Amazon plant diversity revealed by a taxonomically verified species list

Abstract

Recent debates on the number of plant species in the vast lowland rain forests of the Amazon have been based largely on model estimates, neglecting published checklists based on verified voucher data. Here we collate taxonomically verified checklists to present a list of seed plant species from lowland Amazon rain forests. Our list comprises 14,003 species, of which 6,727 are trees. These figures are similar to estimates derived from nonparametric ecological models, but they contrast strongly with predictions of much higher tree diversity derived from parametric models. Based on the known proportion of tree species in neotropical lowland rain forest communities as measured in complete plot censuses, and on overall estimates of seed plant diversity in Brazil and in the neotropics in general, it is more likely that tree diversity in the Amazon is closer to the lower estimates derived from nonparametric models. Much remains unknown about Amazonian plant diversity, but this taxonomically verified dataset provides a valid starting point for macroecological and evolutionary studies aimed at understanding the origin, evolution, and ecology of the exceptional biodiversity of Amazonian forests.Amazonia | floristics | rain forests | seed plants | species diversity

Drier tropical forests are susceptible to functional changes in response to a long‐term drought

“…), for which there is not only greater uncertainty concerning the effects of climate on biodiversity, but also about current species distributions and their taxonomic identity (Cardoso et al . ). Tropical forest ecosystems are an especially key component of global biodiversity and have direct effects on human well‐being through the varied set of ecosystem functions they provide (Lewis et al .…”

Compositional response of Amazon forests to climate change

“…Changes here can therefore have global consequences, potentially nowhere more so than in Amazonia where between 6,000 and 16,000 tree species exist (Cardoso et al, 2017;Ter Steege et al, 2013) and as much as 100 Pg of carbon is stored in biomass . Changes here can therefore have global consequences, potentially nowhere more so than in Amazonia where between 6,000 and 16,000 tree species exist (Cardoso et al, 2017;Ter Steege et al, 2013) and as much as 100 Pg of carbon is stored in biomass .…”

Active rehabilitation of Amazonian sand mines converges soils, plant communities and environmental status to their predisturbance levels

“…The Amazon basin accommodates the largest tropical forest in the world (Laurance et al, ) and holds approximately 11% of the world's tree biodiversity (Cardoso et al, ). This forest is endangered by the expansion of agriculture (Souza‐Filho et al, ), energy production (Lees, Peres, Fearnside, Schneider, & Zuanon, ; Tundisi, Goldemberg, Matsumura‐Tundisi, & Saraiva, ; Winemiller et al, ) and mining activities (Sonter, Moran, Barrett, & Soares‐Filho, ).…”