Communications Biology (Oct 2024)

The biogeography of the Amazonian tree flora

  • Bruno Garcia Luize,
  • Hanna Tuomisto,
  • Robin Ekelschot,
  • Kyle G. Dexter,
  • Iêda L. do Amaral,
  • Luiz de Souza Coelho,
  • Francisca Dionízia de Almeida Matos,
  • Diógenes de Andrade Lima Filho,
  • Rafael P. Salomão,
  • Florian Wittmann,
  • Carolina V. Castilho,
  • Marcelo de Jesus Veiga Carim,
  • Juan Ernesto Guevara,
  • Oliver L. Phillips,
  • William E. Magnusson,
  • Daniel Sabatier,
  • Juan David Cardenas Revilla,
  • Jean-François Molino,
  • Mariana Victória Irume,
  • Maria Pires Martins,
  • José Renan da Silva Guimarães,
  • José Ferreira Ramos,
  • Olaf S. Bánki,
  • Maria Teresa Fernandez Piedade,
  • Dairon Cárdenas López,
  • Nigel C. A. Pitman,
  • Layon O. Demarchi,
  • Jochen Schöngart,
  • Evlyn Márcia Moraes de Leão Novo,
  • Percy Núñez Vargas,
  • Thiago Sanna Freire Silva,
  • Eduardo Martins Venticinque,
  • Angelo Gilberto Manzatto,
  • Neidiane Farias Costa Reis,
  • John Terborgh,
  • Katia Regina Casula,
  • Euridice N. Honorio Coronado,
  • Abel Monteagudo Mendoza,
  • Juan Carlos Montero,
  • Flávia R. C. Costa,
  • Ted R. Feldpausch,
  • Adriano Costa Quaresma,
  • Nicolás Castaño Arboleda,
  • Charles Eugene Zartman,
  • Timothy J. Killeen,
  • Beatriz S. Marimon,
  • Ben Hur Marimon,
  • Rodolfo Vasquez,
  • Bonifacio Mostacedo,
  • Rafael L. Assis,
  • Chris Baraloto,
  • Dário Dantas do Amaral,
  • Julien Engel,
  • Pascal Petronelli,
  • Hernán Castellanos,
  • Marcelo Brilhante de Medeiros,
  • Marcelo Fragomeni Simon,
  • Ana Andrade,
  • José Luís Camargo,
  • William F. Laurance,
  • Susan G. W. Laurance,
  • Lorena Maniguaje Rincón,
  • Juliana Schietti,
  • Thaiane R. Sousa,
  • Gisele Biem Mori,
  • Emanuelle de Sousa Farias,
  • Maria Aparecida Lopes,
  • José Leonardo Lima Magalhães,
  • Henrique Eduardo Mendonça Nascimento,
  • Helder Lima de Queiroz,
  • Caroline C. Vasconcelos,
  • Gerardo A. Aymard C,
  • Roel Brienen,
  • Pablo R. Stevenson,
  • Alejandro Araujo-Murakami,
  • Bruno Barçante Ladvocat Cintra,
  • Tim R. Baker,
  • Yuri Oliveira Feitosa,
  • Hugo F. Mogollón,
  • Joost F. Duivenvoorden,
  • Carlos A. Peres,
  • Miles R. Silman,
  • Leandro Valle Ferreira,
  • José Rafael Lozada,
  • James A. Comiskey,
  • José Julio de Toledo,
  • Gabriel Damasco,
  • Nállarett Dávila,
  • Freddie C. Draper,
  • Roosevelt García-Villacorta,
  • Aline Lopes,
  • Alberto Vicentini,
  • Fernando Cornejo Valverde,
  • Alfonso Alonso,
  • Luzmila Arroyo,
  • Francisco Dallmeier,
  • Vitor H. F. Gomes,
  • Eliana M. Jimenez,
  • David Neill,
  • Maria Cristina Peñuela Mora,
  • Janaína Costa Noronha,
  • Daniel P. P. de Aguiar,
  • Flávia Rodrigues Barbosa,
  • Yennie K. Bredin,
  • Rainiellen de Sá Carpanedo,
  • Fernanda Antunes Carvalho,
  • Fernanda Coelho de Souza,
  • Kenneth J. Feeley,
  • Rogerio Gribel,
  • Torbjørn Haugaasen,
  • Joseph E. Hawes,
  • Marcelo Petratti Pansonato,
  • John J. Pipoly,
  • Marcos Ríos Paredes,
  • Domingos de Jesus Rodrigues,
  • Jos Barlow,
  • Erika Berenguer,
  • Izaias Brasil da Silva,
  • Maria Julia Ferreira,
  • Joice Ferreira,
  • Paul V. A. Fine,
  • Marcelino Carneiro Guedes,
  • Carolina Levis,
  • Juan Carlos Licona,
  • Boris Eduardo Villa Zegarra,
  • Vincent Antoine Vos,
  • Carlos Cerón,
  • Flávia Machado Durgante,
  • Émile Fonty,
  • Terry W. Henkel,
  • John Ethan Householder,
  • Isau Huamantupa-Chuquimaco,
  • Marcos Silveira,
  • Juliana Stropp,
  • Raquel Thomas,
  • Doug Daly,
  • William Milliken,
  • Guido Pardo Molina,
  • Toby Pennington,
  • Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira,
  • Bianca Weiss Albuquerque,
