A Systematic Review on Opuntia (Cactaceae; Opuntioideae) Flower-Visiting Insects in the World with Emphasis on Mexico: Implications for Biodiversity Conservation.

Perla Tenorio-Escandón,Alfredo Ramírez-Hernández,Ana Paola Martínez-Falcón,Jorge Juan-Vicedo,Joel Flores

doi:10.3390/plants11010131

Abstract

Opuntia spp. are cacti with high ecological, economic and conservation interest in semiarid environments, particularly in Mexico. We conducted a systematic search of the existing peer-reviewed literature about the state of knowledge of pollination ecology on these plants. We documented the most studied Opuntia species worldwide with an emphasis on Mexico. We found that only 15% of Opuntia species described have been investigated so far, and studies were mainly focused on comprehension of the biology of a single species. Despite the economic and cultural importance of Opuntia, there is a significant lack of knowledge about the flower-visiting insects and their taxonomic identity. We provide a checklist of the insect species associated with Opuntia spp. Through a circular network, we visualize the complex Opuntia flower-visiting insect relationship, and we detected a set of key species constituting the generalist core of the networks constructed. Since pollination is crucial for crop production, a better understanding of ecological interactions would inform management measures to strengthen biodiversity and agriculture sustainability as well as productivity in arid and marginal lands. Further research on pollination ecology is needed to improve the conservation status of the insects associated with Opuntia species.

Highlights

Cactaceae Juss, 1789, is a highly diversified family of xerophytes that are dominant through the arid and semiarid environments of the Americas, which is its center of origin and diversification [1]
After the removal of literature not related to flower-visiting insect species and duplicated papers, the final number of studies was reduced to 33 articles to be analyzed
We found that 21 species were studied in Canada, the U.S.A., Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and Italy (Table S1); only nine species were studied in Mexico (Table S1): Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill., 1768, O. huajuapensis

Summary

Introduction

Cactaceae Juss, 1789, is a highly diversified family of xerophytes that are dominant through the arid and semiarid environments of the Americas, which is its center of origin and diversification [1]. Cacti comprise approximately 1400–1800 described species in the world [2,3,4], and Mexico is the country with the greatest diversity, with 52 genera and. Nearly 31% of cacti are globally threatened [6] due to changes in land use; introduction of exotic species; and uncontrolled harvesting of these plants for use as food, raw material, and other purposes [7]. Some of them are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (Cactaceae; Opuntioideae) is the richest genus within the Cactaceae with nearly 200 described species [2,8,9]. Opuntia species are well-adapted to drought-stressed conditions [10], being highly distributed throughout arid and semi-arid environments [9]

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