A more comprehensive understanding of the factors governing tropical tree community turnover at different spatial scales is needed to support land‐management and biodiversity conservation. We used new forest inventory data from 263 permanent plots in the Carnegie Biodiversity‐Biomass Forest Plot Network spanning the eastern Andes to the western Amazonian lowlands of Peru to examine environmental factors driving genus‐level canopy tree compositional variation at regional and landscape scales. Across the full plot network, constrained ordination analysis indicated that all environmental variables together explained 23.8% of the variation in community composition, while soil, topographic, and climatic variables each explained 15.2, 10.9, and 17.0%, respectively. A satellite‐derived metric of cloudiness was the single strongest predictor of community turnover, and constrained ordination revealed a primary gradient of environmentally‐driven community turnover spanning from cloudy, high elevation sites to warm, wet, lowland sites. For three focal landscapes within the region, local environmental variation explained 13.4–30.8% of compositional variation. Community turnover at the landscape scale was strongly driven by topo‐edaphic factors in the two lowland landscapes examined and strongly driven by potential insolation and topography in the montane landscape. At the regional scale, we found that the portion of compositional variation that was uniquely explained by spatial variation was relatively small (2.7%), and was effectively zero within the three focal landscapes. Overall, our results show strong canopy tree compositional turnover in response to environmental gradients at both regional and landscape scales, though the most important environmental drivers differed between scales and among landscapes. Our results also highlight the usefulness of key satellite‐derived environmental covariates that should be considered when conducting biodiversity analyses in tropical forests.

We present an analysis on the threat status of about 25 species of trees from northwestern Ecuador, which are in demand for timber. We reviewed data on extensive forest inventories carried out in the region, logging statistics from the Ministry of Environment, data from collections deposited at the Herbario Nacional del Ecuador and from Tropicos.org database (Missouri Botanical Garden), information on land cover changes that may affect populations, and the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria of risk extinction (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). Our analyses show that a strong correlation between abundance and demand versus the degree of threat to timber species. It is concluded that seven species of trees from the Ecuadorian Choco are seriously threatened (Carapa amorphocarpa, C. megistocarpa, Caryodapnopsis theobromifolia, Magnolia dixonnii, Nectandra guadaripo, Magnolia striatifolia, Parinari romeroi).

Presentamos un análisis del estado de amenaza de cerca de 25 especies forestales del noroccidente de Ecuador, las cuales son demandadas por su madera. Revisamos datos sobre inventarios forestales extensivos realizados en la zona, las estadísticas del Ministerio del Ambiente sobre el aprovechamiento maderero, datos de colecciones depositadas en el Herbario Nacional del Ecuador y de la base de datos Tropicos.org (Missouri Botanical Garden), información sobre los cambios de cobertura vegetal que pudieran afectar las poblaciones, y las categorías y criterios de la Lista Rojo de la UICN (Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza). Nuestro análisis muestra que hay una fuerte corelación entre la abundancia y demanda de la madera versus el grado de amenaza de estas especies. Se concluye que siete especies de árboles del Chocó Ecuatoriano están seriamente amenazadas (Carapa amorphocarpa, C. megistocarpa, Caryodapnopsis theobromifolia, Magnolia dixonnii, Nectandra guadaripo, Magnolia striatifolia, Parinari romeroi).We present an analysis on the threat status of about 25 species of trees from northwestern Ecuador, which are in demand for timber. We reviewed data on extensive forest inventories carried out in the region, logging statistics from the Ministry of Environment, data from collections deposited at the Herbario Nacional del Ecuador and from Tropicos.org database (Missouri Botanical Garden), information on land cover changes that may affect populations, and the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria of risk extinction (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). Our analyses show that a strong correlation between abundance and demand versus the degree of threat to timber species. It is concluded that seven species of trees from the Ecuadorian Choco are seriously threatened (Carapa amorphocarpa, C. megistocarpa, Caryodapnopsis theobromifolia, Magnolia dixonnii, Nectandra guadaripo, Magnolia striatifolia, Parinari romeroi).