Dissecting the difference in tree species richness between Africa and South America

Miranda, Pedro Luiz Silva de; Dexter, Kyle G.; Swaine, Michael; Oliveira‐Filho, Ary Teixeira de; Hardy, Olivier J.

doi:10.1073/pnas.2112336119

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 90 publications

(122 reference statements)

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“…Our results showed that, on average, the Neotropical and Southeast Asian TCs harbour the richest known area-adjusted floras globally and are considerably richer than those from the continental Afrotropics, thus confirming the findings of several previous studies (Richards 1973, Gentry 1992, Kreft and Jetz 2007, Parmentier et al 2007, Couvreur 2015, Silva de Miranda et al 2022. However, the diversity of the richest TCs is rivalled by that of some MCs, namely the Mediterranean Basin and especially the Cape -plant diversity of the latter MC is second only to that of Neotropical Ecuador.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Which is the richest of them all? Comparing area-adjusted plant diversities of Mediterranean- and tropical-climate regions

Grobler¹,

Cowling²

2022

Frontiers of Biogeography

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Highlights• We conducted a species-area analysis of comprehensive regional floras of three tropical and the five Mediterranean-climate regions of the world.• Among tropical regions, the highest diversities were recorded in the Neotropics and Southeast Asia, with the Afrotropics generally recording the lowest diversities.• The floras of Mediterranean-climate regions showed high variation: the Cape region recorded the second highest diversity after a Neotropical Andean flora; the Mediterranean Basin and Southwestern Australian floras were comparably rich as many Neotropical and Southeast Asian floras; and California and Chile have floras richer than many Afrotropical regions.• The fact that the most plant-rich parts of the globe are shared amongst tropical and temperate regions challenges the hypothesis that global patterns of diversity are best explained by water-energy dynamics. Historical processes underpinned by high biome stability and high ecological heterogeneity are likely to be more effective predictors of global plant diversity patterns.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Which is the richest of them all? Comparing area-adjusted plant diversities of Mediterranean- and tropical-climate regions

Grobler¹,

Cowling²

2022

Frontiers of Biogeography

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“…While most of these patterns can be predicted by simply analyzing continental shapes across latitudes in a mid-domain perspective (Jetz and Rahbek, 2001), biodiversity differences between regions requires a deeper understanding of present and past stability in terms of both climate and geomorphology. For example, in tropical rainforest biodiversity, the Neotropics stand out in terms of species diversity (Barthlott et al, 1996;Hawkins et al, 2007;Hagen et al, 2021), but Southeast Asia reigns in terms of higher-level phylogenetic diversity (Procheş et al, 2015) in both plants and vertebrates, while Africa is comparatively impoverished for both measures (Parmentier et al, 2007;Silva de Miranda et al, 2022). In contrast, for Mediterranean-climate systems, South Africa's Cape is exceptionally diverse, which has been explained by a combination of relative climatic stability and topographic heterogeneity (Cowling et al, 2015).…”

Section: Global Patterns Long-term Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why we should be looking for longitudinal patterns in biodiversity

et al. 2023

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Our understanding of global diversity patterns relies overwhelmingly on ecological and evolutionary correlates of latitude, and largely ignores longitude. However, the two major explanations of biodiversity patterns – energy and stability – are confounded across latitudes, and longitude offers potential solutions. Recent literature shows that the global biogeography of the Cenozoic world is structured by longitudinal barriers. In a few well-studied regions, such as South Africa’s Cape, the Himalayas and the Amazon-Andes continuum, there are strong longitudinal gradients in biodiversity. Often, such gradients occur where high and low past climatic velocities are juxtaposed, and there is clear evidence of higher biodiversity at the climatically-stable end. Understanding longitudinal biodiversity variations more widely can offer new insights towards biodiversity conservation in the face of anthropogenic climatic change.

