An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we...

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Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 112; no. 24; p. 7472
Main Authors: Slik, J W Ferry, Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor, Aiba, Shin-Ichiro, Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia, Alves, Luciana F, Ashton, Peter, Balvanera, Patricia, Bastian, Meredith L, Bellingham, Peter J, van den Berg, Eduardo, Bernacci, Luis, da Conceição Bispo, Polyanna, Blanc, Lilian, Böhning-Gaese, Katrin, Boeckx, Pascal, Bongers, Frans, Boyle, Brad, Bradford, Matt, Brearley, Francis Q, Breuer-Ndoundou Hockemba, Mireille, Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh, Calderado Leal Matos, Darley, Castillo-Santiago, Miguel, Catharino, Eduardo L M, Chai, Shauna-Lee, Chen, Yukai, Colwell, Robert K, Chazdon, Robin L, Robin, Chazdon L, Clark, Connie, Clark, David B, Clark, Deborah A, Culmsee, Heike, Damas, Kipiro, Dattaraja, Handanakere S, Dauby, Gilles, Davidar, Priya, DeWalt, Saara J, Doucet, Jean-Louis, Duque, Alvaro, Durigan, Giselda, Eichhorn, Karl A O, Eisenlohr, Pedro V, Eler, Eduardo, Ewango, Corneille, Farwig, Nina, Feeley, Kenneth J, Ferreira, Leandro, Field, Richard, de Oliveira Filho, Ary T, Fletcher, Christine, Forshed, Olle, Franco, Geraldo, Fredriksson, Gabriella, Gillespie, Thomas, Gillet, Jean-François, Amarnath, Giriraj, Griffith, Daniel M, Grogan, James, Gunatilleke, Nimal, Harris, David, Harrison, Rhett, Hector, Andy, Homeier, Jürgen, Imai, Nobuo, Itoh, Akira, Jansen, Patrick A, Joly, Carlos A, de Jong, Bernardus H J, Kartawinata, Kuswata, Kearsley, Elizabeth, Kelly, Daniel L, Kenfack, David, Kessler, Michael, Kitayama, Kanehiro, Kooyman, Robert, Larney, Eileen, Laumonier, Yves, Laurance, Susan, Laurance, William F, Lawes, Michael J, Amaral, Ieda Leao do, Letcher, Susan G, Lindsell, Jeremy, Lu, Xinghui, Mansor, Asyraf, Marjokorpi, Antti, Martin, Emanuel H, Meilby, Henrik, Melo, Felipe P L, Metcalfe, Daniel J, Medjibe, Vincent P, Metzger, Jean Paul, Millet, Jerome, Mohandass, D, Montero, Juan C, de Morisson Valeriano, Márcio, Mugerwa, Badru, Nagamasu, Hidetoshi, Nilus, Reuben
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 16.06.2015
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Conservation of Natural Resources
Databases, Factual
Ecosystem
Forests
Phylogeography
Rainforest
Species Specificity
Statistics, Nonparametric
Trees - classification
Tropical Climate
spatial richness patterns
tropical tree species richness
diversity estimation
pantropical
Fisher’s log series
ISSN:1091-6490, 1091-6490
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Summary:The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher's alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼ 40,000 and ∼ 53,000, i.e., at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼ 19,000-25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼ 4,500-6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa.
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ISSN:1091-6490
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1423147112