Sustaining Medicinal Barks: Survival and Bark Regeneration of Amphipterygium adstringens (Anacardiaceae), a Tropical Tree under Experimental Debarking

Leonardo Beltrán-Rodríguez, Juan Ignacio Valdez-Hernández, Alfredo Saynes-Vásquez, José Blancas, José Antonio Sierra-Huelsz, Sol Cristians, Andrea Martínez-Ballesté, Angélica Romero-Manzanares, Mario Luna-Cavazos, Ma. Amparo Borja de la Rosa, Elizandro Pineda-Herrera, Belinda Maldonado-Almanza, Gregorio Ángeles-Pérez, Tamara Ticktin and Robert Bye
Additional contact information
Leonardo Beltrán-Rodríguez: Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
Juan Ignacio Valdez-Hernández: Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Montecillo, Texcoco 56230, Mexico
Alfredo Saynes-Vásquez: Instituto Saynes de Investigaciones sobre Cultura, Lengua y Naturaleza, Juchitán 70000, Mexico
José Blancas: Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación (CIByC), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca 62209, Mexico
José Antonio Sierra-Huelsz: People and Plants International, Bristol, VT 05443, USA
Sol Cristians: Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
Andrea Martínez-Ballesté: Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
Angélica Romero-Manzanares: Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Montecillo, Texcoco 56230, Mexico
Mario Luna-Cavazos: Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Montecillo, Texcoco 56230, Mexico
Ma. Amparo Borja de la Rosa: División de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Texcoco 56230, Mexico
Elizandro Pineda-Herrera: Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Montecillo, Texcoco 56230, Mexico
Belinda Maldonado-Almanza: Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación (CIByC), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca 62209, Mexico
Gregorio Ángeles-Pérez: Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Montecillo, Texcoco 56230, Mexico
Tamara Ticktin: Botany Department, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 3190 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Robert Bye: Jardín Botánico, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: Commercial harvests can threaten tree species harvested for their bark. Amphipterygium adstringens is a dioecious tree, endemic to the tropical dry forests of Mexico, where it is intensively harvested for its medicinal bark. Limited information hinders developing sustainable management strategies for A. adstringens . We assessed bark regeneration for male and female trees, and evaluated the effect of tree sex and diameter, debarking treatments and cutting seasons on bark regeneration and tree survival rates. Bark regeneration was higher for wet season harvested trees (vs. dry), regardless of their sex. Bark regeneration was higher on female than on male trees. There were significant interactions of harvest season, harvest treatment and tree sex diameter on bark regeneration and survival. Overall, the highest bark regeneration rates occurred in female trees with ≥20.1 cm diameter that were wet season harvested with a 50% debarking intensity. Consequently, wet season and intermediate intensity harvests appear to foster sound management, but we recommend against targeting exclusively a single demographic group (i.e., large female trees) due to potential negative impacts on species demography and bark supply. A grounded strategy for sustaining bark harvest would also need to take into account relevant aspects of local socio-ecological context, including harvest interactions with other land uses.

Keywords: Mexico; tropical dry forest; non-timber forest products; forest management; medicinal plant (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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