Heliconias: from ornamental plants to small microhabitats in tropical rain forests
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22201/cuaieed.16076079e.2024.25.2.2Keywords:
microhabitat, platanillos, insects, conservation, tropical junglesAbstract
Heliconias, known as “platanillos,” are plants distinguished by the striking coloring of their inflorescences. This writing delves into these species inhabiting tropical forests, focusing on their multifaceted nature. It examines the prevalent uses of heliconias, both as ornamental plants in rural and urban settings and in religious rituals. Special attention is given to the inflorescences of heliconias, regarded as miniature ecosystems. These structures harbor various species of insects and other invertebrates that live, feed, and reproduce within the modified leaves known as bracts. However, the article underscores an imminent threat: the destruction of tropical forests. This factor jeopardizes not only the survival of heliconias but also the diversity of insects and invertebrates associated with them.
References
Alvarado-García, V., y Zuñiga, M. A. (2014). Plantas nativas para el control de la erosión. Editorial Tecnológica de Costa Rica.
Benítez-Malvido, J., Martínez-Falcón, A. P., Dáttilo, W., y Del Val, E. (2014). Diversity and network structure of invertebrate communities associated to Heliconia species in natural and human disturbed tropical rain forests. Global Ecology and Conservation, 2, 107-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2014.08.007.
Benítez-Malvido, J., Dattilo, W., Martinez-Falcon, A. P., Duran-Barron, C., Valenzuela, J., Lopez, S., y Lombera, R. (2016). The multiple impacts of tropical forest fragmentation on arthropod biodiversity and on their patterns of interactions with host plants. Plos one, 11(1), e0146461. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0146461.
Berget, C., Verschoor, G., García-Frapolli, E., Mondragón-Vázquez, E., y Bongers, F. (2021). Landscapes on the move: land-use change history in a mexican agroforest frontier. Land, 10 (10), 1066. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10101066.
Berry, F. y W. J. Kress. (1991). Heliconia: an identification guide. Smithsonian Institute Press. 334 pp.
Challenger, A., Soberón, J., y Soberón, J. (2008). Los ecosistemas terrestres. En Capital natural de México, vol. I: Conocimiento actual de la biodiversidad (pp. 87-108). Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad [ conabio].
Gutiérrez-Baéz, C. (2000). Heliconiaceae. Flora de Veracruz, (fascículo 118). Instituto de Ecología, A.C. p. 2-30. http://www1.inecol.edu.mx/publicaciones/resumeness/FLOVER/118-Gutierrez.pdf.
López-Pérez, S., Benítez-Malvido, J., Lobato-García, J. M., Siliceo-Cantero, H. H., y Santillán-Mendoza, R. (2020). A New State Record for Chelobasis bicolor Gray (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Arescini) and New Host Association with Heliconia bourgaeana Peterson (Heliconiaceae) in Mexico. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 74(3), 572-575. https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-74.3.572.
Ortíz-Curiel, S., Avendaño-Arrazate, C. H., Grajales-Solís, M., Canul-Ku, J., Cortés-Cruz, M., y Iracheta-Donjuan, L. (2015). Heliconia L.: Género subutilizado en México. Agroproductividad, 8(4), 51-59.
Santos, B. A., Lombera, R., y Benítez-Malvido, J. (2009). New records of Heliconia (Heliconiaceae) for the region of Chajul, Southern Mexico, and their potential use in biodiversity-friendly cropping systems. Revista mexicana de biodiversidad, 80(3), 861-865. https://doi.org/10.22201/ib.20078706e.2009.003.153 .
Seifert, R. P., y Seifert, F. H. (1976). A community matrix analysis of Heliconia insect communities. The American Naturalist, 110(973), 461-483. https://doi.org/10.1086/283080.
Seifert, R. P. (1982). Neotropical Heliconia insect communities. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 57(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1086/412573.
Stiles, F. G. (1975). Ecology, flowering phenology, and hummingbird pollination of some Costa Rican Heliconia species. Ecology, 56(2), 285-301. https://doi.org/10.2307/1934961.
Sosa-Rodríguez, F. M. (2013). Cultivo del género Heliconia. Cultivos Tropicales, 34(1), 24-32. https://goo.su/ivfs.
Toledo V. M, Moguel P., Durán, L., Albores, M. L., Rodriguez-Aldabe, A., y Ayó, A. (2015). Un diseño agroforestal de la Sierra Norte de Puebla, México. En: V. M., Toledo (Ed.), El kuojtakiloyan: patrimonio biocultural Nahuatl de la sierra norte de Puebla, México (pp. 93-113). Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología.
Wootton, J. T., y Sun, I. F. (1990). Bract liquid as a herbivore defense mechanism for Heliconia wagneriana inflorescences. Biotropica, 22(2) 155-159. https://doi.org/10.2307/2388408.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Revista Digital Universitaria
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Revista Digital Universitaria es editada por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México se distribuye bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional. Basada en una obra en http://revista.unam.mx/.
