*4.2.3 Reintroduction*

The goal of reintroduction is to establish a viable population of any species in the wild and is essential to increase its long-term survival and to reestablish key species in an ecosystem and restore its natural biodiversity, so it must be carried out within the area of distribution and primitive natural habitat of the target species [122]. For a reintroduction to be successful, it should be considered the awareness of the population and community participation, the planting time and composition of the individuals in quantity and quality (**Figures 14** and **15**). It must be ensured that the site has the appropriate biotic and abiotic requirements for the species in all its life stages, considering seasonal and post-establishment needs, continuous monitoring and management is required to provide feedback [123]. In the case of magnolias, it has been found that they belong to an intermediate and late-successional state, so reintroduction and reforestation projects must consider planting individuals under a pre-existing plant cover [124]. In tropical magnolias, no tolerance to prolonged dry seasons has been found, so to plant them, humid regions, well-drained sites with slightly acidic soils (pH close to 6) and little compacted should be chosen [117]. For transplantation to the ground, reference [117] recommends loosening the soil first, taking care not to injure any roots when removing them from the bag, always keeping the soil moist, adding mulch around the stem to keep moisture and avoid weeds, and, in case of if necessary, apply dilute phosphoric acid to lower the soil pH.

#### **Figure 14.**

*Course-workshop on conservation challenges for* Magnolia *conservation in the subdeciduous forest of the Nahuan community of Ayotitlán, in the sierra de Manantlán, western México. Photos by A. Vázquez-García.* *How to Save Endangered Magnolias? From Population Biology to Conservation Action… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94346*

#### **Figure 15.**

*Left: Reintroduction of* Magnolia pugana *by Dra. Rosa Romo and her assistants near arroyo san Nicolas. Central: Plantation of* Magnolia ofeliae *at the campus of UDG-CUCBA, Zapopan, by the kids: Alberto Aguilar and Quetzalcóatl Vázquez. Right: Urban plantation of* Magnolia mexicana *at Jardínes Alcalde, Guadalajara by Jesús Cortés and Paula Cortés. Photos by M. Muñiz-Castro and A. Vázquez-García.*

#### **4.3 In-situ and ex-situ conservation**

#### *4.3.1 In-situ conservation proposals*

Of the six species of *Magnolia* sect. *Magnolia* five of them have populations within Protected Natural Areas; *M. iltisiana* is located within the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve, a federally protected area, while *M. talpana* is located within the Bosque de Arce State Park and *M. granbarrancae* in the Natural Formation of State Interest Barrancas de los Ríos Santiago y Verde, *M. pacifica* has one of its populations in the Sierra de San Juan Ecological Reserve in Nayarit and in the Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 043 (APRN-CADNR-043), and *M. pugana* has populations within the La Primavera Flora and Fauna Protection Area and in the Natural Resources Protection Area of Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 043 (APRN-CADNR-043, southern Zacatecas polygons). However, for some of these species it is necessary to establish additional measures for their protection [13].

In the case of *M. pacifica*, it is important to create a protection zone in its type locality, in San Sebastián del Oeste, Jalisco, where it is currently threatened and its population has been reduced by deforestation, agricultural expansion and mining. For *M. pugana*, it is proposed to create a protection zone in the perimeter of Arroyo La Virgen, which is located near Rancho San Nicolás in Zapopan, Jalisco. This stream has relict elements of cloud forest, so declaring it a Protection Area would benefit the conservation of other species such as *Populus luziarum* A. Vázquez, Muñiz-Castro & Padilla-Lepe [125] (CR), an endemic species found only in two Zapopan ravines.

With *M. vallartensis*, it is recommended to decree a protection zone in the Palo María stream basin, since it is one of its main distribution sites in addition to having other endemic species such as *Pinus vallartensis* Pérez de la Rosa & Gernandt [126] and *Miconia vallartensis* Zabalgoitia, Figueroa & Muñiz-Castro [127], which would contribute significantly to the conservation of Puerto Vallarta's biodiversity. In this particular case, the importance of establishing a protection zone and rescuing this species also rests on the fact that this species was declared an emblematic tree of the Municipality from which it bears its name, Puerto Vallarta.

