Dominant tree species drive beta diversity patterns in western Amazonia

Frederick C. Draper, Gregory P. Asner, Eurídice N. Honorio Coronado, Timothy R. Baker, Roosevelt García-Villacorta, Nigel C.A. Pitman, Paul V.A. Fine, Oliver L. Phillips, Ricardo Zárate Gómez, Carlos A. Amasifuén Guerra, Manuel Flores Arévalo, Rodolfo Vásquez Martínez, Roel J.W. Brienen, Abel Monteagudo-Mendoza, Luis A. Torres Montenegro, Elvis Valderrama Sandoval, Katherine H. Roucoux, Fredy R. Ramírez Arévalo, Ítalo Mesones Acuy, Jhon Del Aguila PasquelXimena Tagle Casapia, Gerardo Flores Llampazo, Massiel Corrales Medina, José Reyna Huaymacari, Christopher Baraloto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

The forests of western Amazonia are among the most diverse tree communities on Earth, yet this exceptional diversity is distributed highly unevenly within and among communities. In particular, a small number of dominant species account for the majority of individuals, whereas the large majority of species are locally and regionally extremely scarce. By definition, dominant species contribute little to local species richness (alpha diversity), yet the importance of dominant species in structuring patterns of spatial floristic turnover (beta diversity) has not been investigated. Here, using a network of 207 forest inventory plots, we explore the role of dominant species in determining regional patterns of beta diversity (community-level floristic turnover and distance-decay relationships) across a range of habitat types in northern lowland Peru. Of the 2,031 recorded species in our data set, only 99 of them accounted for 50% of individuals. Using these 99 species, it was possible to reconstruct the overall features of regional beta diversity patterns, including the location and dispersion of habitat types in multivariate space, and distance-decay relationships. In fact, our analysis demonstrated that regional patterns of beta diversity were better maintained by the 99 dominant species than by the 1,932 others, whether quantified using species-abundance data or species presence–absence data. Our results reveal that dominant species are normally common only in a single forest type. Therefore, dominant species play a key role in structuring western Amazonian tree communities, which in turn has important implications, both practically for designing effective protected areas, and more generally for understanding the determinants of beta diversity patterns.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere02636
JournalEcology
Volume100
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2019

Keywords

  • Loreto
  • beta diversity
  • common species
  • dominance
  • habitat specificity
  • rare species
  • species turnover
  • tree species
  • tropical forest communities
  • western Amazonia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Dominant tree species drive beta diversity patterns in western Amazonia'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this