  • Wegliane Campelo,
  • Alfredo Fuentes,
  • Bente Klitgaard,
  • José Luis Marcelo Pena,
  • J. Sebastián Tello,
  • Corine Vriesendorp,
  • Jerome Chave,
  • Anthony Di Fiore,
  • Renato Richard Hilário,
  • Luciana de Oliveira Pereira,
  • Juan Fernando Phillips,
  • Gonzalo Rivas-Torres,
  • Tinde R. van Andel,
  • Patricio von Hildebrand,
  • William Balee,
  • Edelcilio Marques Barbosa,
  • Luiz Carlos de Matos Bonates,
  • Hilda Paulette Dávila Doza,
  • Ricardo Zárate Gómez,
  • Therany Gonzales,
  • George Pepe Gallardo Gonzales,
  • Bruce Hoffman,
  • André Braga Junqueira,
  • Yadvinder Malhi,
  • Ires Paula de Andrade Miranda,
  • Linder Felipe Mozombite Pinto,
  • Adriana Prieto,
  • Agustín Rudas,
  • Ademir R. Ruschel,
  • Natalino Silva,
  • César I. A. Vela,
  • Stanford Zent,
  • Egleé L. Zent,
  • María José Endara,
  • Angela Cano,
  • Yrma Andreina Carrero Márquez,
  • Diego F. Correa,
  • Janaina Barbosa Pedrosa Costa,
  • Bernardo Monteiro Flores,
  • David Galbraith,
  • Milena Holmgren,
  • Michelle Kalamandeen,
  • Guilherme Lobo,
  • Luis Torres Montenegro,
  • Marcelo Trindade Nascimento,
  • Alexandre A. Oliveira,
  • Maihyra Marina Pombo,
  • Hirma Ramirez-Angulo,
  • Maira Rocha,
  • Veridiana Vizoni Scudeller,
  • Maria Natalia Umaña,
  • Geertje van der Heijden,
  • Emilio Vilanova Torre,
  • Tony Mori Vargas,
  • Manuel Augusto Ahuite Reategui,
  • Cláudia Baider,
  • Henrik Balslev,
  • Sasha Cárdenas,
  • Luisa Fernanda Casas,
  • William Farfan-Rios,
  • Cid Ferreira,
  • Reynaldo Linares-Palomino,
  • Casimiro Mendoza,
  • Italo Mesones,
  • Germaine Alexander Parada,
  • Armando Torres-Lezama,
  • Ligia Estela Urrego Giraldo,
  • Daniel Villarroel,
  • Roderick Zagt,
  • Miguel N. Alexiades,
  • Edmar Almeida de Oliveira,
  • Riley P. Fortier,
  • Karina Garcia-Cabrera,
  • Lionel Hernandez,
  • Walter Palacios Cuenca,
  • Susamar Pansini,
  • Daniela Pauletto,
  • Freddy Ramirez Arevalo,
  • Adeilza Felipe Sampaio,
  • Elvis H. Valderrama Sandoval,
  • Luis Valenzuela Gamarra,
  • Marina Hirota,
  • Clarisse Palma-Silva,
  • Hans ter Steege

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06937-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

Read online

Abstract We describe the geographical variation in tree species composition across Amazonian forests and show how environmental conditions are associated with species turnover. Our analyses are based on 2023 forest inventory plots (1 ha) that provide abundance data for a total of 5188 tree species. Within-plot species composition reflected both local environmental conditions (especially soil nutrients and hydrology) and geographical regions. A broader-scale view of species turnover was obtained by interpolating the relative tree species abundances over Amazonia into 47,441 0.1-degree grid cells. Two main dimensions of spatial change in tree species composition were identified. The first was a gradient between western Amazonia at the Andean forelands (with young geology and relatively nutrient-rich soils) and central–eastern Amazonia associated with the Guiana and Brazilian Shields (with more ancient geology and poor soils). The second gradient was between the wet forests of the northwest and the drier forests in southern Amazonia. Isolines linking cells of similar composition crossed major Amazonian rivers, suggesting that tree species distributions are not limited by rivers. Even though some areas of relatively sharp species turnover were identified, mostly the tree species composition changed gradually over large extents, which does not support delimiting clear discrete biogeographic regions within Amazonia.