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The Amazon forest is far from uniform, containing different forest types and even savannas, but quantitative analyses of this variation are lacking. Here, we applied ordination analyses to test the floristic differentiation among Amazonian vegetation types using data for virtually all known tree species occurring in the Amazon (8224), distributed across 1584 sites. We also performed multiple regressions to assess the role of climate and substrate in shaping continental‐scale patterns of community composition across Amazonia. We find that the traditional classification of Amazonian vegetation types is consistent with quantitative patterns of tree species composition. High elevation and the extremes of substrate‐related factors underpin the floristic segregation of environmentally “marginal” vegetation types and terra firme forests with climatic factors being relatively unimportant. These patterns hold at continental scales, with sites of similar vegetation types showing higher similarity between them regardless of geographic distance, which contrasts with the idea of large‐scale variation among geographic regions (e.g., between the Guiana Shield and southwestern Amazon) representing the dominant floristic pattern in the Amazon. In contrast to other tropical biomes in South America, including the Mata Atlântica (second largest rain forest biome in the neotropics), the main floristic units in the Amazon are not geographically separated, but are edaphically driven and spatially interdigitated across Amazonia. Two thirds of terra firme tree species are restricted to this vegetation type, while among marginal vegetation types, only white‐sand forests (campinaranas) have a substantial proportion of restricted species, with other vegetation types sharing large numbers of species.

AimWe used a phylogenetic approach to group assemblages of woody plant into major vegetation units in the Atlantic Forest, thus for the first time incorporating information on species evolutionary relationships into a bioregionalization of this critical hotspot. A phylogenetic regionalization will provide a spatially explicit framework for answering many basic and applied questions in biogeography, ecology and conservation.LocationAtlantic Forest.TaxonAngiospermsMethodsOur data set comprises 614 genera and 116 families, spread over 1,755 assemblages. To place assemblages in a multivariate evolutionary composition space, we used a phylogenetically informed ordination analysis, and to determine what the main phylogenetic groups of assemblages were, we used K‐means clustering based on phylogenetic dissimilarity of assemblages. To quantify how well environmental variables distinguish the phylogenetic groups found, we implemented classification tree approaches. Then, to explore the evolutionary turnover between the phylogenetic groups, we calculated phylogenetic beta diversity. Finally, we determined the lineages that are most strongly associated with individual phylogenetic groups using an indicator analysis for lineages.ResultsOur analyses suggest that there are seven principal groups, in terms of evolutionary lineage composition, in the Atlantic Forest. The greatest turnover of phylogenetic lineage composition separates tropical evergreen rain forest and semideciduous assemblages from subtropical and highland assemblages. The mixed subtropical forest showed the lowest phylogenetic compositional similarity values with other groups. Tropical rain forest had the highest number of significant indicator lineages, and the highest values of the indicator statistic for lineages.Main conclusionsWe found that the most pronounced evolutionary division separates southern and highland tree assemblages from those occurring under more tropical climates and at lower elevations. Our phylogenetic analyses point to an environmentally driven compositional division, likely based on the regular occurrence of freezing versus non‐freezing temperatures. Precipitation and edaphic regimes that assemblages experience had less definitive effects on their evolutionary lineage composition.

Differences in species diversity over continental scales represent imprints of evolutionary, ecological, and biogeographic events. Here, we investigate whether the higher tree species richness in South America relative to Africa is due to higher richness in certain taxonomic clades, irrespective of vegetation type, or instead due to higher richness in specific biomes across all taxonomic clades. We used tree species inventory data to address this topic and began by clustering inventories from each continent based on species composition to derive comparable vegetation units. We found that moist forests in South America hold approximately four times more tree species than do moist forests in Africa, supporting previous studies. We also show that dry vegetation types in South America, such as tropical dry forests and savannas, hold twice as many tree species as do those in Africa, even though they cover a much larger area in Africa, at present and over geological time. Overall, we show that the marked species richness difference between South America and Africa is due primarily to a key group of families in the South American Amazon and Atlantic moist forests, which while present and speciose in Africa, are markedly less diverse there. Moreover, we demonstrate that both South American and African tree floras are organized similarly and that speciose families on one continent are likely speciose on the other. Future phylogenetic and functional trait work focusing on these key families should provide further insight into the processes leading to South America’s exceptional plant species diversity.

Global patterns of species and evolutionary diversity in plants are primarily determined by a temperature gradient, but precipitation gradients may be more important within the tropics, where plant species richness is positively associated with the amount of rainfall. The impact of precipitation on the distribution of evolutionary diversity, however, is largely unexplored. Here we detail how evolutionary diversity varies along precipitation gradients by bringing together a comprehensive database on the composition of angiosperm tree communities across lowland tropical South America (2,025 inventories from wet to arid biomes), and a new, large-scale phylogenetic hypothesis for the genera that occur in these ecosystems. We find a marked reduction in the evolutionary diversity of communities at low precipitation. However, unlike species richness, evolutionary diversity does not continually increase with rainfall. Rather, our results show that the greatest evolutionary diversity is found in intermediate precipitation regimes, and that there is a decline in evolutionary diversity above 1,490 mm of mean annual rainfall. If conservation is to prioritise evolutionary diversity, areas of intermediate precipitation that are found in the South American ‘arc of deforestation’, but which have been neglected in the design of protected area networks in the tropics, merit increased conservation attention.

