olmsted I, Oyama K (2004) Population dynamics of Pterocereus gaumeri, a rare and endemic columnar cactus of Mexico. Biotropica 36:492–504

    Google Scholar 

  • Metcalf JE, Horvitz CC, Tuljapurkar S, Clark DA (2009) A time to grow and a time to die: a new way to analyze the dynamics of size, light, age, and death of tropical trees. Ecology 90:2766–2778

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olmsted I, Álvarez-Buylla E (1995) Sustainable harvesting of tropical trees: demography and matrix models of two palms species in Mexico. Ecol Appl 5:484–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orellana R, Balam-Ku M, Bañuelos I, García ME, González-Iturbe JA, Herrera CF y Vidal LJ (1999) Evaluación climática. In: García de Fuentes A, Córdoba-Ordoñez J (eds) Atlas de procesos territoriales de Yucatán. Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, pp 163–182 (in Spanish)

  • Peters E, Martorell C (2001) Conocimiento y conservación de las Mammillarias endémicas del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán. Universidad Autónoma de México, Instituto de Ecología, Ciudad de México (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2009) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. http://www.R-project.org

  • Rabinowitz D (1981) Seven forms of rarity. In: Synge H (ed) Biological aspects of rare plant conservation. Wiley, New York, pp 205–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramos-López AL (2007) Estudio poblacional de Mammillaria dixanthocentron Backeb. ex Mottram en el Valle de Cuicatlán, Oaxaca. Tesis de Maestría. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional, Unidad Oaxaca (in Spanish with English abstract)

  • Ramula S, Lehtilä K (2005) Matrix dimensionality in demographic analyses of plants: when to use smaller matrices? Oikos 111:563–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosas MD, Mandujano MC (2002) La diversidad de historias de vida de cactáceas, aproximación por el triangulo demográfico. Cact Suc Mex 47:33–41 (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruedas M, Valverde T, Argüero SC (2000) Respuesta germinativa y crecimiento temprano de plántulas de Mammillaria magnimamma (Cactaceae) bajo diferentes condiciones ambientales. Bol Soc Bot Méx 66:25–35 (in Spanish with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Salguero-Gómez R, Casper B (2010) Keeping plant shrinkage in the demographic loop. J Ecol 98:312–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SARH (1988) Sinopsis geohidrologica del estado de Yucatán, México (in Spanish)

  • SEMARNAT (Secretaria del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) (2010) Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, Protección ambiental-Especies nativas de México de flora y fauna silvestres-Categorías de riesgo y especificaciones para su inclusión, exclusión o cambio-Lista de especies en riesgo. Diario Oficial de la Federación, 2a Sección, 30 de diciembre del 2010, México (in Spanish)

  • Silvertown J, Franco M, Pisanty I, Mendoza A (1993) Comparative plant demography—relative importance life-cycle components to the finite rate of increase in woody and herbaceous perennials. J Ecol 81:465–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thien LB, Bradburn AS, Welden AL (1982) The woody vegetation of Dizbilchaltun, a Maya archaeological site in northwest Yucatan, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute, New Orleans

    Google Scholar 

  • Valverde PL, Zavala-Hurtado JA (2006) Assessing the ecological status of Mammillaria pectinifera Weber (Cactaceae), a rare and threatened species endemic of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Region in Central Mexico. J Arid Environ 64:193–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valverde T, Quijas S, López-Villavicencio M, Castillo S (2004) Population dynamics of Mammillaria magnimamma Haworth (Cactaceae) in a lava-field in central Mexico. Plant Ecol 170:167–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuidema PA, Jongejans E, Chien PD, During HJ, Schieving F (2010) Integral projection models for trees: a new parameterization method and a validation of model output. J Ecol 98:345–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología México through a doctoral and joint scholarship for Ferrer Cervantes Merari. We also like to thank the proyect Banco de germoplasma FORDECYT 115911 for their financial support. We thank Gerardo Godoy, Wendy Torres, Ana López-Hass, Samuel Bañuelos, Hiram Blancarte and Mariela Castilla for their support in the field work, and Cecilia Guizar, Miguel Contreras and Paul Hoekstra for their help in editing and translation of this manuscript. Two anonymous reviewers gave us sound and useful comments that improved on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, Calle 43, #130, Colonia Chuburná de Hidalgo, C. P. 97200, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Merari Esther Ferrer-Cervantes, Martha Elena Méndez-González, Alfredo Dorantes, Gabriel Dzib & Rafael Durán

  2. Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Orlando, FL, 32816-2368, USA

    Pedro-Francisco Quintana-Ascencio

Authors
  1. Merari Esther Ferrer-Cervantes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Martha Elena Méndez-González
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pedro-Francisco Quintana-Ascencio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alfredo Dorantes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gabriel Dzib
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rafael Durán
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Merari Esther Ferrer-Cervantes.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ferrer-Cervantes, M.E., Méndez-González, M.E., Quintana-Ascencio, PF. et al. Population dynamics of the cactus Mammillaria gaumeri: an integral projection model approach. Popul Ecol 54, 321–334 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-012-0308-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-012-0308-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation