The genus Peperomia (Piperaceae) is one of the richest genera among angiosperms. It occurs pantropically, with highest diversity in the Neotropics. Species are epiphytic, lithophytic, or terrestrial, as well as geophytic in diverse vegetation types, where specifically endemic taxa with limited distribution ranges are threatened by land-use changes. Many of the 134 Peperomia species recorded are distributed in tropical lowland and humid montane forests in southern Mexico, where natural vegetation has been converted into agricultural and livestock fields. Considering the lack of knowledge about the distribution patterns and conservation status of this genus in Mexico, this research aims to determine the geographic distribution and anthropogenic threats to endemic Peperomia species through an exhaustive review and compilation of their occurrence records, followed by a preliminary conservation assessment using the ConR package based on the IUCN criterion B. We determined that a total of 43 Peperomia species are endemic to Mexico, most of which occur in the Sierra Madre del Sur and Veracruzana biogeographic provinces in tropical rain, oak, and coniferous forests. According to the criteria of the IUCN Red List, more than 80 % of these belong to a threatened category, showing that independently of their growth habits most species were Endangered (EN). This is because the ecoregions with warm-humid and temperate forests that keep their highest richness are also among the habitats most affected by human activities. As many of these threatened species have few records, more fieldwork in little explored regions is needed to gather and digitize additional herbarium specimens with reliable identification, which are an essential information source for conservation studies.
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