We thank dozens of students and field assistants that enabled data collection on survival and growth of M. acantholoba for over 14 years. R. Díaz-Talamantes, M. A. Enríquez-Vargas, G. Escamilla-Zerón, E. Romero, and G. L. Cervantes-Jiménez critically helped in field data collection. We also thank the Reyes-Manuel and the López-Mendoza families, together with all the villagers of Nizanda, for their continuous support over the last three decades. Field data collection was funded by the Mexican Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT, grant CB-2009-01-128136), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (PAPIIT-UNAM, grants IN216007, IN218416, and IN217620), and the Dutch Research Council (NWO, grant ALWOP.457).