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Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora.

Ter Steege, Hans, Pitman, Nigel C A, do Amaral, Iêda Leão, de Souza Coelho, Luiz, de Almeida Matos, Francisca Dionízia, de Andrade Lima Filho, Diógenes, Salomão, Rafael P, Wittmann, Florian, Castilho, Carolina V, Guevara, Juan Ernesto, and others. (2023) Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora. Communications Biology, 6 (1). Article Number 1130. E-ISSN 2399-3642. (doi:10.1038/s42003-023-05514-6) (KAR id:103942)

Abstract

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1038/s42003-023-05514-6
Uncontrolled keywords: Trees, Soil, Temperature, RNA, Long Noncoding, Forests
Subjects: Q Science > QH Natural history > QH75 Conservation (Biology)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
SWORD Depositor: JISC Publications Router
Depositing User: JISC Publications Router
Date Deposited: 13 Mar 2024 14:23 UTC
Last Modified: 05 Nov 2024 13:09 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/103942 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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