Sangam: A Confluence of Knowledge Streams

Using tree species inventories to map biomes and assess their climatic overlaps in lowland tropical South America

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dc.creator Silva de Miranda, P
dc.creator Oliveira Filho, A
dc.creator Pennington, T
dc.creator Neves, D
dc.creator Baker, T
dc.creator Dexter, KG
dc.date 2018-11-30T15:31:11Z
dc.date 2018-08-24
dc.date 2018-11-30T15:31:11Z
dc.date.accessioned 2022-05-27T01:03:24Z
dc.date.available 2022-05-27T01:03:24Z
dc.identifier Vol. 27, pp. 899 - 912
dc.identifier 10.1111/geb.12749
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10871/34947
dc.identifier 1466-822X
dc.identifier Global Ecology and Biogeography
dc.identifier.uri http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/241944
dc.description This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record
dc.description Aim To 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. Location Lowland Tropical South America (LTSA), including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. Time period Present. Major taxa studied Trees. Methods We 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. Results Our 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 conclusions Tree 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.
dc.language en
dc.publisher Wiley
dc.rights © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
dc.rights 2019-08-24
dc.rights Under embargo until 24 August 2019 in compliance with publisher policy
dc.rights http://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved
dc.subject Amazon Forest
dc.subject Atlantic Forest
dc.subject Cerrado
dc.subject Chaco
dc.subject cluster analysis
dc.subject NeoTropTree
dc.subject Savanna
dc.subject Dry Tropical Forest
dc.title Using tree species inventories to map biomes and assess their climatic overlaps in lowland tropical South America
dc.type Article


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