Pines - Endangered Species

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Division of Endangered Species List includes no pine species. However, this list does not cover non-U.S. species, and there are endangered pine species in Mexico and in Asia.

The rapid disappearance of the pine forests of Mexico and Central America have been largely due to disease, insects and human activity. Mexico's population increases by over a million people each year, and this places heavy demand on firewood and land for agricultural uses.

There are nine Mexican pines that are considered either endangered or rare; they are:

• Pinus culminicola (potosi pinyon)
• P. maximartinezii (large cone Martinez pine)
• P. rzedowskii (Rzedowski pine)
• P. pinceana (weeping pinyon)
• P. johannis (Johannis pinyon)
• P. radiata var. binata (Monterey pine)
• P. lagunae (Laguna pinyon)
• P. jaliscana (Jalisco pine)
• P. nelsoni (Nelson pine)

Of these, the first four are considered very rare and very endangered. The next two, P. johannis and P. radiata, are classified as rare and endangered, and the last three are considered rare.

According to the World Conservation Union-IUCN, the following Asian pines are considered to be the most endangered:

• P. dalatensis (found in South Vietnam)
• P. massoniana var. hainanensis
• P. wangii (found in small area in Yunnan Province, China)

Other endangered species on the World Conservation Union's list are:

• P. bungeana (in N. Central China)
• P. dabeshanensis (in the Dabie shan Mountains of E. Central China)
• P. culminicola
• P. maximartinezii
• P. rzedowski
• P. torreyana subsp. Torreyana
• P. torreyana subsp. Insularis
• P. radiata var. bipinata