Coastal Thornscrub Flora and Vegetation in the Municipality of Huatabampo, Sonora, Mexico

The Municipality of Huatabampo is located along the coast of the Gulf of California in southern Sonora, Mexico. The vegetation is coastal thornscrub, the more xeric version of tropical deciduous forest. In 1890, Edward Palmer collected plants at Agiabampo in the municipality. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Paul S. Martin and his associates extensively surveyed the Municipality as part of the 1998 Gentry’s Rio Mayo Plants book project. In the 1990s, Samuel L. Friedman studied the flora and vegetation of coastal thornscrub for his 1996 master’s degree at Arizona State University. David Yetman, Van Devender, Reina-G., and Rigoberto López-E. collected plants in the area as part of the 2002 Mayo Ethnobotany book project. The flora of the Municipality of Huatabampo currently has 529 species plus two additional varieties in 93 families and 320 genera. The most species-rich families are Poaceae (52), Fabaceae (50), Asteraceae (42), Euphorbiaceae (35), Convolvulaceae (28), Solanaceae (26), Malvaceae (25). and Cactaceae (21). There are 39 non-native species (7.2%) but none are invasive. Many species are new Sonoran state records, regional endemics, and northern range extensions of tropical species. El Pitahayal near Las Bocas is a unique coastal thornscrub dominated by dense tree-like organ pipe cacti (Stenocereus thurberi). In 2000, David Yetman and Vicente Tajia created the Coteco Biological Reserves in the Masiaca Indigenous Community to protect 563 acres of this world class succulent habitat. Since 2018, the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society has supported Coteco.