Background Tropical forests hold high biodiversity, which challenges the selection of species for forest restoration. For a site-specific restoration is required the understanding of the main influences ruling the assemblages. We aimed to answer three questions. 1) how do environmental variables influence taxonomic, phylogenetic diversities, and the phylogenetic structure in the of Rio Doce Basin (TFRD)? 2) How do environmental variables, phylogenetic structure and the main types of seed dispersal relate to each other? 3) Which information of the TFRD assemblages can be used for ecological restoration and conservation in global change scenario? We used 78 sites with their checklists to calculate taxonomic, and phylogenetic diversities, phylogenetic structures, and dispersal proportions. Then, we related the diversities of the sites to their bioclimatic variables and built GLM models.Results Species richness was influenced negatively by water excess duration, by water deficit duration, and positively by maximum temperature, and temperature seasonality. Water regime drives diversity and phylogenetic community structure in the TFRD more than other variables. Annual precipitation and maximum temperature presented the clearer influences on diversity and phylogenetic structure. Zoochory was positively, and anemochory, autochory were negatively related to sesMPD. Conclusions By choosing the lineages with high fitness for each site, the functioning and the stability of ecosystems should increase. The addition of species with anemochory and autochory increases functional and phylogenetic diversity in areas with extreme water excess or water deficit, important in a global change scenario. A high proportion of zoochory allows the communities to function conserving dispersers, biodiversity, and services.

Background: Community composition on fragmented forest remnants has been shown to diverge from their natural successional path, revealing an alternative state which has been known as retrogressive succession. Here we show the long-term monitoring of a small forest fragment concerning community structure, species richness, functional diversity and composition throughout 17 years to offer a means to generalize community performance under the impacts of forest fragmentation. Results: The adult tree community showed shifts on its functional composition: reduction in species’ maximum height and percentage of simple leaves, indicating an investment in resource-acquisitive and disturbance adapted traits. However, we also found a gradual increase in wood density throughout the years for the adult community. For the overall community, functional composition analysis indicated a gradual reduction in the percentage of simple leaves and a significant increase in aboveground biomass. The decrease in Hmax and simple leaves, especially for the adult tree community, are mostly related do microenvironmental conditions caused by edge effects, as desiccation and tree canopy damage.Conclusion: Our results show that natural regeneration is being negatively affected, except for aboveground biomass. Although these findings could have resulted from a transient dynamic, they constitute a warning to future conservation policies around the ecological integrity of small forest fragments.

AimThe aim was to test whether species distribution models (SDMs) can reproduce major macroecological patterns in a species‐rich, tropical region and provide recommendations for using SDMs in areas with sparse biotic inventory data.LocationNorth‐east Brazil, including Minas Gerais.Time periodPresent.Major taxa studiedFlowering plants.MethodsSpecies composition estimates derived from stacked SDMs (s‐SDMs) were compared with data from 1,506 inventories of 933 woody plant species from north‐east Brazil. Both datasets were used in hierarchical clustering analyses to delimit floristic units that correspond to biomes. The ability of s‐SDMs to predict the identity, functional composition and floristic composition of biomes was compared across geographical and environmental space.ResultsThe s‐SDMs and inventory data both resolved four major biomes that largely corresponded in terms of their distribution, floristics and function. The s‐SDMs proved excellent at identifying broad‐scale biomes and their function, but misassigned many individual sites in complex savanna–forest mosaics.Main conclusionsOur results show that s‐SDMs have a unique role to play in describing macroecological patterns in areas lacking inventory data and for poorly known taxa. s‐SDMs accurately predict floristic and functional macroecological patterns but struggle in areas where non‐climatic factors, such as fire or soil, play key roles in governing distributions.

We present a summary of floristic variation and distribution of richness of tree and tree-like taxa (i.e., freestanding plants that reach at least 3m in height) in Brazil. We investigated composition patterns throughout phytogeographic domains and vegetation types based on 698,490 occurrence records obtained from the NeoTropTree (NTT) database, and used rarefaction and extrapolation methods to compare species richness. We delimited areas of high taxa richness in Brazil by applying the Geographic Interpolation of Endemism method. There are 9,108 tree species catalogued in NTT for Brazil, but our extrapolations indicate that the total could reach 9,525 species. Predominantly forested domains showed the greatest richness of taxa with the Amazon domain having the highest number of exclusive taxa. Fabaceae and Myrtaceae were the most represented families. The richest vegetation types were Rain Evergreen Forest and Seasonally Semideciduous Forest. Distribution patterns of richness in Brazil and among its domains were found to be controlled by different spatial scales for each taxon. Transition zones had high species richness. The patterns found here can help to identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation in Brazil.

The campo rupestre sensu lato is among the most species-rich vegetation in the world, harbouring a high proportion of endemic species. We aimed to identify the processes that could generate a high level of phylogenetic diversity (PD) in campo rupestre for woody species and point out biodiversity hotspot areas which may provide additional information for conservation planning. We compiled a database of 2049 woody species from 185 community inventories. We calculated the evolutionary history using species richness (SR), PD, mean pairwise phylogenetic distance between species (MPD), the mean nearest taxon distance (MNTD) and their equivalents standardised (ses.PDss, ses.MPD, ses.MNTD), evolutionary distinctiveness (ED), and biogeographically weighted evolutionary distinctiveness (BED). Cloud dwarf-forests had the highest SR, PD, MPD and ses.MPD and lowest MNTD, while rupestrian cerrado presented the highest ses.PD and ses.MNTD. All areas are important for conservation, but the intersections between the hotspots should receive special attention in future conservation actions. The grids identified as hotspots by three or more metrics were localized mainly in Espinhaço Range in Minas Gerais State and a further expansion of protected areas is required. Moreover, the intersections between the hotspots obtained by mean ED and ses.PD are concentrated in the rocky dwarf forest and rupestrian cerrado, with considerable conservation gaps. The degree of protection of campo rupestre was low with unprotected areas comprising 56% of the species. Our results show an urgent need for increasing protected areas of campo rupestre in order to avoid the loss of valuable, endemic species with unique evolutionary history.

