1. Hyperdominance in the Amazonian tree flora.
- Author
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ter Steege H, Pitman NC, Sabatier D, Baraloto C, Salomão RP, Guevara JE, Phillips OL, Castilho CV, Magnusson WE, Molino JF, Monteagudo A, Núñez Vargas P, Montero JC, Feldpausch TR, Coronado EN, Killeen TJ, Mostacedo B, Vasquez R, Assis RL, Terborgh J, Wittmann F, Andrade A, Laurance WF, Laurance SG, Marimon BS, Marimon BH Jr, Guimarães Vieira IC, Amaral IL, Brienen R, Castellanos H, Cárdenas López D, Duivenvoorden JF, Mogollón HF, Matos FD, Dávila N, García-Villacorta R, Stevenson Diaz PR, Costa F, Emilio T, Levis C, Schietti J, Souza P, Alonso A, Dallmeier F, Montoya AJ, Fernandez Piedade MT, Araujo-Murakami A, Arroyo L, Gribel R, Fine PV, Peres CA, Toledo M, Aymard C GA, Baker TR, Cerón C, Engel J, Henkel TW, Maas P, Petronelli P, Stropp J, Zartman CE, Daly D, Neill D, Silveira M, Paredes MR, Chave J, Lima Filho Dde A, Jørgensen PM, Fuentes A, Schöngart J, Cornejo Valverde F, Di Fiore A, Jimenez EM, Peñuela Mora MC, Phillips JF, Rivas G, van Andel TR, von Hildebrand P, Hoffman B, Zent EL, Malhi Y, Prieto A, Rudas A, Ruschell AR, Silva N, Vos V, Zent S, Oliveira AA, Schutz AC, Gonzales T, Trindade Nascimento M, Ramirez-Angulo H, Sierra R, Tirado M, Umaña Medina MN, van der Heijden G, Vela CI, Vilanova Torre E, Vriesendorp C, Wang O, Young KR, Baider C, Balslev H, Ferreira C, Mesones I, Torres-Lezama A, Urrego Giraldo LE, Zagt R, Alexiades MN, Hernandez L, Huamantupa-Chuquimaco I, Milliken W, Palacios Cuenca W, Pauletto D, Valderrama Sandoval E, Valenzuela Gamarra L, Dexter KG, Feeley K, Lopez-Gonzalez G, and Silman MR
- Subjects
- Models, Biological, Population, South America, Biodiversity, Rivers, Trees classification, Trees physiology
- Abstract
The vast extent of the Amazon Basin has historically restricted the study of its tree communities to the local and regional scales. Here, we provide empirical data on the commonness, rarity, and richness of lowland tree species across the entire Amazon Basin and Guiana Shield (Amazonia), collected in 1170 tree plots in all major forest types. Extrapolations suggest that Amazonia harbors roughly 16,000 tree species, of which just 227 (1.4%) account for half of all trees. Most of these are habitat specialists and only dominant in one or two regions of the basin. We discuss some implications of the finding that a small group of species--less diverse than the North American tree flora--accounts for half of the world's most diverse tree community.
- Published
- 2013
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