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“…Just 67 plant genera (Dexter et al, 2015) and 81 families (de Miranda et al, 2022) are shared between savannas on the two continents. Most shared families are thought to have evolved after the split of Gondwana (de Miranda et al, 2022;Dexter et al, 2015), and moist and dry forest biomes are more similar on a given continent than are the floras of either moist or dry biomes across continents (de Miranda et al, 2022). It is therefore probable that savanna floras evolved independently at the continental scale from wet forest vegetation during periods of increased drying during the Miocene (de Miranda et al, 2022;Simon et al, 2009).…”

Section: A Cross-continental Comparison Of Savannasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the cerrado, most plant lineages diversified less than 4 million years ago (Simon et al, 2009), when large mammal herbivores were still present (Malhi et al, 2016;Sandom et al, 2014). Just 67 plant genera (Dexter et al, 2015) and 81 families (de Miranda et al, 2022) are shared between savannas on the two continents. Most shared families are thought to have evolved after the split of Gondwana (de Miranda et al, 2022;Dexter et al, 2015), and moist and dry forest biomes are more similar on a given continent than are the floras of either moist or dry biomes across continents (de Miranda et al, 2022).…”

Section: A Cross-continental Comparison Of Savannasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both African savannas and the cerrado are floristically diverse, although dry vegetation biomes in South America host 3498 tree species, while just 1570 tree species occur in the much larger dry vegetation regions of Africa (de Miranda et al, 2022). The cerrado is the world's most species rich savanna floristically (Myers et al, 2000), with an estimated 10,000 plant species in total, 44% of which are endemic (Simon et al, 2009).…”

Section: A Cross-continental Comparison Of Savannasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant defences as functional traits: A comparison across savannas differing in herbivore specialization

Massad

2023

Journal of Ecology

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Top‐down and bottom‐up forces in tropical savannas have shaped the evolution of traits that enable plants to thrive in environments where soils are poor, dry seasons are long, fire is frequent, woody plants and grasses compete and herbivores range from cryptic caterpillars to elephants that topple entire trees. African savannas and the South American cerrado have similar climates and fire regimes, but differ in the presence of large mammal herbivores, which are mostly extinct in the cerrado. These biomes offer an instructive comparison to understand how plant defence traits evolved in response to differential herbivore pressure. Within Africa, mammalian herbivore pressure also differs across savannas, being lower in the miombo relative to more open, mixed savannas. The dominance of specialist insect herbivores in the cerrado, relative to the more generalist mammalian herbivores in Africa, suggests that defence traits will differ between savannas in accordance with herbivore identity and pressure. Wood is densest in mixed African savannas, as expected because large mammals often damage trees. Specific leaf area, related to palatability, is higher in mixed African savannas and the cerrado relative to the miombo, while leaf N is surprisingly higher in miombo species. Ant mutualists are important defences in mixed African savannas and the cerrado. Defensive chemistry has received less attention in the trait literature. Foliar phenolics, the most commonly studied chemical defences in savannas, vary in their efficacy. New analyses isolating specific compounds are informative as is the evaluation of phytochemical diversity as a defence. There are indications that phytochemical defences are more diverse in the cerrado, which may be related to greater specialization of cerrado herbivores. Synthesis. The dominance of specialist insect herbivores in the cerrado, relative to generalist mammalian herbivores in Africa, selected for different plant defence traits, contributing to the separation of species along the leaf economics spectrum and demonstrating the importance of plant defences as plant functional traits. African savanna species seem to follow a more acquisitive strategy, followed by miombo species. Cerrado species appear to follow a more conservative strategy with greater investments in tough leaves and chemical defences.

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Dissecting the difference in tree species richness between Africa and South America

Cited by 28 publications

References 90 publications

Which is the richest of them all? Comparing area-adjusted plant diversities of Mediterranean- and tropical-climate regions

Which is the richest of them all? Comparing area-adjusted plant diversities of Mediterranean- and tropical-climate regions

Why we should be looking for longitudinal patterns in biodiversity

Plant defences as functional traits: A comparison across savannas differing in herbivore specialization

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