Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics
Within the tropics, the species richness of tree communities is strongly and positively associated with precipitation. Previous research has suggested that this macroecological pattern is driven by the negative effect of water-stress on the physiological processes of most tree species. This process...
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33508/ |
| _version_ | 1848794646583443456 |
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| author | Esquivel Muelbert, Adriane Baker, Timothy Dexter, Kyle Lewis, Simon ter Steege, Hans Lopez-Gonzales, Gabriela Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel Brienen, Roel J.W. Feldpausch, Ted R. Pitman, Nigel Alonso, Alfonso van der Heijden, Geertje M.F. Pena-Claros, Marielos Ahuite, Manuel Alexiaides, Miguel Alvarez-Davilla, Esteban Araujo Murakami, Alejandro Arroyo, Luzmilla Aulestia, Milton Balslev, Hendrik Barroso, Jocely Boot, Rene Cano, Angela Chama, Victor Comiskey, Jim Dallmeier, Francisco Daly, Doug Davlia, Nallaret Duivenvoorden, Joost Duque Montoja, Alvaro Erwin, Terry Di Fiore, Anthony Frederickson, Todd Fuentes, Alfredo Garcia-Villacorta, Roosevelt Gonzalez, Therany Guevara, Juan Honorio, Euridice Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Imau Killeen, Timothy Malhi, Yadvinder Mendoza, Casimiro Mogollon, Hugo Møller Jørgensen, Peter Montero, Juan Mostacedo, Banifacio Nauray, William Neill, David Nunez Vargas, Percy Palacios, Sonia Palacios, Walter Pallqui Camacho, Nadir Peacock, Julie Phillips, Juan Pickavance, Georgia Quesada, Carlos Ramirez-Angula, Hirma Restrepo, Zorayda Rodriguez, Carlos Paredes, Marcos Sierra, Rodrigo Silveira, Marcos Stevenson, Pablo Stropp, Juliana Terborgh, John Tirado, Milton Toledo, Marisol Torres-Lezama, Armando Umana, Natalia Urrego, Ligia Vasquez, Rodolfo Valenzuela, Luis Vela, Cesar Vilanova, Emilio Vos, Vincent von Hildebrand, Patricio Vriesendorp, Corinne Wang, Ophelia Young, Kenneth Zartman, Eugene Phillips, Oliver Cornejo, F. |
| author_facet | Esquivel Muelbert, Adriane Baker, Timothy Dexter, Kyle Lewis, Simon ter Steege, Hans Lopez-Gonzales, Gabriela Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel Brienen, Roel J.W. Feldpausch, Ted R. Pitman, Nigel Alonso, Alfonso van der Heijden, Geertje M.F. Pena-Claros, Marielos Ahuite, Manuel Alexiaides, Miguel Alvarez-Davilla, Esteban Araujo Murakami, Alejandro Arroyo, Luzmilla Aulestia, Milton Balslev, Hendrik Barroso, Jocely Boot, Rene Cano, Angela Chama, Victor Comiskey, Jim Dallmeier, Francisco Daly, Doug Davlia, Nallaret Duivenvoorden, Joost Duque Montoja, Alvaro Erwin, Terry Di Fiore, Anthony Frederickson, Todd Fuentes, Alfredo Garcia-Villacorta, Roosevelt Gonzalez, Therany Guevara, Juan Honorio, Euridice Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Imau Killeen, Timothy Malhi, Yadvinder Mendoza, Casimiro Mogollon, Hugo Møller Jørgensen, Peter Montero, Juan Mostacedo, Banifacio Nauray, William Neill, David Nunez Vargas, Percy Palacios, Sonia Palacios, Walter Pallqui Camacho, Nadir Peacock, Julie Phillips, Juan Pickavance, Georgia Quesada, Carlos Ramirez-Angula, Hirma Restrepo, Zorayda Rodriguez, Carlos Paredes, Marcos Sierra, Rodrigo Silveira, Marcos Stevenson, Pablo Stropp, Juliana Terborgh, John Tirado, Milton Toledo, Marisol Torres-Lezama, Armando Umana, Natalia Urrego, Ligia Vasquez, Rodolfo Valenzuela, Luis Vela, Cesar Vilanova, Emilio Vos, Vincent von Hildebrand, Patricio Vriesendorp, Corinne Wang, Ophelia Young, Kenneth Zartman, Eugene Phillips, Oliver Cornejo, F. |
| author_sort | Esquivel Muelbert, Adriane |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Within the tropics, the species richness of tree communities is strongly and positively associated with precipitation. Previous research has suggested that this macroecological pattern is driven by the negative effect of water-stress on the physiological processes of most tree species. This process implies that the range limits of taxa are defined by their ability to occur under dry conditions, and thus in terms of species distributions it predicts a nested pattern of taxa distribution from wet to dry areas. However, this ‘dry-tolerance’ hypothesis has yet to be adequately tested at large spatial and taxonomic scales. Here, using a dataset of 531 inventory plots of closed canopy forest distributed across the Western Neotropics we investigated how precipitation, evaluated both as mean annual precipitation and as the maximum climatological water deficit, influences the distribution of tropical tree species, genera and families. We find that the distributions of tree taxa are indeed nested along precipitation gradients in the western Neotropics. Taxa tolerant to seasonal drought are disproportionally widespread across the precipitation gradient, with most reaching even the wettest climates sampled; however, most taxa analysed are restricted to wet areas. Our results suggest that the ‘dry tolerance’ hypothesis has broad applicability in the world's most species-rich forests. In addition, the large number of species restricted to wetter conditions strongly indicates that an increased frequency of drought could severely threaten biodiversity in this region. Overall, this study establishes a baseline for exploring how tropical forest tree composition may change in response to current and future environmental changes in this region. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:19:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-33508 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:19:30Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-335082020-05-04T19:57:29Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33508/ Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics Esquivel Muelbert, Adriane Baker, Timothy Dexter, Kyle Lewis, Simon ter Steege, Hans Lopez-Gonzales, Gabriela Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel Brienen, Roel J.W. Feldpausch, Ted R. Pitman, Nigel Alonso, Alfonso van der Heijden, Geertje M.F. Pena-Claros, Marielos Ahuite, Manuel Alexiaides, Miguel Alvarez-Davilla, Esteban Araujo Murakami, Alejandro Arroyo, Luzmilla Aulestia, Milton Balslev, Hendrik Barroso, Jocely Boot, Rene Cano, Angela Chama, Victor Comiskey, Jim Dallmeier, Francisco Daly, Doug Davlia, Nallaret Duivenvoorden, Joost Duque Montoja, Alvaro Erwin, Terry Di Fiore, Anthony Frederickson, Todd Fuentes, Alfredo Garcia-Villacorta, Roosevelt Gonzalez, Therany Guevara, Juan Honorio, Euridice Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Imau Killeen, Timothy Malhi, Yadvinder Mendoza, Casimiro Mogollon, Hugo Møller Jørgensen, Peter Montero, Juan Mostacedo, Banifacio Nauray, William Neill, David Nunez Vargas, Percy Palacios, Sonia Palacios, Walter Pallqui Camacho, Nadir Peacock, Julie Phillips, Juan Pickavance, Georgia Quesada, Carlos Ramirez-Angula, Hirma Restrepo, Zorayda Rodriguez, Carlos Paredes, Marcos Sierra, Rodrigo Silveira, Marcos Stevenson, Pablo Stropp, Juliana Terborgh, John Tirado, Milton Toledo, Marisol Torres-Lezama, Armando Umana, Natalia Urrego, Ligia Vasquez, Rodolfo Valenzuela, Luis Vela, Cesar Vilanova, Emilio Vos, Vincent von Hildebrand, Patricio Vriesendorp, Corinne Wang, Ophelia Young, Kenneth Zartman, Eugene Phillips, Oliver Cornejo, F. Within the tropics, the species richness of tree communities is strongly and positively associated with precipitation. Previous research has suggested that this macroecological pattern is driven by the negative effect of water-stress on the physiological processes of most tree species. This process implies that the range limits of taxa are defined by their ability to occur under dry conditions, and thus in terms of species distributions it predicts a nested pattern of taxa distribution from wet to dry areas. However, this ‘dry-tolerance’ hypothesis has yet to be adequately tested at large spatial and taxonomic scales. Here, using a dataset of 531 inventory plots of closed canopy forest distributed across the Western Neotropics we investigated how precipitation, evaluated both as mean annual precipitation and as the maximum climatological water deficit, influences the distribution of tropical tree species, genera and families. We find that the distributions of tree taxa are indeed nested along precipitation gradients in the western Neotropics. Taxa tolerant to seasonal drought are disproportionally widespread across the precipitation gradient, with most reaching even the wettest climates sampled; however, most taxa analysed are restricted to wet areas. Our results suggest that the ‘dry tolerance’ hypothesis has broad applicability in the world's most species-rich forests. In addition, the large number of species restricted to wetter conditions strongly indicates that an increased frequency of drought could severely threaten biodiversity in this region. Overall, this study establishes a baseline for exploring how tropical forest tree composition may change in response to current and future environmental changes in this region. Wiley 2017-05 Article PeerReviewed Esquivel Muelbert, Adriane, Baker, Timothy, Dexter, Kyle, Lewis, Simon, ter Steege, Hans, Lopez-Gonzales, Gabriela, Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel, Brienen, Roel J.W., Feldpausch, Ted R., Pitman, Nigel, Alonso, Alfonso, van der Heijden, Geertje M.F., Pena-Claros, Marielos, Ahuite, Manuel, Alexiaides, Miguel, Alvarez-Davilla, Esteban, Araujo Murakami, Alejandro, Arroyo, Luzmilla, Aulestia, Milton, Balslev, Hendrik, Barroso, Jocely, Boot, Rene, Cano, Angela, Chama, Victor, Comiskey, Jim, Dallmeier, Francisco, Daly, Doug, Davlia, Nallaret, Duivenvoorden, Joost, Duque Montoja, Alvaro, Erwin, Terry, Di Fiore, Anthony, Frederickson, Todd, Fuentes, Alfredo, Garcia-Villacorta, Roosevelt, Gonzalez, Therany, Guevara, Juan, Honorio, Euridice, Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Imau, Killeen, Timothy, Malhi, Yadvinder, Mendoza, Casimiro, Mogollon, Hugo, Møller Jørgensen, Peter, Montero, Juan, Mostacedo, Banifacio, Nauray, William, Neill, David, Nunez Vargas, Percy, Palacios, Sonia, Palacios, Walter, Pallqui Camacho, Nadir, Peacock, Julie, Phillips, Juan, Pickavance, Georgia, Quesada, Carlos, Ramirez-Angula, Hirma, Restrepo, Zorayda, Rodriguez, Carlos, Paredes, Marcos, Sierra, Rodrigo, Silveira, Marcos, Stevenson, Pablo, Stropp, Juliana, Terborgh, John, Tirado, Milton, Toledo, Marisol, Torres-Lezama, Armando, Umana, Natalia, Urrego, Ligia, Vasquez, Rodolfo, Valenzuela, Luis, Vela, Cesar, Vilanova, Emilio, Vos, Vincent, von Hildebrand, Patricio, Vriesendorp, Corinne, Wang, Ophelia, Young, Kenneth, Zartman, Eugene, Phillips, Oliver and Cornejo, F. (2017) Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics. Ecography, 40 (5). pp. 618-629. ISSN 1600-0587 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.01904/abstract doi:10.1111/ecog.01904 doi:10.1111/ecog.01904 |
| spellingShingle | Esquivel Muelbert, Adriane Baker, Timothy Dexter, Kyle Lewis, Simon ter Steege, Hans Lopez-Gonzales, Gabriela Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel Brienen, Roel J.W. Feldpausch, Ted R. Pitman, Nigel Alonso, Alfonso van der Heijden, Geertje M.F. Pena-Claros, Marielos Ahuite, Manuel Alexiaides, Miguel Alvarez-Davilla, Esteban Araujo Murakami, Alejandro Arroyo, Luzmilla Aulestia, Milton Balslev, Hendrik Barroso, Jocely Boot, Rene Cano, Angela Chama, Victor Comiskey, Jim Dallmeier, Francisco Daly, Doug Davlia, Nallaret Duivenvoorden, Joost Duque Montoja, Alvaro Erwin, Terry Di Fiore, Anthony Frederickson, Todd Fuentes, Alfredo Garcia-Villacorta, Roosevelt Gonzalez, Therany Guevara, Juan Honorio, Euridice Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Imau Killeen, Timothy Malhi, Yadvinder Mendoza, Casimiro Mogollon, Hugo Møller Jørgensen, Peter Montero, Juan Mostacedo, Banifacio Nauray, William Neill, David Nunez Vargas, Percy Palacios, Sonia Palacios, Walter Pallqui Camacho, Nadir Peacock, Julie Phillips, Juan Pickavance, Georgia Quesada, Carlos Ramirez-Angula, Hirma Restrepo, Zorayda Rodriguez, Carlos Paredes, Marcos Sierra, Rodrigo Silveira, Marcos Stevenson, Pablo Stropp, Juliana Terborgh, John Tirado, Milton Toledo, Marisol Torres-Lezama, Armando Umana, Natalia Urrego, Ligia Vasquez, Rodolfo Valenzuela, Luis Vela, Cesar Vilanova, Emilio Vos, Vincent von Hildebrand, Patricio Vriesendorp, Corinne Wang, Ophelia Young, Kenneth Zartman, Eugene Phillips, Oliver Cornejo, F. Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics |
| title | Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics |
| title_full | Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics |
| title_fullStr | Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics |
| title_short | Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics |
| title_sort | seasonal drought limits tree species across the neotropics |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33508/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33508/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33508/ |