Floristic diversity, composition and dominance across Amazonian forest types respond differently to latitude

Aim: The latitudinal biodiversity gradient is considered a first-order biogeographical pattern for most taxonomic groups. Latitudinal variation in plant diversity is not always consistent, and this could be related to the particular characteristics of different forest types. In this study, we compare latitudinal changes in floristic diversity (alpha diversity), composition (beta diversity) and dominance across different tropical forest types: floodplain, terra firme and submontane forests. Location: Western Amazonia (Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia). Taxon: Woody plants. Methods: We inventoried 1978 species and 31,203 individuals of vascular plants with a diameter at breast height ≥ 2.5 cm in 118 0.1-ha plots over an 1800 km latitudinal gradient in three different forest types. The relationships between alpha diversity, latitude and forest type were analysed using generalised linear mixed models. Semi-parametric permutational multivariate analysis of variance was used to investigate the effects of latitude and forest type on beta diversity. Dominant species abundances were correlated with non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination axes to reflect their contributions in shaping changes in beta diversity. Results: Alpha diversity increased towards equatorial latitudes in terra firme and submontane forests but remained relatively constant in floodplains. Beta diversity of all forest types changed with latitude, although less clearly in floodplains. Also, in floodplain forests, there were fewer dominant species contributing to beta diversity and more species homogeneous along the gradient. Main Conclusions: Latitudinal diversity patterns are manifested in alpha and beta diversity since latitude summarizes climatic and edaphic changes. However, we found different responses of each forest type. In floodplain forests, inundation regime is a stronger predictor than latitude, limiting floristic diversity and composition. Changes in dominant species abundance over gradients explained species composition, but floodplain forests harboured more homogeneous dominant species than well drained forests. It is key to study environmental trends and habitat characteristics of each forest type to understand their species diversity and dominance pattern

Latitudinal patterns and environmental drivers of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of woody plants in western Amazonian terra firme forests

Elucidating how environmental factors drive plant species distributions and how they affect latitudinal diversity gradients, remain essential questions in ecology and biogeography. In this study we aimed: 1) to investigate the relationships between all three diversity attributes, i.e., taxonomic diversity (TD), functional diversity (FD), and phylogenetic diversity (PD); 2) to quantify the latitudinal variation in these diversity attributes in western Amazonian terra firme forests; and 3) to understand how climatic and edaphic drivers contribute to explaining diversity patterns. We inventoried ca. 15,000 individuals from ca. 1,250 species, and obtained functional trait records for ca. 5,000 woody plant individuals in 50 plots of 0.1 ha located in five terra firme forest sites spread over a latitudinal gradient of 1200 km covering ca. 10°C in latitude in western Amazonia. We calculated all three diversity attributes using Hill numbers: q = 0 (richness), q = 1 (richness weighted by relative abundance), and q = 2 (richness weighted by dominance). Generalized linear mixed models were constructed for each diversity attribute to test the effects of different uncorrelated environmental predictors comprising the temperature seasonality, annual precipitation, soil pH and soil bulk density, as well as accounting for the effect of spatial autocorrelation, i.e., plots aggregated within sites. We confirmed that TD (q = 0, q = 1, and q = 2), FD (q = 0, q = 1, and q = 2), and PD (q = 0) increased monotonically towards the Equator following the latitudinal diversity gradient. The importance of rare species could explain the lack of a pattern for PD (q = 1 and q = 2). Temperature seasonality, which was highly correlated with latitude, and annual precipitation were the main environmental drivers of variations in TD, FD, and PD. All three diversity attributes increased with lower temperature seasonality, higher annual precipitation, and lower soil pH. We confirmed the existence of latitudinal diversity gradients for TD, FD, and PD in hyperdiverse Amazonian terra firme forests. Our results agree well with the predictions of the environmental filtering principle and the favourability hypothesis, even acting in a 10°C latitudinal range within tropical climate

