Article: Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics
Ecography. 2017 May, v. 40, no. 5
2017
Abstract: Within the tropics, the species richness of tree communities is strongly and positively associated with precipitation. Previous research has suggested that this macroecological pattern is driven by the negative effect of waterâstress on the ... ...
| Abstract | Within the tropics, the species richness of tree communities is strongly and positively associated with precipitation. Previous research has suggested that this macroecological pattern is driven by the negative effect of waterâstress on the physiological processes of most tree species. This implies that the range limits of taxa are defined by their ability to occur under dry conditions, and thus in terms of species distributions predicts a nested pattern of taxa distribution from wet to dry areas. However, this âdryâtoleranceâ hypothesis has yet to be adequately tested at large spatial and taxonomic scales. Here, using a dataset of 531 inventory plots of closed canopy forest distributed across the western Neotropics we investigated how precipitation, evaluated both as mean annual precipitation and as the maximum climatological water deficit, influences the distribution of tropical tree species, genera and families. We find that the distributions of tree taxa are indeed nested along precipitation gradients in the western Neotropics. Taxa tolerant to seasonal drought are disproportionally widespread across the precipitation gradient, with most reaching even the wettest climates sampled; however, most taxa analysed are restricted to wet areas. Our results suggest that the âdry tolerance' hypothesis has broad applicability in the world's most speciesârich forests. In addition, the large number of species restricted to wetter conditions strongly indicates that an increased frequency of drought could severely threaten biodiversity in this region. Overall, this study establishes a baseline for exploring how tropical forest tree composition may change in response to current and future environmental changes in this region. |
|---|---|
| Keywords | atmospheric precipitation ; data collection ; drought ; forest trees ; inventories ; Neotropics ; species diversity ; tropical forests ; water stress |
| Language | English |
| Dates of publication | 2017-05 |
| Size | p. 618-629. |
| Publishing place | Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
| Document type | Article |
| Note | JOURNAL ARTICLE |
| ZDB-ID | 1112659-0 |
| ISSN | 0906-7590 |
| ISSN | 0906-7590 |
| DOI | 10.1111/ecog.01904 |
| Database | NAL-Catalogue (AGRICOLA) |
Full text online
More links
Kategorien
In stock of ZB MED Bonn / Germany
| Z 7666: Show issues |
Order via subito
This service is chargeable due to the Delivery terms set by subito. Orders including an article and supplementary material will be classified as separate orders. In these cases, fees will be demanded for each order.
Inter-library loan at ZB MED
Your chosen title can be delivered directly to ZB MED Cologne location if you are registered as a user at ZB MED Cologne.