1902 UM graduate bequeaths material to libraries, Montana Historical Society

The implications of the reduction of tropical forest in the carbon cycle has created a demand for development of non destructive methods to biomass estimates a key component in modeling biogeochemical cycles. The research had as objective to estimate indirectly the above ground biomass (AGB) of a pristine forest, correlating field data to IKONOS II satellite data. Biomass was obtained by indirect method and the vegetation analysis by means of horizontal structure. The original bands, vegetation index like ARVI, NDVI, MSAVI and R43, PCA and Tasseled Cap transforms and Spectral Mixing Linear Model were used in modeling. The integration of ground truth and satellite data was performed by statistical procedure, by the application of linear multiple regression using STEPWISE method. For the spatialization, the minimum and the maximum values of the confidence interval for biomass estimates provided by the model were adopted as classes. The confidence interval was 343,05 ± 14,90 Mg. ha-1 for 95% probability. The highest correlations between biomass and digital variables ARVI, SLMMVEG and NDVI are negative. Modeling demonstrated that the variables R43, NDVI, TCap3 and TCap4 were the best correlation with biomass data.A implicação da redução das florestas tropicais no ciclo de carbono vem criando uma demanda de desenvolvimento de métodos não-destrutivos para a determinação de biomassa, elemento importante na modelagem dos ciclos biogeoquímicos. A pesquisa teve por objetivo estimar indiretamente a biomassa acima do solo de uma floresta primária, correlacionando dados de campo e orbitais do satélite IKONOS II. A biomassa foi obtida pelo método indireto e a análise da vegetação por meio da estrutura horizontal. Na modelagem foram usadas as bandas originais, Índices de Vegetação, como ARVI, NDVI, MSAVI, R43, e Transformações por Componentes Principais, Tasseled Cap e Modelo Linear de Mistura Espectral. A integração da verdade de campo e os dados de satélite foi realizada por procedimentos estatísticos, aplicando-se regressão linear múltipla usando o método Stepwise. Para a espacialização, adotou-se como classes os valores mínimos e máximos dos limites de confiança das estimativas de biomassa obtidas com o modelo. O intervalo de confiança a 95% de probabilidade para a biomassa encontrada no campo foi de 343,05±14,90 Mg.ha-1. As maiores correlações entre biomassa e as variáveis digitais ARVI, MLMEVEG e NDVI são negativas. A modelagem mostrou que as variáveis R43, NDVI, TCap3 e TCap4 foram as que melhor se correlacionaram com a biomassa

Floristic composition and phytosociology of tree species in the Phenological Site of the Embrapa Western Amazonia