Understanding different dominance patterns in western Amazonian forests

Dominance of neotropical tree communities by a few species is widely documented, but dominant trees show a variety of distributional patterns still poorly understood. Here, we used 503 forest inventory plots (93,719 individuals ≥2.5 cm diameter, 2609 species) to explore the relationships between local abundance, regional frequency and spatial aggregation of dominant species in four main habitat types in western Amazonia. Although the abundance-occupancy relationship is positive for the full dataset, we found that among dominant Amazonian tree species, there is a strong negative relationship between local abundance and regional frequency and/or spatial aggregation across habitat types. Our findings suggest an ecological trade-off whereby dominant species can be locally abundant (local dominants) or regionally widespread (widespread dominants), but rarely both (oligarchs). Given the importance of dominant species as drivers of diversity and ecosystem functioning, unravelling different dominance patterns is a research priority to direct conservation efforts in Amazonian forests.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Remote sensing as a tool for monitoring potential effects of vegetation changes on threatened plants: A case study from southern European heterogenous landscapes [Dataset]

There are 2 datastes corresponding to 2 different analysis: "UTM 1x1 km dataset" based on NDVI change at UTM scale (1 km2) and "MU Dataset" based on NDVI change at plant populations level.Landscape is in continuous transformation due to both anthropogenic and natural disturb-ances, which may have a large impact on the most vulnerable elements of biodiversity. Here we quantify vegetation changes over the past 35 years (1984–2018) and assess how these changes may impact threatened plants over a heterogeneous and highly diverse region in southern Europe. To achieve this goal, we first estimated the intensity and duration of gains and losses of vegetation changes based on NDVI and NBR indices from Landsat time series, using the LandTrendr algorithm on Google Earth Engine. Then, we tested if: 1) Natura 2000 (N2000) areas have experienced lower vegetation changes than non protected areas and thus are effective in protecting threatened plants, 2) vegetation changes around threatened plants differ across habitats and depending on the protection status of the area where they occur, and 3) the probability of occurrence of populations of threatened plant species increases on more stable places (i.e. lower vegetation changes). Results indicated an overall increase of vegetation, or greening trend, although N2000 areas experienced less gains and losses than non protected areas, which support their role in preserving habitats and slowing down human-induced land cover changes. Populations of threatened species tend to concentrate in places of lower changes irrespective of the spatial scale used for the analysis, the particular habitat they occur, and their inclusion within protected areas. Our approach demonstrates how monitoring vegetation changes by long-term remote sensing can help in the challenge of assessing both cryptic landscape transformation processes in protected areas, and potential external threats for priority plants in a comprehensive, fast and objective way. The conclusions drawn from this study are expected to serve as guidelines for a more effective conservation management in other environmentally heterogeneous regions.Peer reviewe

Image_1_Latitudinal patterns and environmental drivers of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of woody plants in western Amazonian terra firme forests.jpeg

Elucidating how environmental factors drive plant species distributions and how they affect latitudinal diversity gradients, remain essential questions in ecology and biogeography. In this study we aimed: 1) to investigate the relationships between all three diversity attributes, i.e., taxonomic diversity (TD), functional diversity (FD), and phylogenetic diversity (PD); 2) to quantify the latitudinal variation in these diversity attributes in western Amazonian terra firme forests; and 3) to understand how climatic and edaphic drivers contribute to explaining diversity patterns. We inventoried ca. 15,000 individuals from ca. 1,250 species, and obtained functional trait records for ca. 5,000 woody plant individuals in 50 plots of 0.1 ha located in five terra firme forest sites spread over a latitudinal gradient of 1200 km covering ca. 10°C in latitude in western Amazonia. We calculated all three diversity attributes using Hill numbers: q = 0 (richness), q = 1 (richness weighted by relative abundance), and q = 2 (richness weighted by dominance). Generalized linear mixed models were constructed for each diversity attribute to test the effects of different uncorrelated environmental predictors comprising the temperature seasonality, annual precipitation, soil pH and soil bulk density, as well as accounting for the effect of spatial autocorrelation, i.e., plots aggregated within sites. We confirmed that TD (q = 0, q = 1, and q = 2), FD (q = 0, q = 1, and q = 2), and PD (q = 0) increased monotonically towards the Equator following the latitudinal diversity gradient. The importance of rare species could explain the lack of a pattern for PD (q = 1 and q = 2). Temperature seasonality, which was highly correlated with latitude, and annual precipitation were the main environmental drivers of variations in TD, FD, and PD. All three diversity attributes increased with lower temperature seasonality, higher annual precipitation, and lower soil pH. We confirmed the existence of latitudinal diversity gradients for TD, FD, and PD in hyperdiverse Amazonian terra firme forests. Our results agree well with the predictions of the environmental filtering principle and the favourability hypothesis, even acting in a 10°C latitudinal range within tropical climates.</p

Table_2_Latitudinal patterns and environmental drivers of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of woody plants in western Amazonian terra firme forests.pdf

Elucidating how environmental factors drive plant species distributions and how they affect latitudinal diversity gradients, remain essential questions in ecology and biogeography. In this study we aimed: 1) to investigate the relationships between all three diversity attributes, i.e., taxonomic diversity (TD), functional diversity (FD), and phylogenetic diversity (PD); 2) to quantify the latitudinal variation in these diversity attributes in western Amazonian terra firme forests; and 3) to understand how climatic and edaphic drivers contribute to explaining diversity patterns. We inventoried ca. 15,000 individuals from ca. 1,250 species, and obtained functional trait records for ca. 5,000 woody plant individuals in 50 plots of 0.1 ha located in five terra firme forest sites spread over a latitudinal gradient of 1200 km covering ca. 10°C in latitude in western Amazonia. We calculated all three diversity attributes using Hill numbers: q = 0 (richness), q = 1 (richness weighted by relative abundance), and q = 2 (richness weighted by dominance). Generalized linear mixed models were constructed for each diversity attribute to test the effects of different uncorrelated environmental predictors comprising the temperature seasonality, annual precipitation, soil pH and soil bulk density, as well as accounting for the effect of spatial autocorrelation, i.e., plots aggregated within sites. We confirmed that TD (q = 0, q = 1, and q = 2), FD (q = 0, q = 1, and q = 2), and PD (q = 0) increased monotonically towards the Equator following the latitudinal diversity gradient. The importance of rare species could explain the lack of a pattern for PD (q = 1 and q = 2). Temperature seasonality, which was highly correlated with latitude, and annual precipitation were the main environmental drivers of variations in TD, FD, and PD. All three diversity attributes increased with lower temperature seasonality, higher annual precipitation, and lower soil pH. We confirmed the existence of latitudinal diversity gradients for TD, FD, and PD in hyperdiverse Amazonian terra firme forests. Our results agree well with the predictions of the environmental filtering principle and the favourability hypothesis, even acting in a 10°C latitudinal range within tropical climates.</p

Table_1_Latitudinal patterns and environmental drivers of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of woody plants in western Amazonian terra firme forests.pdf

Elucidating how environmental factors drive plant species distributions and how they affect latitudinal diversity gradients, remain essential questions in ecology and biogeography. In this study we aimed: 1) to investigate the relationships between all three diversity attributes, i.e., taxonomic diversity (TD), functional diversity (FD), and phylogenetic diversity (PD); 2) to quantify the latitudinal variation in these diversity attributes in western Amazonian terra firme forests; and 3) to understand how climatic and edaphic drivers contribute to explaining diversity patterns. We inventoried ca. 15,000 individuals from ca. 1,250 species, and obtained functional trait records for ca. 5,000 woody plant individuals in 50 plots of 0.1 ha located in five terra firme forest sites spread over a latitudinal gradient of 1200 km covering ca. 10°C in latitude in western Amazonia. We calculated all three diversity attributes using Hill numbers: q = 0 (richness), q = 1 (richness weighted by relative abundance), and q = 2 (richness weighted by dominance). Generalized linear mixed models were constructed for each diversity attribute to test the effects of different uncorrelated environmental predictors comprising the temperature seasonality, annual precipitation, soil pH and soil bulk density, as well as accounting for the effect of spatial autocorrelation, i.e., plots aggregated within sites. We confirmed that TD (q = 0, q = 1, and q = 2), FD (q = 0, q = 1, and q = 2), and PD (q = 0) increased monotonically towards the Equator following the latitudinal diversity gradient. The importance of rare species could explain the lack of a pattern for PD (q = 1 and q = 2). Temperature seasonality, which was highly correlated with latitude, and annual precipitation were the main environmental drivers of variations in TD, FD, and PD. All three diversity attributes increased with lower temperature seasonality, higher annual precipitation, and lower soil pH. We confirmed the existence of latitudinal diversity gradients for TD, FD, and PD in hyperdiverse Amazonian terra firme forests. Our results agree well with the predictions of the environmental filtering principle and the favourability hypothesis, even acting in a 10°C latitudinal range within tropical climates.</p

