Eugenia nigrita 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 : 117-118

47. * Eugenia nigrita Lundell, Wrightia 3: 16 (1961b)

EOO: 11,455.625 km ². AOO: 20 km ². Evaluation of IUCN: Near Threatened.

Eugenia nigrita has a restricted distribution only in the state of Chiapas, with seven collection records. The species occurs in the Humid Tropical Forest and Humid Montane Forest biomes, from 226 to 2926 m elev. The estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) falls within the thresholds of Vulnerable category, whilst the estimated area of occupancy falls within the thresholds of Endangered category under the criterion B. However, it would probably exceed the thresholds of this category if the remaining habitat available is taken in account. There are only up to five known locations and all of them have ongoing threats. The habitat is in a good state of conservation since it occurs in two ecological protection reserves relevant to the conservation and scientific study of Mexican biodiversity such as the “Reserva de la Biosfera La Sepultura”, and the “Reserva de la Biosfera Montes Azules” ( CONABIO 2018, INE-SEMARNAP 1999c, INE-SEMARNAP 2000a). However, since there is not available information to infer a continuing decline or extreme fluctuation, and its status is dependent of protect areas, Eugenia nigrita is classified here as Near Threatened (NT), as it meets the criteria B1a+B2a. It is worth mentioning that the last collection was made in 1999, therefore, efforts for new collections and information on threats and habitat trends must be made to confirm its status.

Specimen examined:— MEXICO. Chiapas: Breedlove & Thorne 21107 ( MEXU!).