Eugenia oaxacana O.Berg, Linnaea

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 : 118

48. * Eugenia oaxacana O.Berg, Linnaea 30: 683 (1861)

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

Eugenia oaxacana has a very restricted distribution, known for only two records in the municipality of San Felipe Usila, belonging to the state of Oaxaca in southeastern Mexico. This species occurs in higher areas of the Humid Montane Forest. The estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) fall within the thresholds of the Critically Endangered category under the criterion B. There is only one known location. The habitat of the species is under potential threats that produce the deterioration of the surface and quality of the habitat, due to the change of land use, agrarian conflicts for land tenure, small-scale agriculture, and livestock, as well as renewable energy projects. Despite many studies and analysis of the biological wealth of the Chinantla region, there are no actions for the implementation of the creation of protected natural areas. The region is well collected due to its high biodiversity of species (Rzedowski 1978, 1991, McVaugh 1963, Toledo 1988, Lorence & Mendoza 1989, Villaseñor & Ortiz 2014, Villaseñor 2016, Meave et al. 2017). Eugenia oaxacana is known only from specimens within the type locality, the last date of collection of the species is from 1842, and there are threats in the area and is classified here as Critically Endangered (CR), as it meets the criteria B1ab(iii)+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 2020). According to the IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee (2019) the status of all taxa assigned ‘Possibly Extinct’ tags should preferably be reviewed at five-year intervals.

Specimen examined:— MEXICO. Oaxaca: Liebman 99 (C).