Impact of rain forest fragmentation on the population size of a structurally important palm species: Astrocaryum mexicanum at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico

Forest fragmentation changes the structure of natural landscapes causing shifts on the distribution and abundance of plant species that could lead to population extinctions. The tree palm Astrocaryum mexicanum is one of the most abundant plant species in the Los Tuxtlas region, Mexico. Nevertheless, 95% of the original rain forest in this region has disappeared, and remaining palm populations are present within landscapes that differ in their conservation status. To identify the landscape (e.g., amount of forest cover, fragment size, fragment shape and isolation) and vegetation (e.g., plant species richness, density and basal area) attributes that could influence the adult population size of A. mexicanum, we analyzed 45 forest fragments (