E. SANCHEZ MARTINEZ, M.M. HERNANDEZ MARTINEZ, Y.H. UGALDE DE LA CRUZ, B. MARURI AGUILAR1
Making a Plant diversity at the Southern difference: end of the Chihuahuan Desert the small but meaningful Cadereyta Regional Botanic Garden In grateful memory to the life and achievements of Dr. Jerzy Rzedowski Rotter (1926–2023)
Introduction Small but neat and cozy, the Cadereyta Regional Botanic Garden (CRBG) is a public institution renowned for the ex situ conservation of flora from the southern end of the Chihuahuan Desert in Central México. The CRBG belongs to the Querétaro State Council of Science and Technology (CONCYTEQ). It is organized into three interrelated aspects: ex situ conservation, scientific research, and environmental education. At the heart of its duties lies the development and the maintenance of a collection of plants that has multiple purposes: ex situ preservation of specimens; a living bank of germplasm for propagation; a data source for long-term, systematic observation; a cloister for education, training, and awareness; and a beautiful setting for recreation and reconnecting with nature. This paper offers a bird’s eye view of the collection, which features a stunning array of 320 taxa from 30 plant families, organized according to scientific, educational, and geographic criteria. We also describe the ambiance and features of each section. The botanic garden’s visitors are offered guided tours and receive an awareness-raising message on the arid plant diversity and the conservation efforts done here. Have a glance. 1 Cadereyta Regional Botanic Gardens, Querétaro, México
email: bmaruri@concyteq.edu.mx
2023 VOLUME 95 NUMBER 2
The area of influence of the CRBG is in the discontinuous southern end of the Chihuahuan Desert, known as the Semi-Arid Zone of Querétaro and Hidalgo (SAZQH) (Rzedowski 1978, HernándezOria et al. 2007). The region is at the crossing point of three physiographic provinces: The Eastern Sierra Madre, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and the Central Plateau. This results in a combination of sedimentary and volcanic lithology on which only minor or moderate development soils are established. The mountainous surface lies between 1,450 and 2,100 meters above sea level. The prevailing climate is temperate and semidry, with summer rains. (BS1kW type, according to the update from Köppen climate classification proposed by Enriqueta García (2004) for México). This heterogeneity facilitates a mosaic of plant communities (Zamudio et al. 1992, HernándezMagaña et al. 2012) with a remarkable concentration of members of the Cactaceae family (HernándezMartínez et al. 2020), and other succulent plants (Fig. 1). The SAZQH hosts slightly more than 60 taxa of this family, including species with different distribution ranges, sizes, shapes, threat levels, and some noteworthy endemisms (Sánchez et al. 2006).
The first botanic garden of the state of Querétaro The CRBG history indirectly started in 1988. By then, the most renowned Mexican botanist, Polish-born Dr. Jerzy Rzedowski, was pushing his project “Flora del Bajío y Regiones Adyacentes.” He fostered the establishment of an herbarium with local authorities, and convened a meeting with local specialists of flora, who recommended several tasks to pursue the conservation of local flora. Eventually, Dr. Rzedowski’s request became the foundation of a larger, complex project that led to the creation of the “Centro Queretano de Recursos Naturales” (CQRN) (Querétaro Center for Natural Resources), which was officially decreed in 1990 (Serrano-Cárdenas and Pelz-Marín, 2017). The late Dr. Gabriel SiadeBarquett, then director of the CONCYTEQ, planned the structure of the CQRN, including both the QMEX herbarium and the CRBG on its “renewable resources” section (CONCYTEQ, 2016).
141