Biogeographic regionalization of the Sierra Madre del Sur province, Mexico

Abstract

The biogeographic regionalization of the Sierra Madre del Sur province is reviewed, considering recent proposals and applying the International Code of Area Nomenclature to name the 3 subprovinces and 5 districts recognized. The Western Sierra Madre del Sur subprovince, situated in the states of Jalisco, Colima and Michoacán, comprises the Jaliscan and Jaliscan-Manantlán districts. The Central Sierra Madre del Sur subprov. nov., situated in the state of Michoacán, comprises the Michoacán district. The Eastern Sierra Madre del Sur subprovince, situated in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Puebla, comprises the Guerreran and Oaxacan Highlands districts. Diagnoses of these areas are provided and their endemic taxa are listed.

Resumen

Se revisa la regionalización biogeográfica de la provincia de la Sierra Madre del Sur, considerando propuestas recientes y aplicando el Código Internacional de Nomenclatura de Áreas para nombrar las 3 subprovincias y 5 distritos reconocidos. La subprovincia de la Sierra Madre del Sur Occidental, situada en los estados de Jalisco, Colima y Michoacán comprende los distritos Jaliscense y Jaliscense-Manantlán. La subprovincia de la Sierra Madre del Sur Central subprov. nov., situada en Michoacán, comprende el distrito de Michoacán. La subprovincia de la Sierra Madre del Sur Oriental, situada en los estados de Guerrero, Oaxaca y Puebla, comprende los distritos Guerrerense y de las Tierras Altas Oaxaqueñas. Se proveen las descripciones de estas áreas y se listan sus taxones endémicos.

Introduction

The Sierra Madre del Sur biogeographic province, situated in south-central Mexico mainly between the Balsas Basin and the Pacific Lowlands provinces, has been assigned to the Mexican transition zone (Morrone, 2010, 2014). Several authors have recognized the Sierra Madre del Sur as a distinct biogeographic province, although its boundaries differ widely among different regionalizations (see Santiago-Alvarado, Montaño-Arias, & Espinosa, 2016). Some nested units that have been identified within this province (Arriaga, Aguilar, Espinosa, & Jiménez, 1997; Escalante, Navarro, & Peterson, 1998; Ferrusquía-Villafranca, 1990; Smith, 1941) were treated preliminary by Morrone (2014) as the Guerrero, Central Valley, Isthmian, Nudo de Zempoaltépetl, Oaxacan Highland and Sierra de Miahuatlán districts. Santiago-Alvarado et al. (2016) recently reviewed the delimitation of the Sierra Madre del Sur biogeographic province and its regionalization. They considered that the boundaries of the Sierra Madre del Sur ecoregion (Inegi-Conabio-INE, 2008) were more appropriate, because they are based on climatic, geological and biological criteria, unifying different schemes into a single system, as suggested by Challenger and Soberón (2008). This new circumscription incorporates, in addition to the province as previously recognized by most authors (e.g., Arriaga et al., 1997; Goldman & Moore, 1945; Morrone, 2005, 2010, 2014), 2 disjunct areas in the states of Jalisco and Michoacán. Additionally, Santiago-Alvarado et al. (2016) recognized 2 subprovinces: Western Sierra Madre del Sur (with the Jaliscan-Tuito, Jaliscan-Manantlán and Michoacán districts) and Eastern Sierra Madre del Sur (with the Guerreran and Oaxacan districts).

The objectives herein are to review the biogeographic regionalization of the Sierra Madre del Sur province, especially considering the schemes proposed by Morrone (2014) and Santiago-Alvarado et al. (2016); to provide the valid names of the areas recognized, applying the International Code of Area Nomenclature (ICAN; Ebach, Morrone, Parenti, & Viloria, 2008); and to list the diagnostic taxa of the different areas recognized.

Biogeographic regionalization

Sierra Madre del Sur province Goldman and Moore, 1945

Sierra Madre del Sur province Goldman and Moore, 1945: 358; Morrone, 2014: 33; Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016: 432.

Sierra and Mesa del Sur region West, 1964: 368.

Meridional Mountains province (in part) Rzedowski, 1978: 103.

Sierra Madre del Sur Pine-oak Forests ecoregion Dinerstein et al., 1995: 97.

Sierra Madre del Sur area Marshall and Liebherr, 2000: 206.

Sierra Madre del Sur Highlands area Flores-Villela and Goyenechea, 2001: 174.

Sierra Madre del Sur ecoregion Abell et al., 2008: 408; Challenger and Soberón, 2008: 103.

Highlands of Southern Mexico area Flores-Villela and Martínez-Salazar, 2009: 820.

Diagnosis. South-central Mexico, in the states of Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and parts of Puebla. It spans for ca. 1,100 km, has an average width of 120 km and an altitude above 1,000 m (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016). It is situated south of the Balsas Basin biogeographic province and north of the Pacific Lowlands province. As circumscribed by Santiago-Alvarado et al. (2016), it is not continuous but it splits into 3 disjunct areas, treated herein as subprovinces.

Subprovinces. Three subprovinces are recognized, corresponding to the 3 disjunct areas of the province (Fig. 1): Western Sierra Madre del Sur, Central Sierra Madre del Sur and Eastern Sierra Madre del Sur. Santiago-Alvarado et al. (2016) considered the 2 former as a single subprovince, but based on the evidence available I consider it better to split it into 2 subprovinces.

Western Sierra Madre del Sur subprovince Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016

Western Sierra Madre del Sur subprovince (in part) Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016: 439.

Figure 1.

Biogeographic regionalization of the Sierra Madre del Sur province.

Diagnosis. Western portion of the Sierra Madre del Sur province, in the states of Jalisco, Colima and Michoacán.

Endemic taxa. Coniferophyta. Pinaceae: Pinus jaliscana (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016). Arthropoda. Scarabaeidae: Canthon riverai (Halffter, Rivera-Cervantes, & Halffter, 2015).

Districts. It comprises 2 districts (Fig. 1): Jaliscan and Jaliscan-Manantlán.

Jaliscan district Moore, 1945

Jaliscan district Moore, 1945: 218; Morrone, 2014: 32.

Western district Torres-Miranda and Luna, 2007: 512.

Jaliscan-Tuito district Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016: 439, syn. nov.

Diagnosis. Northern portion of the subprovince, in the state of Jalisco (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016).

Endemic taxa. Magnoliophyta. Fagaceae: Quercus cualensis and Q. tuitensis (González-Villareal, 2003; Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016).

Jaliscan-Manantlán district Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016

Jaliscan-Manantlán district Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016: 440.

Diagnosis. Southern portion of the subprovince, in the state of Jalisco and a portion of northern Colima (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016).

Endemic taxa. Magnoliophyta. Lauraceae: Beilschmiedia manantlanensis (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016); Salicaceae: Populus guzmanantlanensis (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016). Nematoda. Rhabdiasidae: Rhabdias manantlanensis (Martínez-Salazar, 2008). Arthropoda. Scarabaeidae: Canthon occidentalis (Halffter, Rivera-Cervantes, & Halffter, 2015).

Central Sierra Madre del Sur subprov. nov.

Western Sierra Madre del Sur subprovince (in part) Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016: 439.

Diagnosis. Central portion of the Sierra Madre del Sur province, in the state of Michoacán.

Endemic taxa. Coniferophyta. Pinaceae: Pinus rzedowskii (Delgado, Piñero, Chaos, Pérez-Nasser, & Álvarez-Buylla, 1999; Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016). Magnoliophyta. Burseraceae: Bursera confusa (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016). Vertebrata. Cricetidae: Peromyscus sagax and P. winkelmanni (Ceballos & Oliva, 2005; Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016).

Michoacán district Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016

Michoacán district Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016: 440.

Diagnosis. The same as the subprovince.

Endemic taxa. The same as the subprovince.

Eastern Sierra Madre del Sur subprovince Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016

Eastern Sierra Madre del Sur subprovince Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016: 440.

Diagnosis. Eastern portion of the Sierra Madre del Sur province, in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and part of Puebla (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016). It corresponds to the Sierra Madre del Sur province of previous authors (e.g. Arriaga et al., 1997; Morrone, 2014).

Endemic taxa. Magnoliophyta. Asteraceae: Axiniphyllum corymbosum and Psacalium guerreroarum (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016). Arthropoda. Curculionidae: Naupactus sulfuratus, Pantomorus longulus and Phacepholis brevipes (Rosas, del Río, Lanteri, & Morrone, 2011). Vertebrata. Cricetidae: Peromyscus megalops (Almendra, Rogers, & González-Cózatl, 2014; Arellano, González-Cozátl, & Rogers, 2005; Escalante, Rodríguez, & Morrone, 2005; Sullivan, Markert, & Kilpatrick, 1997); Eleutherodactylidae: Eleutherodactylus syristes (García-Vázquez et al., 2016); Phrynosomatidae: Sceloporus formosus (Espinosa-Organista, Ocegueda-Cruz, Aguilar-Zúñiga, Flores-Villela, & Llorente-Bousquets, 2008); Soricidae: Cryptotis goldmani (Ceballos & Oliva, 2005; Escalante et al., 2005); Thraupidae: Chloropsingus albifrons (García-Trejo & Navarro, 2004); Trochilidae: Cynanthus sordidus (Arriaga et al., 1997; García-Trejo & Navarro, 2004).

Districts. It comprises 2 districts (Fig. 1): Guerreran and Oaxacan Highlands.

Guerreran district Smith, 1941

Guerreran province Smith, 1941: 108.

Sierra Madre del Sur-Guerrero province Escalante et al., 1998: 285.

Guerreran district; Morrone, 2014: 33; Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016: 441.

Diagnosis. Western portion of the Eastern Sierra Madre del Sur subprovince, in the state of Guerrero, corresponding to the central portion of the Guerreran Sierra (Escalante et al., 1998; Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016).

Endemic taxa. Magnoliophyta. Iridaceae: Sessilanthera heliantha and Tigridia hintonii (Munguía-Lino, Castro-Castro, & Rodríguez, 2015; Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016); Fagaceae: Quercus rubramenta (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016); Rutaceae: Megastigma chiangii (Jiménez-Ramírez & Cruz-Durán, 2015). Arthropoda. Carabidae: Elliptoleus whiteheadi (Liebherr, 1994); Passalidae: Petrejoides imbellis (Castillo & Reyes-Castillo, 1984); Scarabaeidae: Cotinis ibarrai, Onthophagus bassariscus, O. chevrolati omiltemus and O. semiopacus (Lobo & Halffter, 1994; Zunino & Halffter, 1988); Staphylinidae: Gansia flavata (Ashe & Lingafelter, 1995). Vertebrata. Anguidae: Mesaspis gadovii gadovii (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016); Corvidae: Cyanolyca mirabilis (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016); Cricetidae: Handleyomys guerrerensis, Megadontomys thomasi, Peromyscus bakeri, P. mexicanus putlaensis and Reithrodontomys bakeri (Almendra et al., 2014; Arellano et al., 2005; Escalante et al., 2005; Espinosa-Organista et al., 2008; Sullivan et al., 1997); Dactyloidae: Anolis dunni, A. gadovii, A. liogaster, A. omiltemanus and A. peucephilus (Köhler, Gómez-Trejo, Petersen, & Méndez-de la Cruz, 2014); Leporidae: Sylvilagus insonus (Ceballos & Oliva, 2005; Escalante et al., 2005); Phrynosomatidae: Sceloporus adleri (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016); Scincidae: Pleistodon brevirostris species group (Feria-Ortiz & García-Márquez, 2012); Trochilidae: Eupherusa poliocerca and Lophornis brachylophus (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016).

Oaxacan Highlands district Smith, 1941

Oaxacan Highlands province Smith, 1941: 107.

Central Valleys subprovince Ferrusquía-Villafranca, 1990: map.

Isthmian subprovince Ferrusquía-Villafranca, 1990: map.

Sierra Juárez Pine-oak Forests ecoregion Dinerstein et al., 1995: 96.

Oaxaca province Arriaga et al., 1997: 65.

Sierra Madre del Sur-Oaxaca province Escalante et al., 1998: 285.

Nudo de Zempoaltépetl province Escalante et al., 1998: 285.

Sierra de Miahuatlán province Escalante et al., 1998: 285.

Central Valleys district; Morrone, 2014: 33, syn. nov.

Isthmian district; Morrone, 2014: 33, syn. nov.

Nudo de Zempoaltépetl district; Morrone, 2014: 33, syn. nov.

Oaxacan Highlands district; Morrone, 2014: 34.

Sierra de Miahuatlán district; Morrone, 2014: 33, syn. nov.

Oaxacan district Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016: 442, syn. nov.

Diagnosis. Eastern portion of the Eastern Sierra Madre del Sur subprovince, which corresponds to the highlands of the state of Oaxaca, mainly the Mixteca and Northern Sierras (Arriaga et al., 1997; Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016; Smith, 1941).

Endemic taxa. Coniferophyta. Pinaceae: Abies bickeli (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016). Magnoliophyta. Burseraceae: Bursera altijuga, B. arida, B. biflora and B. heliae (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016); Cactaceae: Weberocereus alliodorus (Gómez-Hinostrosa & Hernández, 2014); Iridaceae: Ainea conzatii (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016); Poaceae: Chusquea nedjaquithiii (Ruiz-Sánchez, Mejía-Saules, & Clark, 2014); Salvadoraceae: Salvadora intermedia (Santiago-Alvarado et al., 2016). Arthropoda. Amphypterygidae: Amphyteryx longicaudatus (González-Soriano & Novelo-Gutiérrez, 1996); Carabidae: Elliptoleus crepericornis, E. curtulus and E. zapotecorum (Liebherr, 1994); Cordulidae: Neocordulia batesii (González-Soriano & Novelo-Gutiérrez, 1996); Curculionidae: Phacepholis globicollis (Rosas et al., 2011); Passalidae: Petrejoides jalapensis (Castillo & Reyes-Castillo, 1984); Hesperiidae: Cogia buena (Warren, Dolibaina, & Hernández-Mejía, 2015). Vertebrata. Anguidae: Abronia mixteca and A. oaxacae (Campbell, Solano-Zavaleta, Flores-Villela, Caviedes-Solís, & Frost, 2016); Cricetidae: Habromys chinanteco, H. ixtlani, H. lepturus, Megadontomys cryophilus, Microtus oaxacensis, M. umbrosus, Peromyscus gratus zapotecae, P. melanocarpus and P. melaurus (Ceballos & Oliva, 2005; Briones-Salas, Cortés-Marcial, & Lavariega, 2015); Plethodontidae: Pseudoeurycea cochranae, P. smithi, P. unguidentis, and Thorius narisovalis (Espinosa-Organista et al., 2008); Soricidae: Cryptotis peregrina and C. phillipsii (Ceballos & Oliva, 2005); Trochilidae: Eupherusa cyanophrys (Arriaga et al., 1997; García-Trejo & Navarro, 2004).

Acknowledgments

I appreciate valuable comments from two anonymous reviewers. Support from project PAPIIT IN203716 (DGAPA, UNAM) is acknowledged.