Although all these species, except for the new ones described here, are under some risk category of the IUCN Red List, at the national level, only one of them, *M. iltisiana*, is found in the Official Mexican Norm NOM-059 on Environmental Protection for native species of flora and fauna; low genetic diversity of

*M. granbarrancae* (Rio Verde locality), *M. pacifica* s.s., *M. talpana, M. pugana* s.s., and *M. vallartensis*, agrees with the C-2 criterion of NOM-059 MER [18], therefore that it would be appropriate to integrate them into this Norm as Endangered species.

It is vitally important to create integrated management and conservation strategies according to each species, which include reaching stakeholders of the communities where these magnolias are distributed since the first step is to increase conservation awareness and foster appropriation of their natural resources. An example is a Workshop held by some of the authors of this chapter in the Nahua community of Ayotitlán, where *M. jaliscana* is located, in which they taught about the importance of conserving magnolias and of its propagation, as well as the importance of ecosystem services (**Figure 14**).

Alternatively, Wildlife Conservation Management Units (UMA for its acronym in Spanish) can be created in which, in addition to conserving the site, the owner obtains benefits through the sustainable use of its natural resources and can be beneficiaries of subsidies for the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife native at UMA [128].

Property owners can also be creditors of the Payment for Environmental Services (PES), which is a program whose purpose is to promote the recognition of the value of the services provided by ecosystems by creating a market for them [129].

#### *4.3.2 Ex-situ conservation*

The ex-situ conservation centers aim to reduce the risk of extinction of threatened species and act as a complement to in-situ conservation by supporting wild populations with the reintroduction of specimens and restoration of habitats, acting as gene banks, promoting research and continuing to raise social awareness as elements of diffusion and environmental education [130]. For *Magnolia*, there are 9,918 ex-situ records of 152 Magnoliaceae species, however less than half of the most threatened taxa are represented [107], Latin America and the Caribbean region are of particular concern because many of their endemic Magnoliaceae are


#### **Table 7.**

*Magnolia ex-situ collections from Jalisco, Mexico.* M. mexicana *DC. [132],* M. oaxacensis *A. Vázquez [14],* M. rzedowskiana *A. Vázquez, Domínguez-Yescas & Pedraza-Ruiz [133],* M. tarahumara *(A. Vázquez) A. Vázquez [15].*

#### *How to Save Endangered Magnolias? From Population Biology to Conservation Action… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94346*

not represented in ex-situ collection [131]. In Jalisco, some of the *Magnolia* ex-situ collections for 2020 are here presented (**Table 7**), and particularly the species of sect. *Magnolia* discussed in this chapter are cultivated.

In March 2020, a Magnolia Conservation and PropagationWorkshop was held in the Nahua community of Ayotitlán, in which a small greenhouse was installed so that the community could reproduce*M. jaliscana*, currently, they have 20 seedlings (**Figure 14**).

#### *4.3.2.1 Plantations of M. pugana*

Dr. Rosa de Lourdes Romo Campos has dedicated herself for several years to the conservation of *M. pugana*, which has led to a series of reintroduction plantations for this species, whose origin is from San Lorenzo, Zapopan. These plantations can be located in the map (**Figure 1**) with a tree symbol. In 2013 two plantations were carried out, one in the "Los Colomos" urban forest and another near the "Balneario El Encanto" in Zapopan, Jalisco, both with 50 plants; in 2016 one plantation with 30 individuals were made near highway San Cristobal de la Barranca-Tesistán; in 2018 one plantation with 25 trees was carried out in "Los Colomos" urban forest and another with 200 individuals in San Esteban, Zapopan, Jalisco was executed; in 2020 only one plantation was made in Parques de Tesistán, Zapopan, with 18 trees.
