Eugenia tonii Lundell, Wrightia

Uc Gala, Victor C., Valdemarin, Karinne Sampaio, Lucas, Eve, Negrão, Raquel & Mazine, Fiorella F., 2023, Eugenia (Myrtaceae) from Mexico: checklist, distribution, and conservation assessments, Phytotaxa 583 (2), pp. 99-140 : 126

74. * Eugenia tonii Lundell, Wrightia 4: 95 (1968)

EOO: 4 km ². AOO: 4 km ². Evaluation of IUCN: Critically Endangered.

Eugenia tonii has a very restricted distribution, known only from a single collection made in Mexico, in the state of Chiapas, municipality of Tenejapa, within the Ach luum town area (2,320 m). The occurrence biome is the Humid Montane Forest. The estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) fall within the thresholds of Critically Endangered category under the criterion B. There is only one known location for this species and the habitat is threatened due to a lack of inspection on forest use of native species. There is small scale production of food, mainly related to families consumption, especially Tseltales indigenous communities. The forests in the municipality of Tenejapa are under constant threat due to deforestation, in addition there are some efforts to produce coffee in agroforestry systems, therefore this series of factors without planification could threat the species. Considering that this taxon is known only by the type collection, recorded more than 50 years ago in higher altitude, but there are no conservation measures in place, a precautionary approach is taken and Eugenia tonii is classified here as Critically Endangered (CR), meeting the criteria B2ab (iii). To confirm if this species could be also tagged as “Possibly Extinct” the documentation must summarize the lines of evidence for and against extinction (including population size, local threats, and habitat trends), describing the surveys carried out to search for the species and specifying the date and relevant details of the last confirmed record (IUCN 2019). According to the IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee (IUCN 2019), the status of all taxa assigned ‘Possibly Extinct’ tags should preferably be reviewed at five-year intervals.

Specimen examined:— MEXICO. Chiapas: Breedlove 15198 ( F).