A principal unidade de vegetacao do Mato Grosso do Sul e o Cerrado. Por apresentar um acelerado processo de perda de habitat associado a baixa taxa de conhecimento da flora do estado, torna-se de suma importância o conhecimento das especies arboreas registradas neste Bioma. Neste trabalho apresentamos uma lista da composicao das especies arboreas do Cerrado no Mato Grosso do Sul, com o objetivo de subsidiar futuras avaliacoes sobre o estado de conservacao e implementacao de propostas que auxiliem na conservacao dos seus recursos naturais. Os dados foram extraidos do NeoTropTree, que consiste em um conjunto de banco de dados de listas floristica de especies arboreas. Foram registrados 546 especies arboreas distribuidas em 84 familias botânicas e 255 generos, sendo que tres especies sao exclusivas do estado.

Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-06T16:16:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-02-01 Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. Instituto de Ciências da Natureza Universidade Federal de Alfenas (UNIFAL), Rua Gabriel Monteiro da Silva, 700 Departamento de Botânica Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Rua José Lourenço Kelmer, S/n - Martelos Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Pacheco Leão, 915 Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUC-PR), Escola de Ciências da Vida, Rua Imaculada Conceição, 1155 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Campus Soane Nazaré de Andrade, Rodovia Jorge Amado Km 16 Departamento de Botânica Centro Politécnico Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Caixa Postal 19031, Jardim das Américas Instituto de Florestas Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Rodovia BR-465, Km 07 Centro de Ciências Biológicas Departamento de. Botânica Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Campus Reitor João David Ferreira Lima, s/n - Trindade Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Campus Experimental de Registro, Av. Nelson Brihi Badur, 430 Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes (UMC) Núcleo de Ciências Ambientais, Avenida Doutor Cândido Xavier de Almeida e Souza, 200 Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Praça Infante Dom Henrique, São Vicente Prefeitura Municipal de Olaria, Meio Ambiente, Praça 1° de Março 13, Centro Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia Baiano (IF-Baiano), Campus Itaberaba, Av. Rio Branco, 1003, Centro Universidade Regional de Blumenau (FURB), Rua Antônio da Veiga, 140 Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB) CCAAB, Rua Rui Barbosa, 710 Instituto de Biociências Cidade Universitária Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) Departamento Biociências (DBCI) Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), Campus Universitário Prof. Alberto Carvalho,Av. Vereador Olímpio Grande, S/N - Bloco D, Centro Floresce Consultoria Ambiental, Rua Dr. Alexandre Gutierrez, 332 Departamento de Ecologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), CP. 199 Ciências Naturais Departamento de Ciências Naturais UESB Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia (UESB), Estrada do Bem-Querer km 4, s.n., Bairro Universitário Centro de Ensino Superior em Juiz de Fora (CESJF), Campus Arnaldo Janssen, Luz Interior, 345, Santa Luzia Instituto de Botânica de São Paulo Núcleo de Pesquisas Orquidário do Estado, Avenida Miguel Stefano Faculdade de Engenharia Arquitetura e Urbanismo e Geografia Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Caixa Postal 594, 79070-900, Cidade Universitária Departamento de Genética Instituto de Biociências Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500 pr 43312 JB Consultoria Ambiental, Rua Joaquim Firmino, 1318 Departamento de Ciências Florestais Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Avenida Prefeito Lothário Meissner, 632 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa da Amazônia (INPA) PPG-Botânica, Av. André Araújo, 2936, Aleixo Empresa Brazileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) Florestas, Estrada da Ribeira, Km 111 Departamento de Ciências Florestais Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz” (ESALQ) Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Avenida Pádua Dias 11 Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade de Passo Fundo (UPF), Campus I, Bairro São José, BR 285 Departamento de Botânica Instituto de Biociências Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Rua do Matão, 277 Instituto de Biociências Herbário CGMS Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Avenida Costa e Silva s/n Instituto de Ecología Regional (UNT-CONICET), Casilla de Correo, 34, Yerba Buena Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde - Rodovia Washington Luís Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR), Km 335 - SP 310, 13565-905/C.P 676 Departamento de Zoologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), CP. 199 Departamento de Botânica Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Avenida 24 A, 1515, CP. 199 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Ambientais Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense (UNESC), Avenida Universitária, 1105, Bairro Universitário Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (UNIFASF) NEMA, Brazil 407, Km 12, lote 543, Projeto de Irrigação Nilo Coelho, s/n Departamento de Biologia Vegetal Instituto de Biologia Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), C. P. 6109 Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Museu Nacional, Horto Botânico, Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão Laboratory of Palynostratigraphy and Paleobotany CICyTTP (CONICET-Entre Ríos-UADER), Dr. Matteri y España Diamante Departamento de Ecologia Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524 Ministério do Planejamento Desenvolvimentos e Gestão Esplanada dos Ministérios, Bloco K, Sala 352 Departamento de Biologia Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Campus de Ribeirão