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.

Soil flooding filters evolutionary lineages of tree communities in Amazonian riparian forests.

Inundations in Amazonian black-water river floodplain result in the selection of different tree lineages, thus promoting coexistence between species. We investigated whether Amazonian tree communities are phylogenetically structured and distributed along a flooding gradient from irregularly flooded forests along streams embedded within upland (terra-firme) forest to seasonally flooded floodplains of large rivers (igapós). Floristic inventories and hydrological monitoring were performed along the Falsino River, a black-water river in the eastern Amazon within the Amapá National Forest. We constructed a presence-and-absence matrix and generated a phylogeny using the vascular plant database available in GenBank. We calculated the standardized values of the metrics of phylogenetic diversity (ses.PD), average phylogenetic distance (ses.MPD), and average nearest-neighbor distance (ses.MNTD) to test whether the history of relationships between species in the community is influenced by inundation. We used the phylogenetic endemism (PE) metric to verify the existence of taxa with restricted distribution. Linear regressions were used to test whether phylogenetic metrics have a significant relationship with the variables: maximum flood height, maximum water table depth, and maximum flood amplitude. The results show that forests subject to prolonged seasonal flooding have reduced taxon richness, low phylogenetic diversity, and random distribution of lineages within communities. On the other hand, terra-firme riparian forests showed higher rates of taxon richness, diversity, and phylogenetic dispersion, in addition to greater phylogenetic endemism. These results indicate that seasonal and predictable soil flooding filters tree lineages along the hydrographic gradient. Different adaptations to root waterlogging are likely requirements for colonization in these environments and may represent an important factor in the diversification of tree lineages in the Amazon biome.

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.

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora.

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution.