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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| Format: | Article |
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National Academy of Sciences
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28981/ |
| _version_ | 1848793687404838912 |
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| author | Slik, J.W. Ferry Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor Aiba, Shin-Ichiro Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia Alves, Luciana F. Field, Richard |
| author_facet | Slik, J.W. Ferry Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor Aiba, Shin-Ichiro Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia Alves, Luciana F. Field, Richard |
| author_sort | Slik, J.W. Ferry |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:04:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-28981 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:04:15Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | National Academy of Sciences |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-289812020-05-04T17:07:30Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28981/ An estimate of the number of tropical tree species Slik, J.W. Ferry Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor Aiba, Shin-Ichiro Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia Alves, Luciana F. Field, Richard 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. National Academy of Sciences 2015-06-01 Article PeerReviewed Slik, J.W. Ferry, Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor, Aiba, Shin-Ichiro, Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia, Alves, Luciana F. and Field, Richard (2015) An estimate of the number of tropical tree species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112 (24). pp. 7472-7477. ISSN 1091-6490 http://www.pnas.org/content/112/33/E4628.short doi:10.1073/pnas.1423147112 doi:10.1073/pnas.1423147112 |
| spellingShingle | Slik, J.W. Ferry Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor Aiba, Shin-Ichiro Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia Alves, Luciana F. Field, Richard An estimate of the number of tropical tree species |
| title | An estimate of the number of tropical tree species |
| title_full | An estimate of the number of tropical tree species |
| title_fullStr | An estimate of the number of tropical tree species |
| title_full_unstemmed | An estimate of the number of tropical tree species |
| title_short | An estimate of the number of tropical tree species |
| title_sort | estimate of the number of tropical tree species |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28981/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28981/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28981/ |