Preto, Avenida Bandeirantes, 3900 Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Cidade Universitária Departamento de Biodiversidade Evolução e Meio Ambiente Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP), Campus, Universitário Morro do Cruzeiro Departamento de Ecologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Rodovia Jorge Amado Km 16 Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Parque Califórnia, 28013602 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ecossistemas Universidade Vila Velha (UVV), Rua Comissário José Dantas de Melo, s/n, Boa Vista Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Ornitologia Departamento de Zoologia Centro Politécnico Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Caixa Postal 19031, Jardim das Américas Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária de Clima Temperado (Embrapa Clima Temperado), Rodovia BR-392, Km 78, 9° Distrito, Postal Code 403 Instituto de Humanidades Artes e Ciências and Herbário Centro de Pesquisa do Cacau - CEPEC Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia (UFSB), Campus Jorge Amado, Km 29 Rod. Ilhéus-Itabuna, CP. 07 Departamento de Zootecnia e Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Av. Independência, n° 3751 Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária - INCRA/SR22 - Alagoas Setor de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais, Rua do Imperador, N° 105 Centro Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Botânica - Avenida Antônio Carlos, Pampulha Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Laboratório de Ecologia e Restauração Florestal (LERF) Universidade de São Paulo (USP) Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz” (ESALQ), Avenida Pádua Dias 11, 13.418-900 Herbarium Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Centro Universitario Regional del Este Universidad de la República, Tacuarembó y Bvar Departamento de Ciências e Matemática (DCM) Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia de São Paulo (IFSP), Campus São Paulo, Rua Pedro Vicente, 625, Canindé Centro de Ciências Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Campus do PICI, Bloco 906 Reservas Votorantim, Rua Amauri, 255, 12° andar Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 3, 64st Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Biomas Tropicais Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP), Campus Morro do Cruzeiro Instituto de Botânica de São Paulo Núcleo de Pesquisas Curadoria do Herbário, Avenida Miguel Stefano Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), Rodovia RS 135, Km 25, Distrito Engenheiro Luiz Englert, Caixa Postal 21 Departamento de Botânica Instituto de Biociências Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Avenida Bento Gonçalves, 9500 pr 43433 Conselho Superior de Ensino Pesquisa e Extensão Universidade Paulista (UNIP), Avenida Paulista, 900, 1°. Andar – Herbário, UNIP - Núcleo de Pesquisa em Biodiversidade - Bela Vista, 01310100 Laboratorio de Planificación Territorial Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales Facultad de Recursos Naturales Universidad Católica de Temuco, Rudecindo Ortega, 02950 Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia – ECZ Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), AC/Cidade Universitária. Trindade. CEP 88.040-970 Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, 1235 - Cidade Universitária Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (INPA), Rua Horizontina, 104, Centro Woods Hole Research Center, 149, Woods Hole Road Embrapa Cerrados/Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária dos Cerrados, BR-020, Km 18 Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET-RJ), Rua Voluntários da Pátria, 30, Bairro Belo Horizonte Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina (UNOESC), Campus de São Miguel do Oeste, Rua Oiapoc, 211, Bairro Agostini São Miguel do Oeste Facultad de Ciencias Iguá y Mataojo Universidad de la República Departamento de Biologia Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castelane, S/N Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo (IFES), Rod. ES-080, Km 93, São João de Petrópolis Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Florestal, Caixa Postal 3037 Departamento de Microbiologia Imunologia e Parasitologia Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Campus Universitário, s/n, Sala 05, MIP - Córrego Grande Faculdades Integradas do Vale do Ribeira Laboratório de Biologia Rua Oscar Yoshiaki Magário União das Instituições de Serviços Ensino e Pesquisa Ltda (UNISEP), 185, Jardim das Palmeiras Faculdade de Ciências Biológicas e Ambientais - Rua João Rosa Góes Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD), 1761 Reserva Natural Vale, Rodovia Brazil 101 Norte, Interior Divisão de Florestas e Estações Experimentais Instituto Florestal do Estado de São Paulo, Seção de Bauru, Av. Rodrigues Alves, 38-25, Horto Florestal Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (UEFS), Avenida Transnordestina s.n. División Plantas Vasculares CONICET Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Avenida Ángel Gallardo 470 Universidade Regional Integrada do Alto Uruguai e das Missões (URI), Ciências Biológicas Instituto Tecnológico Vale Biodiversidade e Serviços Ecossistêmicos, Rua Boaventura da Silva, 955 Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Florestais, Avenida Governador Lindemberg, 316, Centro Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Campus Experimental de Registro, Av. Nelson Brihi Badur, 430 Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Praça Infante Dom Henrique, São Vicente Departamento de Ecologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), CP. 199 Departamento de Zoologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), CP. 199 Departamento de Botânica Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Avenida 24 A, 1515, CP. 199 Departamento de Biologia Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castelane, S/N

The selection of priority areas for nature conservation must balance the costs and benefits of conserving biodiversity, protecting ecosystem services, and permitting human activities or resource use. In this study, we selected priority areas for conservation in a seasonally dry tropical forest in Brazil and analyzed changes in the protection of ecosystem services and the conservation of plant biodiversity upon excluding areas with high opportunity costs (e.g., where income would be lost if natural areas were protected) and high population density. We identified two types of protected areas: sustainable use (SU) and strict protection (SP). Plant biodiversity (181 species) and supporting services (water balance, net primary productivity, and soil fertility) were used to determine the optimal locations of both types of protected areas. Provisioning services (water supply, fodder, and genetic resources) were used to determine SU priority areas, while regulating services (water purification, carbon storage, and erosion prevention) were used to determine SP areas. The selection of lowly populated or costly areas was associated with a small decrease in the representation of biodiversity (4% loss in SP and 6% loss in SU) and a large decrease in the representation of supporting (36% loss in SP and 31% loss in SU), regulating (41% loss in SP), and provisioning services (7% loss in SU). Our results reveal that selecting priority areas with low population density and low opportunity costs would decrease the overall representation of ecosystem services in protected areas but would still improve the cost efficiency of biodiversity conservation efforts.

Climate change impacts are important in shaping large ecotones, such as the transition zone between the Cerrado and Amazon rainforest (CAT) biogeographical domains. The accelerating rate of conversion of native vegetation, the most important factor for biodiversity loss in the Anthropocene, compounded by projected climate change impacts, requires a review of the effectiveness of existing designated protected areas (PA) and indigenous land (IL), where low-intensity and low-impact land use prevails. We identified priority tree species for conservation and quantified changes in their projected spatial distribution in future climate scenarios to estimate the conservation effectiveness of the current network of PA and IL in the CAT. Applying niche-based models to compare the geographical range of species in current and future climates, we estimated the displacement of species from their current distribution owing to projected climate change. We used four different IPCC emission scenarios for 2050 and quantified the losses or gains in species richness in PA and IL. All species were projected to suffer a reduction of climatically suitable area and a consequent range reduction. Inside both PA and IL there was a projected decrease in richness of the target species under climate change. The current PA network and designated IL in the CAT do not appear to safeguard future conservation of the species they currently contain. The future ‘climate refugia’ that our work identified could form the basis of plans to expand the protected area network in a region that remains under ever increasing pressure of deforestation in Brazil.

Resumo Apresentamos uma revisão das visões controversas acerca da classificação fisionômica da Floresta de Linhares, aqui definida como a floresta sobre tabuleiros costeiros que ocorre entre os rios Doce e Barra Seca, no norte do Espírito Santo. Compilamos informações sobre o clima estacional dessa região e analisamos a inter-relação das variações interanuais e da dinâmica sazonal da precipitação com atributos ecológicos da floresta. Nossas interpretações revelaram que dados mensais médios de precipitação não exprimem a realidade dos períodos biologicamente secos ano a ano e suas consequências sobre a fisionomia da vegetação. Percebemos que a Floresta de Linhares pode se manifestar como semidecídua ou perenifólia, a depender da severidade da seca em um dado período. Então, propomos que a flexibilidade do regime de renovação foliar da Floresta de Linhares deve ser considerada em sua classificação. Sugerimos classificar a floresta duplamente como estacional semidecidual nos períodos anuais ou supra-anuais caracterizados por deficit hídrico pronunciado, e como floresta estacional perenifólia nos períodos anuais ou supra-anuais sem deficit hídrico significativo.

The Paraguayan territory and region, in the centre of South America, is a huge transition area with a succession of various vegetation types. However, this area has received little attention from researchers, with few works published on its flora and its delimitations. We aimed to identify the most important environmental driving forces and delimit floristic patterns in this region, since understanding the forces that drive floristic variations in this ecotonal region could help comprehend the distribution of vegetation not only in this region but throughout South America. We obtained 1234 tree species occurrence records, 205 geographic coordinates and 23 environmental variables and altitude from the ‘NeoTropTree’ database and verified the influence and contribution of environmental factors through variance partition. We tested the floristic consistency of the different vegetation types using dendrogram, indicator species and ordination analyses. We also constructed multiple linear models to check the correlation between species distribution and environmental variables. We found eight consistent vegetation types. The spatial variables coupled with environmental variables were more important than individual environmental or spatial variables. Among the environmental variables, the aridity index was the most important. Despite the importance of spatial factors, due to environmental heterogeneity, we found a gradient related to climate and edaphic variables related to tree flora. The results confirm that the Paraguayan territory and region can be considered to be a diversified and important ecotone area in South America with respect to tree flora.

Background This study aimed to report the long-term monitoring of diversity and structure of the tree community in a protected semideciduous Atlantic Forest in the South of Minas Gerais State, Southeast Brazil. The study was conducted in two stands (B and C), each with 26 and 38 10 m x 30 m plots. Censuses of stand B were conducted in 2000, 2005 and 2011, and stand C in 2001, 2006 and 2011. In both stands, the most abundant and important species for biomass accumulation over the inventories were trees larger than 20 cm of diameter, which characterize advanced successional stage within the forest. New information The two surveyed stands within the studied forest presented differences in structure, diversity and species richness over the time.

Aim Using a comprehensive floristic database (2616 species, 36,004 occurrence records from 128 unique localities), we model species turnover along the central region of the Atlantic Forest hotspot to (1) test whether local rivers, particularly the Rio Doce, are associated with marked biogeographical breaks, and (2) investigate how regional compositional changes correlate with geo-climatic variables. Location The central region of the Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil (12°–22° S latitude). Methods We combine occurrence and geo-climatic data in a generalized dissimilarity model, obtaining a continuous prediction of species turnover across space and identifying 12 significant geo-climatic predictors of community composition. We use a two-step cluster analysis to classify the turnover map into major floristic regions based on the natural subgroups observed. We further divide each major floristic region into smaller sub-regions based on natural subgroups statistically identified by the two-step cluster analyses. Results High levels of turnover in species composition occurred around latitudes 18°–19° S, c. 50–100 km north of the Rio Doce, and concurred with shifts in availability of both humidity and energy. We identified three major floristic regions in the central region of the Atlantic Forest, which we called Bahia Interior Forests, Bahia Coastal Forests, and the Krenak-Waitaka Forests – each of them divided into two to four subregions. Main conclusions Our results suggest that local climatic conditions, not riverine barriers, drive biogeographical shifts in this region – a finding that supports studies of current and historical determinants of the composition of the Atlantic Forest biota. Floristic composition at higher elevations (> 600 m) is clearly distinct from those in lower elevations, likely as a result of physiological constraints imposed by cooler climates in the former. Floristic regions here identified from observed communities substantially improve the maps currently employed for conservation planning in a shrinking hotspot.

In large-scale biodiversity surveys, the observed species-richness inevitably underestimates the real species richness of a certain geographic region. Nonparametric estimators may be feasible tools for predicting the potential tree/shrub species richness using data from large-scale forest surveys that gather reliable information. In light of the many nonparametric estimators available in the literature, we evaluated their statistical performance (bias and precision) in estimating the γ-diversity of different forest types by comparing their estimates with theoretical total richness values. In addition, we investigated their behaviors on simulated data regarding the spatial distribution of species among sample plots (patchiness). To accomplish these tasks, we used data from a wide-ranging systematic forest survey conducted at 418 sample plots on three subtropical forest types located in a Brazilian hotspot. We established theoretical real tree/shrub species-richness values for each forest type from a vast and carefully revised database for the neotropics. Due to the considerable amount of species with restricted geographic distribution, the incidence-based estimators were shown to be more suitable than the abundance-based estimators for estimating γ-diversity, presenting the smaller overall combination of performance metrics. The abundance-based estimators (Chao1 and ACE) were notedly sensitive to different degrees of patchiness, especially to patchy species distributions. On the other hand, Jackknife1 and the sample-based extrapolation were less influenced by patchiness. Regardless of the differences in species composition and structures among forest types, the Jackknife2 estimator presented the best overall performance and quite accurate estimates for all the cases.

In South America the biogeographic history has produced different biomes with different vegetation types and distinct floras. As these vegetation types may diverge in evolutionary histories, we analysed how alpha and beta phylogenetic diversity vary across them and determine the main drivers of variation in phylogenetic diversity. To this end, we compiled a list of 205 sites and 1222 tree species spread over four biomes and eight vegetation types in central South America. For each site we evaluated six measures of evolutionary alpha diversity (species richness, phylogenetic diversity sensu stricto and the standardized effect size of phylogenetic diversity, mean phylogenetic distance and mean nearest taxon distance) and beta diversity (phylogenetic Sorensen's similarity). We checked the influence of spatial and environmental variables using generalized least squares models. The greatest phylogenetic differentiation was found between west and east of central South America, mainly between the Chaco communities and the other vegetation types, suggesting that species found in this biome come from different lineages, comparing with the others vegetation types. Our results also showed a clustered phylogenetic structure for the Dry Chaco woodlands, which may be associated with harsh environmental conditions. In addition to historical process, climatic conditions are the main drivers shaping phylogenetic patterns among the distinct vegetation types. Understanding patterns of phylogenetic diversity and distribution can greatly improve conservation planning and management since it allows the conservation of unique biome characteristics.

International commitments for ecosystem restoration add up to one-quarter of the world’s arable land. Fulfilling them would ease global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity decline but could displace food production and impose financial costs on farmers. Here, we present a restoration prioritization approach capable of revealing these synergies and trade-offs, incorporating ecological and economic efficiencies of scale and modelling specific policy options. Using an actual large-scale restoration target of the Atlantic Forest hotspot, we show that our approach can deliver an eightfold increase in cost-effectiveness for biodiversity conservation compared with a baseline of non-systematic restoration. A compromise solution avoids 26% of the biome’s current extinction debt of 2,864 plant and animal species (an increase of 257% compared with the baseline). Moreover, this solution sequesters 1 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent (a 105% increase) while reducing costs by US$28 billion (a 57% decrease). Seizing similar opportunities elsewhere would offer substantial contributions to some of the greatest challenges for humankind. A restoration prioritization approach applied to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot considers 362 scenarios for synergies and trade-offs between ecological and economic costs, benefits and scales.

The Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio (PESP) harbors some unusual fragments of mixed needle-broadleaved forest (MNF) of Minas Gerais state. This study aims to analyze the floristic composition and geographic distribution of the genera represented in the MNF of the PESP. Collections of fertile specimens of vascular plants (excluding epiphytes) were conducted monthly (March 2012-June 2013) in the alluvial and slope areas of MNF in the PESP, in altitudes ranging from 1,650-2,000 m above sea level. The genera were classified into seven phytogeographic groups that were delimited according to their current diversity centers available in the literature. We recorded 310 species belonging to 168 genera and 82 families of vascular plants. The richest families were Asteraceae (49 species), Melastomataceae (33 species) and Rubiaceae (16 species). We observed the presence of species often found in montane and high montane forests of southeastern region, besides of temperate genera, showing that low temperatures caused by high altitude influence the floristic composition of the area. The high richness found denotes the importance of altitude areas for diversity in Atlantic Forest and highlights the biogeographic importance of the region for presenting an unusual phytophysiognomy in the state with endemic and endangered species. Resumo O Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio (PESP) possui fragmentos incomuns de Floresta Mista Lati-aciculifoliada (MNF) do estado de Minas Gerais. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram analisar os aspectos florísticos e a distribuição geográfica dos gêneros presentes na MNF do PESP. Foram realizadas coletas mensais (de março de 2012 a junho de 2013) de exemplares férteis (excluindo-se as epífitas) nas áreas de MNF aluvial e de encosta do PESP, com altitudes entre 1.650-2.000 m. Os gêneros foram classificados em sete grupos fitogeográficos de acordo com seu centro de diversidade disponível na literatura. Foram registradas 310 espécies pertencentes a 168 gêneros e 82 famílias de plantas vasculares, sendo as famílias mais ricas: Asteraceae (49 espécies), Melastomataceae (33 espécies) e Rubiaceae (16 espécies). Foi observado a presença de espécies frequentes na floresta montana e alto-montana da Região Sudeste do Brasil, além de gêneros de origem temperada, mostrando que a baixa temperatura causada pela altitude influencia na composição florística da área. A elevada riqueza encontrada denota a importância das áreas de altitude para a diversidade da Floresta Atlântica e evidencia a importância biogeográfica da região por apresentar um fitofisionomia incomum no estado e com espécies endêmicas e ameaçadas.

The southern portion of South America, which encompasses high and exceptional lineage diversity, is well-suited to studies addressing the interaction between biogeography and local environmental conditions and how this historical process and environmental variables affect distribution patterns. We here assessed the role of environmental variables and spatially autocorrelated processes in driving tree species distribution patterns in the whole southern South America forests. We compiled a dataset containing 110,087 occurrence records of 3183 species distributed into 742 sites across six countries and 13 biomes. We modeled the influence of both environmental and spatial variables related to geographic distribution limitations on the variations of species composition through partial canonical redundancy analysis. We built such models for each of our four datasets: the whole extratropical area of South America; Atlantic and Pampa Biomes; dry communities east of the Andes; and communities west of the Andes. Both spatial and environmental variables affect tree species composition in the southern region of South America, although a major role is played by the “pure” spatial fraction. This greatest significance of spatial structures reinforces the importance of historical process for this region and the floristic dissociation existing between the tropical and extratropical portion of South America. We argue that the southern South American forests (especially their temperate portion) should not be lumped into the Neotropical Floristic Province, an idea of utmost importance for the conservation of these high-diversity austral forests.

AimTo define and map the main biomes of lowland tropical South America (LTSA) using data from tree species inventories and to test the ability of climatic and edaphic variables to distinguish amongst them.LocationLowland Tropical South America (LTSA), including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.Time periodPresent.Major taxa studiedTrees.MethodsWe compiled a database of 4,103 geo‐referenced tree species inventories distributed across LTSA. We used a priori vegetation classifications and cluster analyses of floristic composition to assign sites to biomes. We mapped these biomes geographically and assessed climatic overlaps amongst them. We implemented classification tree approaches to quantify how well climatic and edaphic data can assign inventories to biomes.ResultsOur analyses distinguish savanna and seasonally dry tropical forest (SDTF) as distinct biomes, with the Chaco woodlands potentially representing a third dry biome in LTSA. Amongst the wet forests, we find that the Amazon and Atlantic Forests might represent different biomes, because they are distinct in both climate and species composition. Our results show substantial environmental overlap amongst biomes, with error rates for classifying sites into biomes of 19–21 and 16–18% using only climatic data and with the inclusion of edaphic data, respectively.Main conclusionsTree species composition can be used to determine biome identity at continental scales. We find high biome heterogeneity at small spatial scales, probably attributable to variation in edaphic conditions and disturbance history. This points to the challenges of using climatic and/or interpolation‐based edaphic data or coarse‐resolution, remotely sensed imagery to map tropical biomes. From this perspective, we suggest that using floristic information in biome delimitation will allow for greater synergy between conservation efforts centred on species diversity and management efforts centred on ecosystem function.

Tropical moist forests and savannas are iconic biomes. There is, however, a third principal biome in the lowland tropics that is less well known: tropical dry forest. Discussions on responses of vegetation in the tropics to climate and land-use change often focus on shifts between forests and savannas, but ignore dry forests. Tropical dry forests are distinct from moist forests in their seasonal drought stress and consequent deciduousness and differ from savannas in rarely experiencing fire. These factors lead tropical dry forests to have unique ecosystem function. Here, we discuss the underlying environmental drivers of transitions among tropical dry forests, moist forests and savannas, and demonstrate how incorporating tropical dry forests into our understanding of tropical biome transitions is critical to understanding the future of tropical vegetation under global environmental change.

1.The Cerrado Domain of central Brazil houses the largest extent of savanna in the Neotropics, but despite its simple characterisation as a giant savanna, it contains considerable vegetation heterogeneity that is poorly understood.2.We aimed to determine how vegetation types in the Cerrado diverge in their tree species composition and what role ecological factors play in driving compositional patterns.3.We used a dataset of 1,165 tree species inventories spread across the Cerrado Domain, which come from six vegetation types that have a substantial arboreal component: woody savannas, dystrophic cerradão, mesotrophic cerradão, seasonally dry tropical forests, semideciduous forests and evergreen forests. We found three extremes in terms of tree species composition, with clear underlying ecological drivers, which leads us to propose a ternary model, the ‘Cerrado Vegetation Triangle’, to characterize woody vegetation in the Cerrado. At one extreme, we found that semideciduous and evergreen forests are indistinguishable floristically and are found in areas with high water availability. At another extreme lie seasonally dry tropical forests which are found on more fertile soils. At the third extreme, we found that all types of savanna, and dystrophic cerradão, are highly similar in tree species composition and are commonly found in areas of poor soils and high flammability. Mesotrophic cerradão is transitional in tree species composition between savannas and seasonally dry tropical forest.4.The lack of variation in tree species composition attributed to climatic variables indicates that within homogeneous macroclimatic zones, many types of forest and savanna co‐exist due to complex mosaics of local substrate heterogeneity and fire history.5.Synthesis. Our findings highlight the complexity of forest‐savanna transitions in the Cerrado Domain, with relevance for understanding the future of Cerrado vegetation under environmental change. If nitrogen deposition is extensive, some savannas may be more likely to transition to mesotrophic cerradão or even seasonally dry tropical forest whereas if water availability increases these same savannas may transition to semideciduous or evergreen forest. Our ‘Cerrado Vegetation Triangle’ model offers a simple conceptual tool to frame discussions of conservation and management.

Aims We use dendroecological methods to test the hypothesis that variation in topographic position is related to radial growth and phenology for individuals of the endangered tropical tree Dalbergia nigra under uniform conditions of climate and irradiance, and to examine effects of seasonality on plant phenology and growth periodicity.

The biogeographic history of southern South America has led to a markedly distinct flora within the frame of the Neotropics, which is also particularly heterogeneous in terms of its eco-geographic distribution. This environmental complexity is at the base of the many and controversial classification systems that have been proposed for the vegetation of the so-called Cono Sur region (Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Brazil and Bolivia). In this study, we aimed to assess the floristic consistency of the main vegetation types that inhabit the region. Our dataset consisted of 116,130 occurrence records of 3662 species of shrubs and trees in 781 sampling sites spread over six countries and eight phytogeographic domains: Atlantic Forest, Pampa, Gran Chaco, Patagonia, Southern Andean, Mediterranean Chile, Temperate Pacific, and Pacific Islands. We performed a cluster analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination analysis of this dataset followed by multi-response permutation procedures and permutational multivariate analysis of variance and taxonomic distinction index and indicator species. The greater differentiation took place among the phytogeographic domains and leaf flush regimes (evergreen, deciduous, and semideciduous) though there was also a remarkable latitudinal gradient. Our analyses showed that the pre-defined vegetation types were consistent in terms of woody flora composition and have a considerable number of indicators, many of which endemic. In terms of conservation prioritization, Atlantic Rain Forest therefore has importance because of its high species richness while temperate and mediterranean forests west of the Andes should not be ignored given that they show much higher endemism than would be expected given their species richness.

This study aims to analyse the available distributional data about epiphytic Angiosperms of the Brazilian Atlantic forest (BAF) in order to define geographic distribution patterns, areas of higher species richness and endemism, and locate knowledge gaps regarding the epiphytic flora. Thus, we seek to enhance the knowledge of the biogeography of these species and highlight priority areas for their conservation. Distribution data from literature and collections housed in 51 herbaria were compiled and submitted to analyses of richness (species count per distribution grid), similarity and parsimony analysis of endemicity. The regions of higher richness and endemism, chiefly in Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo, overlap with those found for trees and animal groups, while the location of some areas of endemism coincide with the supposed existence of Pleistocene forest refuges in Brazil’s Northeastern and Southeastern regions. The Doce River seems to be responsible for the division of the Angiosperm epiphytic flora into north and south sectors of the BAF. In addition, the existence of a discontinuity named here as ‘Falha de Conde’ (Conde’s Gap) situated in the northern corner of the State of Bahia was highlighted. Such gap divides the north sector of the BAF into two segments. It was also found that the hydrographic basins influence the delimitation of those areas. Subsampling of parts of the range leads to information gaps that need to be addressed by further data collection to ensure an improved understanding of the biogeographic relation between some of the regions, and also to fully clarify their delimitation.

The elucidation of phytogeographic patterns and their drivers in biodiversity hotspots is essential to the study of ecology and the conservation of these areas. In 2000, an important study by Oliveira-Filho and Fontes led to changes in the paradigms that define our understanding of the Atlantic Forest (Brazil). Here, our aim was to revisit this study using a more comprehensive set of environmental predictors, an updated and much larger tree species dataset and checklist, and more refined data analyses. We performed exploratory and confirmatory analyses, including the modeling of the spatial components with Moran's Eigenvector Maps, using data from 483 sites in southeastern Brazil, which encompass a total of 3546 species and 33 geo-climatic variables. We observed strong floristic similarities between rain- and seasonal forests and a species distribution continuum across the main gradients. The environmental and spatial variables were significantly correlated with floristic patterns, and we demonstrated that the tree flora of the seasonal forests should no longer be considered a simple subset of the rain forest flora. The findings of the original paper were not only confirmed but we also unveiled additional, important phytogeographic patterns. We also reinforced the main conclusion of the paper that the Atlantic Forest concept must encompass all of the forest types east of the dry corridor in South America, a designation of utmost importance for the conservation of this biodiversity hotspot. Resumo A elucidacao de padroes fitogeograficos e seus determinantes em hotspots da biodiversidade e essencial para o estudo ecologico e para a conservacao dessas areas. Em 2000, um importante estudo de Oliveira-Filho & Fontes levou a mudancas nos paradigmas que definem nosso entendimento da Floresta Atlântica (Brasil). Aqui, nosso objetivo foi revisitar este estudo usando um conjunto mais abrangente de preditores ambientais, uma base de dados maior e atualizada de especies arboreas e analises de dados mais refinadas. Efetuamos analises exploratorias e confirmatorias, incluindo a modelagem de componentes espaciais mediante uso dos mapas de autovetores de Moran, usando dados de 483 sitios do sudeste brasileiro, os quais compreenderam um total de 3546 especies e 33 variaveis geoclimaticas. Observamos fortes similaridades entre florestas pluviais e estacionais e um continuo de distribuicao de especies atraves dos principais gradientes. As variaveis ambientais e espaciais foram significativamente correlacionadas com padroes floristicos, e nos demonstramos que a flora arborea das florestas estacionais nao deve mais ser considerada um simples subconjunto da flora pluvial. Os achados do artigo original foram confirmados, mas nos tambem revelamos outros padroes fitogeograficos importantes. Alem disso, reforcamos a principal conclusao daquele artigo: o conceito de Floresta Atlântica deve abranger todos os tipos florestais a leste do corredor seco da America do Sul, uma designacao de elevada importância para a conservacao deste hotspot.