FunAndes – A functional trait database of Andean plants

We introduce the FunAndes database, a compilation of functional trait data for the Andean flora spanning six countries. FunAndes contains data on 24 traits across 2,694 taxa, for a total of 105,466 entries. The database features plant-morphological attributes including growth form, and leaf, stem, and wood traits measured at the species or individual level, together with geographic metadata (i.e., coordinates and elevation). FunAndes follows the field names, trait descriptions and units of measurement of the TRY database. It is currently available in open access in the FIGSHARE data repository, and will be part of TRY’s next release. Open access trait data from Andean plants will contribute to ecological research in the region, the most species rich terrestrial biodiversity hotspot.Fil: Báez, Selene. Escuela Politécnica Nacional; EcuadorFil: Cayuela, Luis. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; EspañaFil: Macía, Manuel J.. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Álvarez Dávila, Esteban. Universidad Nacional Abierta a Distancia de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Apaza Quevedo, Amira. Universidad Mayor Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca; BoliviaFil: Arnelas, Itziar. Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja; EcuadorFil: Baca Cortes, Natalia. Universidad de Nariño; ColombiaFil: Bañares de Dios, Guillermo. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; EspañaFil: Bauters, Marijn. University of Ghent; BélgicaFil: Ben Saadi, Celina. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Blundo, Cecilia Mabel. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: Cabrera, Marian. Universidad de Nariño; ColombiaFil: Castaño, Felipe. Universidad Industrial Santander; ColombiaFil: Cayola, Leslie. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unidos. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; BoliviaFil: de Aledo, Julia G.. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Espinosa, Carlos Iván. Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja; EcuadorFil: Fadrique, Belén. University of Leeds; Reino UnidoFil: Farfán Rios, William. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unidos. Washington University in St. Louis; Estados UnidosFil: Fuentes, Alfredo. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unidos. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; BoliviaFil: Garnica Díaz, Claudia. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: González, Mailyn. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt; ColombiaFil: González, Diego. Conservación Internacional; ColombiaFil: Hensen, Isabell. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; AlemaniaFil: Hurtado, Ana Belén. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander Von Humboldt; ColombiaFil: Jadán, Oswaldo. Universidad de Cuenca; EcuadorFil: Lippok, Denis. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; AlemaniaFil: Loza, M. Isabel. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unidos. Morton Arboretum; Estados Unidos. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; BoliviaFil: Maldonado, Carla Carolina. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; BoliviaFil: Malizia, Lucio Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Matas Granados, Laura. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Españ

Understanding different dominance patterns in western Amazonian forests

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Dominance of neotropical tree communities by a few species is widely documented, but dominant trees show a variety of distributional patterns still poorly understood. Here, we used 503 forest inventory plots (93,719 individuals ≥ 2.5 cm diameter, 2,609 species) to explore the relationships between local abundance, regional frequency, and spatial aggregation of dominant species in four main habitat types in western Amazonia. Contrary to the widely supported positive abundance-occupancy relationship in ecology, we found that among dominant Amazonian tree species, there is a strong negative relationship between local abundance and regional frequency and/or spatial aggregation across habitat types. Our findings suggest an ecological trade-off whereby dominant species can be locally abundant (local dominants) or regionally widespread (widespread dominants), but rarely both (oligarchs). Given the importance of dominant species as drivers of diversity and ecosystem functioning, unraveling different dominance patterns is a research priority to direct conservation efforts in Amazonian forests.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Funding provided by: Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness&lt;br&gt;Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/034900433&lt;br&gt;Award Number: CGL2016–75414–P&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Funding provided by: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación&lt;br&gt;Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/05r0vyz12&lt;br&gt;Award Number: PID2019-105064GB-I00&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Funding provided by: Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness&lt;br&gt;Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/034900433&lt;br&gt;Award Number: CGL2015-72431-EXP&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;We used data from 503 forest inventory plots spread across western Amazonia, from Colombia to Bolivia. A total of 363 plots had an area of 0.1 ha, 134 plots were smaller than 0.1 ha (range from 0.025 to 0.08 ha), and 6 plots were larger (range from 0.128 to 0.213 ha). Plots are included in the RedGentry network&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Across all plots, we measured stems with a diameter at breast height ≥ 2.5 cm within the plot limits. &lt;span&gt;Plots covered the main four habitat types in western Amazonia: 383 in terra firme (76%), 54 in floodplain (11%), 35 in swamp (7%) and 31 in white sand (6%) forests.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;We excluded all individuals not identified to species level (mean 14% of individuals per plot), since plot data came from different projects and morphospecies were not cross-checked. We also excluded individuals from doubtful identifications, e.g. 'cf.' and 'aff.' (mean 3% of individuals per plot). To the remaining individuals, we checked species names for synonym and spelling mistakes, using the R package 'Taxonstand'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;. Identifications that were difficult to designate to a species were considered morphospecies and were also removed. Finally, we cross-checked our species names list against the most recent checklists of Amazonian species&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;. Species not found in these checklists (635 species) were compared with collection records in the Tropicos database, and were excluded because: 572 species of them were growth forms not consistently included in all datasets (epiphytes, lianas, herbs and ferns), 25 were illegitimate Amazonian species with ranges outside of our region and 38 species were considered wrong identifications because they do not have recorded collection since their descriptions. After these filters, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;2,609 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;species and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;93,719 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;individuals remained available for our analyses.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Since plot size varied among datasets, we transformed abundances into relative abundances (i.e., number of individuals per species/total individuals per plot). Then, we defined dominant species as those species that together accounted for 50% of the total relative abundance of all individual trees in each habitat&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;. We analyzed separately dominant species by habitat type.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Since our plots are not evenly distributed in space, identifying dominant species considering all plots in each habitat type could favor the selection of spatially clumped species. To explore the effect of this potential bias, we divided our study area into equal 100 x 100 km squares, and we extracted 100 random subsamples from the complete set of plots in each habitat type drawing one plot from each square each time. We identified dominant species in the complete dataset and each subsample.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;To test the relationship between local abundance and regional frequency of dominant species by habitat type, we built beta regression models with a logit link function. We used the mean local relative abundance of each dominant species as the dependent variable and both the regional relative frequency and the habitat type as predictors.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;We built species-level rank abundance distribution graphs within each habitat type to explore if local abundance in each plot of each dominant species gave similar information that their mean local abundance. We&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; conducted these analyses for: i) the complete dataset, including all plots of each habitat type; and ii) for the 100 subsamples. We further wanted to explore how the tendency changed adding sequentially rarer species. Therefore, we conducted the same analyses for species that account for 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 92.5%, 95%, 97.2% and 100% of the total relative abun&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;dance.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;To study the relative spatial aggregation of species, we analyzed the co-dominance of each species at each spatial extent and habitat. To do so, we calculated the F index related to each geographical distance between plots to all species and relativized these values to the community-level aggregation curve. &lt;/p&gt

FunAndes – A functional trait database of Andean plants

International audienceWe introduce the Funandes database, a compilation of functional trait data for the andean flora spanning six countries. FunAndes contains data on 24 traits across 2,694 taxa, for a total of 105,466 entries. The database features plant-morphological attributes including growth form, and leaf, stem, and wood traits measured at the species or individual level, together with geographic metadata (i.e., coordinates and elevation). FunAndes follows the field names, trait descriptions and units of measurement of the TRY database. It is currently available in open access in the FIGSHARE data repository, and will be part of TRY's next release. Open access trait data from Andean plants will contribute to ecological research in the region, the most species rich terrestrial biodiversity hotspot