Distribution, habitat and population biology
Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti is an understorey palm of rainforest in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. It is typical of karstic limestone regions.
Distribution
The fishtail palm occurs in:
- Mexico
- Guatemala
- Belize
It tends to occur on lime-rich soils over a limestone bedrock.
Habitat
Populations of this species are typically found in the understorey of rainforest.
Increasingly, however, seeds of the fishtail palm are being harvested in the wild and plantations established to increase economic productivity.
Population biology
In the wild, fishtail populations typically have a natural abundance of around 100-200 individuals per hectare.
Genetic studies suggest that there is a high degree of inbreeding within populations. This might be due to:
- periods of habitat fragmentation related to forest clearance by the Maya
- climate change dating back 10,000 years