This research was carried out to study the floristic composition and phytosociology of tree species in the phenological site of Embrapa Western Amazonia, Suframa Agropecuary District-SAD, Manaus-AM, aiming to help future selection of seed trees, for the establishment of seed collecting areas. Twenty plots of 10m x 50m were studied, along a topographic sequence, where trees with a diameter at breast height (dbh) ≥ 20,0cm were inventoried. A total of 240 trees belonging to 29 families, in 70 genera with 100 species were identified. The most important families, in a decreasing order, were: Lecythidaceae, Sapotaceae, Mimosaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Fabaceae, Humiriaceae, Moraceae, Vochysiaceae and Apocynaceae. These families constituted 67% of the local species richness and 75,8% of the number of individuals, suggesting that diversity is concentrated in a few families. Lecythidaceae had the largest dbh and number of individuals, and Sapotaceae the greatest richness species in the area. The most important species (IVIs) were Eschweilera coriacea (DC.) S.A. Mori; Qualea paraensis Ducke; Vantanea macrocarpa Ducke; Eschweilera atropetiolata S.A. Mori; Couratari stellata A.C. Sm.; Lecythis usidata Miers.; Eperua duckeana R.S. Cowan; Eschweilera amazonica R. Knuth and Chrysophyllum manaosense (Aubr.) T.D. Penn. The Shannon diversity and Sorensen similarity indexes indicated a low diversity and a high dissimilarity floristic among plots in this study for the minimum dbh considered. The diameter of the first class measuring 20cm - 30cm presented the most number of individuals, contributing 45% of samples. Above the center class of 55cm of dbh, around 90% of species have been represented by only one.Este trabalho objetiva avaliar a composição florística e a fitossociologia de espécies arbóreas do parque fenológico da Embrapa Amazônia Ocidental no Distrito Agropecuário da Suframa (DAS), Manaus-AM, a fim de subsidiar seleções futuras de árvores matrizes visando estudos fenológicos e a implantação de áreas de coleta de sementes. Foram alocadas aleatoriamente 20 parcelas de 10m x 50 m ao longo de um transecto, amostrando-se todos os indivíduos com diâmetro a 1,30 m do solo, (DAP) ≥ 20,0 cm. Foram registrados 240 indivíduos, distribuídos em 100 espécies, 70 gêneros e 29 famílias. As famílias de maior importância ecológica são, em ordem decrescente, Lecythidaceae, Sapotaceae, Mimosaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Fabaceae, Humiriaceae, Moraceae, Vochysiaceae e Apocynaceae. Essas famílias contribuem com 67% da riqueza local de espécies e com 75,8% do número de indivíduos, sugerindo que a diversidade vegetal da área está concentrada em poucas famílias. A família Lecythidaceae possui os maiores valores de dap e número de indivíduos, sendo Sapotaceae a que possui a maior riqueza de espécies na área. As espécies mais importantes, segundo o Índice de Valor de Importância-IVI, são Eschweilera coriacea (DC) S.A. Mori; Qualea paraensis Ducke; Vantanea macrocarpa Ducke; Eschweilera atropetiolata< S.A. Mori; Couratari stellata A.C. Sm.; Lecythis usidata Miers; Eperua duckeana R.S. Cowan; Eschweilera amazonica R. Knuth e Chrysophyllum manaosense (Aubr.) T.D. Penn. O valor do índice de diversidade de Shannon de 2,71, aparentemente baixo, deve ser interpretado com cuidado ao se avaliar a diversidade do parque fenológico, uma vez que o diâmetro mínimo de 20,0 cm adotado neste trabalho pode ter restringido a identificação de um maior número de espécies. O índice de similaridade de Sorensen indicou uma alta dissimilaridade florística entre as parcelas. A primeira classe de diâmetro medindo de 20cm -30cm foi a que apresentou maior número de indivíduos, contendo 45% dos indivíduos amostrados. Acima do centro de classe de 55cm de dap, cerca de 90% das espécies estão representadas por apenas um indivíduo

Alcalóides de Peschiera affinis (Muell. Arg) Miers (Apocynaceae)

The methanolic extracts of bark and woody roots from three especimens of Peschiera affinis (Apocynaceae) collected at different geographical sites (Fortaleza , Ubajara-CE e Cical-PI) afforded, after chromatographical separation, the following alkaloids: coronanidine, epiheyneanine, affinisine, vobasine, olivacine, voacangine, voacristine, iboxygaine and l9-hidroxi-ibogamine. The latter four substances were found previously in the genus Tabernanthe and Voacanga and are registered here for Peschiera affinis for the first time.A vista da discordância dos dados registrados na literatura (Cava, 1964, 1968 ; Jerry, 1963 e Matos, 1976) quanto aos alcalóides de Peschierra affinis, retomou-se seu estudo com o objetivo desta espécie. Foram analisados amostras das cascas e do lenho das raízes de material coletado em locais diferentes em altitude, longitude e latitude. Foram identificados além de substâncias de natureza alifática (sitosterol,β-amirina e lupenol). os seguintes alcalóides indólicoscoronaridina, voacangina, 20-epiheyneanina, voacristina, affinisina, vobasina, olivacina e uma mistura de 19-hidroxi-ibogamina e iboxigaína). Dentre estes, quatro são inéditos na espécie (voacangina, voacristina, 19-hidroxi-ibogaina e eboxigaína). Apenas pequenas diferenças foram observadas nos três materiais estudados, observando-se porém, acentuada diferença quando comparadas com os resultados obtidos no primeiro trabalho químico sobre os alcalóides desta espécie (Jerry, 1963)

Desvendando padrões estruturais de fragmentos florestais na Amazônia Oriental

Natural fragments are an important source of richness for the management and conservation of a local flora. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of fragmentation on the structure and composition of the plant communities of forest fragments (FF) in Alter do Chão, eastern Brazilian Amazonia. The study sample consisted of 25 FF and nine continuous forest (CF) sites. We compared plant density and species richness between site categories by t-tests, analyzed the differences in composition by cluster analysis, and assessed the effect of fragment size and distance to CF on the basal area and diameter of FF assemblages by linear regression. Individual trees and shrubs with DBH ≥1.27 cm were measured in 2x250 m plots. 17,078 individuals were recorded - 75.32% in FF and 24.68% in CF, comprising 475 species, 216 genera and 64 families. Myrtaceae and Fabaceae were the most abundant families in both FF and CF. Average species richness in FF and CF was statistically different. The 20 species with the highest importance values were similar in FF and CF. The average plant diameter was similar in FF and CF, suggesting that both are "mature" forests composed of thin individuals. Average diameter and total basal area showed a negative relationship with distance to CF and fragment area, respectively. Similarity analysis revealed two groups, one composed exclusively of portions of fragmented forest. Fragments and continuous forest differed in species composition, but were similar in structure. Diameter distribution in fragments was similar to that of primary forests.Fragmentos naturais constituem importante fonte de recursos para o manejo e conservação da flora local. Este trabalho avaliou o efeito da fragmentação sobre a estrutura e a composição das comunidades de plantas de fragmentos florestais (FF), em Alter do Chão, na Amazônia oriental brasileira. Foram amostrados 25 sítios em FF e nove em floresta contínua (CF). Analisamos a diferença na densidade de plantas e na riqueza de espécies entre FF e CF por teste-t, e na composição por análise de agrupamento. Utilizou-se regressão linear para avaliar o efeito do tamanho dos fragmentos e distância à CF sobre a área basal e diâmetro. Os indivíduos com DAP ≥1,27 cm foram medidos em parcelas de 2x250 m. Foram registrados 17.078 indivíduos, 75,32% nos FF e 24,68% na CF, distribuídos em 475 espécies, 216 gêneros e 64 famílias. As famílias Myrtaceae e Fabaceae foram as mais abundantes em ambos FF e CF. A riqueza média diferiu significativamente entre FF e CF. As 20 espécies com maior valor de importância foram semelhantes nos FF e CF. O diâmetro médio nos FF e CF foi semelhante, sugerindo tratar-se em ambos casos de florestas "maduras" compostas por indivíduos finos. O diâmetro médio e a área basal total mostraram relação negativa com a distância à CF e área dos fragmentos, respectivamente. A análise de similaridade revelou dois grupos, um deles composto exclusivamente por fragmentos. Composicionalmente, os fragmentos diferiram da floresta contínua, sendo estruturalmente semelhantes entre si, evidenciando distribuição diamétrica semelhante à das florestas primárias

Floristic inventory of three hectares of "Terra firme" forest in the petroleum drilling region of the Urucu River in the Amazon state, Brazil

The aim of this paper is to characterize forest vegetation in the Urucu River region, a petroleum drilling area of PETROBRAS. This information may contribute to the organized and productive use of the forest, based on scientific knowledge, so that economic returns can be obtained while conserving the environment. All tree, vine and palm stems over 10 cm DBH were inventoried in three hectares. A total of 2241 individuals were found in 60 families, 225 genera and 577 species or morphospecies. Three measures of ecological importance - abundance, dominance and frequency - expressed as three separate percentages were summed to give an Importance Value Index (IVIE). The two highest IVI were for Eschweilera coracea (DC.) S. A. Mori, with 15% in hectare 2, and E. wachenheimii (Benoist) Sandwith, with 14% in hectare 3. The highest Family Importance Indices averaged across the three hectares were for Lecythidaceae (51.62%), Sapotaceae (40.24%) and Chrysobalanacaeae (24.56%).O presente trabalho teve por objetivo principal caracterizar a vegetação da área de exploração de petróleo da PETROBRAS, no rio Urucu, bem como dar subsídios para a utilização da floresta de forma organizada e produtiva, baseada em conhecimentos científicos, de modo não somente a produzir resultados econômicos mas principalmente conservar o ambiente. Os três hectares de floresta inventariada sustentam 2.241 indivíduos, abrangendo árvores, palmeiras e cipós com DAP> 10 cm, distribuídos em 577 espécies, 225 gêneros e 60 famílias. Três medidas de importância ecológica - abundância, dominância e frequência - expressas como três porcentagens, foram somadas para obter um índice de Valor de Importância (IVI). As duas espécies com os maiores IV1E, em toda a área pesquisada, foram Eschweilera coriacea (DC.) S. A. Mori, com 15% no hectare 2 e E. wachenheimii (Benoist) Sandwith, com 14% no hectare 3. As famílias que obtiveram os maiores índices de Valor de Importância (IVIF), em média, nos 3 hectares, foram Lecythidaceae (51,6%), Sapotaceae (40,2%) e Chrysobalanaceae (24,6%)

Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates

Indaga sobre los patrones geográficos y los correlatos ecológicos en la distribución geográfica de los modos de dispersión arbórea más comunes en la Amazonia (endozoocoria, sinzoocoria, anemoocoria e hidrocoria). Se examina si la abundancia proporcional de estos modos de dispersión podría explicarse por la disponibilidad de agentes dispersores (hipótesis de disponibilidad de dispersores) y/o la disponibilidad de recursos para la poducción de frutos zoocorios (hipótesis de disponibilidad de recursos). Para ello se usaron parcelas de inventario de árboles establecidas entre 1934 y 2019, con un diámetro a la altura del pecho (DAP) ≥ 9,55 cm. Ubicados en las selvas tropicales de tierras bajas de la cuenca del río Amazonas y el Escudo Guayanés. Se asignaron modos de dispersión a un total de 5433 especies y morfoespecies en 1877 parcelas de inventario de árboles en bosques de abeto, inundados estacionalmente y permanentemente inundados. Se investigaron los patrones geográficos en la abundancia proporcional de los modos de dispersión. Se realizó una prueba de distancia media entre pares ponderada por abundancia (MPD) y ajustamos modelos lineales generalizados (GLM) para explicar la distribución geográfica de los modos de dispersión. La anemocoria se asoció significativa y positivamente con la velocidad media anual del viento, y la hidrocoria fue significativamente mayor en los bosques inundados. Los modos de dispersión no mostraron consistentemente asociaciones significativas con la disponibilidad de recursos para la construcción de frutos zoochorous. Una menor disimilitud en los modos de dispersión, resultante de una mayor dominancia de la endozoocoria, se produjo en los bosques de abeto (excluyendo los podzoles) en comparación con los bosques inundados. La hipótesis dispersor-disponibilidad fue bien apoyada para los modos de dispersión abióticos (anemochoria e hidrochoria). La disponibilidad de recursos para la construcción de frutos zoocorios parece una explicación poco probable para la distribución de los modos de dispersión en la Amazonia. La asociación entre los frugívoros y la abundancia proporcional de zoocoría requiere más investigación, ya que el reclutamiento de árboles no sólo depende de los vectores de dispersión, sino también de las condiciones que favorecen o limitan el reclutamiento de plántulas en los distintos tipos de bosque.Revisión por pares

One sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is dependent on river floodplains

Amazonia’s floodplain system is the largest and most biodiverse on Earth. Although forests are crucial to the ecological integrity of floodplains, our understanding of their species composition and how this may differ from surrounding forest types is still far too limited, particularly as changing inundation regimes begin to reshape floodplain tree communities and the critical ecosystem functions they underpin. Here we address this gap by taking a spatially explicit look at Amazonia-wide patterns of tree-species turnover and ecological specialization of the region’s floodplain forests. We show that the majority of Amazonian tree species can inhabit floodplains, and about a sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is ecologically specialized on floodplains. The degree of specialization in floodplain communities is driven by regional flood patterns, with the most compositionally differentiated floodplain forests located centrally within the fluvial network and contingent on the most extraordinary flood magnitudes regionally. Our results provide a spatially explicit view of ecological specialization of floodplain forest communities and expose the need for whole-basin hydrological integrity to protect the Amazon’s tree diversity and its function

The biogeography of the Amazonian tree flora

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

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth's most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations$^{1-6}$ in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth's 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories$^{7}$, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world's most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors