Abstract
Aim: Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location: Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period: Current. Major taxa studied: Palms (Arecaceae). Methods: We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co-occurring non-palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results: On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long-term climate stability. Life-form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non-tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above-ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions: Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1495-1514 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Global Ecology and Biogeography |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2020 |
Keywords
- above-ground biomass
- abundance patterns
- Arecaceae
- local abiotic conditions
- Neotropics
- pantropical biogeography
- tropical rainforest
- wood density
Access to Document
Other files and links
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'The global abundance of tree palms'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Cite this
- APA
- Author
- BIBTEX
- Harvard
- Standard
- RIS
- Vancouver
}
In: Global Ecology and Biogeography, Vol. 29, No. 9, 01.09.2020, p. 1495-1514.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - The global abundance of tree palms
AU - Muscarella, Robert
AU - Emilio, Thaise
AU - Phillips, Oliver L.
AU - Lewis, Simon L.
AU - Slik, Ferry
AU - Baker, William J.
AU - Couvreur, Thomas L.P.
AU - Eiserhardt, Wolf L.
AU - Svenning, Jens Christian
AU - Affum-Baffoe, Kofi
AU - Aiba, Shin Ichiro
AU - de Almeida, Everton C.
AU - de Almeida, Samuel S.
AU - de Oliveira, Edmar Almeida
AU - Álvarez-Dávila, Esteban
AU - Alves, Luciana F.
AU - Alvez-Valles, Carlos Mariano
AU - Carvalho, Fabrício Alvim
AU - Guarin, Fernando Alzate
AU - Andrade, Ana
AU - Aragão, Luis E.O.C.
AU - Murakami, Alejandro Araujo
AU - Arroyo, Luzmila
AU - Ashton, Peter S.
AU - Corredor, Gerardo A.Aymard
AU - Baker, Timothy R.
AU - de Camargo, Plinio Barbosa
AU - Barlow, Jos
AU - Bastin, Jean François
AU - Bengone, Natacha Nssi
AU - Berenguer, Erika
AU - Berry, Nicholas
AU - Blanc, Lilian
AU - Böhning-Gaese, Katrin
AU - Bonal, Damien
AU - Bongers, Frans
AU - Bradford, Matt
AU - Brambach, Fabian
AU - Brearley, Francis Q.
AU - Brewer, Steven W.
AU - Camargo, Jose L.C.
AU - Campbell, David G.
AU - Castilho, Carolina V.
AU - Castro, Wendeson
AU - Catchpole, Damien
AU - Cerón Martínez, Carlos E.
AU - Chen, Shengbin
AU - Chhang, Phourin
AU - Cho, Percival
AU - Coronado, Eurídice N.Honorio
N1 - Funding Information: This study would not have been possible without the ambitious and dedicated work of many colleagues, including Emmanuel Akampulira, Miguel N. Alexiades, William Balée, Olaf Banki, Serge K. Begne, Desmo Betian, Wemo Betian, Michael I. Bird, Neil M. Bird, George A. Blackburn, Rene Boot, Roel J. W. Brienen, Foster Brown, Ezequiel Chavez, Eric Chezeaux, Manoela F. F. Da Silva, Douglas C. Daly, Kyle G. Dexter, Luisa Fernanda Duque, Jose Farreras, Nina Farwig, Toby Gardner, Alwyn Gentry, Francisco Gómez, Rachel Graham, René Guillén Villaroel, Olivier J. Hardy, Terese Hart, Miriam van Heist, Mireille Breuer Ndoundou Hockemba, Kathryn Brun‐Jeffery, Valerie Kapos, Jeanette Kemp, Miguel Leal, Eddie Lenza, Antonio S. Lima, Maurício Lima Dan, Pedro Lisboa, Jon Lloyd, Jhon Mario Lopez, Ubirajara N. Maciel, Jean‐Remy Makana, Antti Marjokorpi, Toby Marthews, Emanual H. Martin, James Franklin Maxwell, Irina Mendoza Polo, Edi Mirmanto, Kazuki Miyamoto, Franklin Molina, Sam Moore, Pantaleo K. T. Munishi, Helen Murphy, David M. Newbery, Vojtech Novotny, Navendu Page, Karla Pedra de Abreu, Maria C. Peñuela‐Mora, Ghillean T. Prance, John Proctor, Wilfredo Ramirez Salas, Adela Reatigui Ismodes, Eliana Riascos, Terhi Riutta, Nelson A. Rosa, Philippe Saner, Lars Schmidt, Marcela Serna, Michael Swaine, James Taplin, Peguy Tchouto, Johan van Valkenburg, Peter van de Meer, Cesar Velasquez, Jason Vleminckx, George Weiblen and Roderick Zagt. We also depend on the centuries of work completed by palm taxonomists. W.L.E.'s contribution was supported by a research grant (00025354) from VILLUM FONDEN. J.C.S. considers this work a contribution to his VILLUM Investigator project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World” funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549). R.M. was supported by Vetenskapsrådet (2019‐03758). This work was supported by the Danish Council for Independent Research Natural Sciences (grant 4181‐00158) to H..B, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska‐Curie grant agreement No. 706011, and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. This paper is a product of the RAINFOR, AfriTRON and T‐FORCES networks and other partner networks in ForestPlots.net, which together support long‐term forest science and monitoring across tropical countries. These initiatives have been supported by numerous people and grants since their inception. We are particularly indebted to >1,400 field assistants for their help in establishing and maintaining the plots, in addition to hundreds of rural communities and institutions. Collection and management of data analysed here from the RAINFOR, AfriTRON and T‐FORCES networks have been supported by multiple grants, most notably the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant 291585, “T‐FORCES”), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (#1656, “RAINFOR”), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the European Union's Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Framework Programme (EVK2‐CT‐1999‐00023, “CARBONSINK‐LBA”; 283080, “GEOCARBON”; and 282664, “AMAZALERT”), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC grants: NE/D005590/1, “TROBIT”; NE/F005806/1, “AMAZONICA”; E/M0022021/1, “PPFOR”; NERC Urgency Grants and NERC New Investigators Grants), the NERC/State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) consortium grants “BIO‐RED” (NE/N012542/1, 2012/51872‐5) and “ECOFOR” (NE/K016431/1, 2012/51509‐8), the Royal Society (University Research Fellowships and Global Challenges Awards “FORAMA”, ICA/R1/180100), the National Geographic Society, the Centre for International Forestry (CIFOR), Gabon's National Parks Agency (ANPN) and Colombia’s Colciencias. We thank the National Council for Science and Technology Development of Brazil (CNPq) for support to the Cerrado/Amazonia Transition Long‐Term Ecology Project (PELD/403725/2012‐7), the PPBio Phytogeography of Amazonia/Cerrado Transition project (CNPq/PPBio/457602/2012‐0), PVE grants, and Productivity Grants to several colleagues. Atlantic Forest plots in Brazil were supported by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP 2003/12595‐7 and 2012/51509‐8, BIOTA/FAPESP Program) and by the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq/PELD 403710/2012‐0; Universal 459941/2014‐3) under COTEC/IF 41.065/2005 and IBAMA/CGEN 093/2005 permits. Some of the data were provided by the Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) Network, a collaboration between Conservation International, the Smithsonian Institution and the Wildlife Conservation Society, and partially funded by these institutions, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and other donors. RAPELD plots in Brazil were supported by the Program for Biodiversity Research (PPBio), the National Institute for Amazonian Biodiversity (INCT‐CENBAM) and BDFFP (INPA‐STRI). Grant USM‐RUI‐1001/PBIOLOGI/8011031 also supported fieldwork. This is publication 788 of the BDFFP Technical Series and is an outcome of the ForestPlots.net approved research project #2, “Global Patterns of Palm Abundance”. We acknowledge the support of the European Space Agency. We thank several anonymous reviewers and the editor for help improving our manuscript. Funding Information: This study would not have been possible without the ambitious and dedicated work of many colleagues, including Emmanuel Akampulira, Miguel N. Alexiades, William Balée, Olaf Banki, Serge K. Begne, Desmo Betian, Wemo Betian, Michael I. Bird, Neil M. Bird, George A. Blackburn, Rene Boot, Roel J. W. Brienen, Foster Brown, Ezequiel Chavez, Eric Chezeaux, Manoela F. F. Da Silva, Douglas C. Daly, Kyle G. Dexter, Luisa Fernanda Duque, Jose Farreras, Nina Farwig, Toby Gardner, Alwyn Gentry, Francisco Gómez, Rachel Graham, René Guillén Villaroel, Olivier J. Hardy, Terese Hart, Miriam van Heist, Mireille Breuer Ndoundou Hockemba, Kathryn Brun-Jeffery, Valerie Kapos, Jeanette Kemp, Miguel Leal, Eddie Lenza, Antonio S. Lima, Maurício Lima Dan, Pedro Lisboa, Jon Lloyd, Jhon Mario Lopez, Ubirajara N. Maciel, Jean-Remy Makana, Antti Marjokorpi, Toby Marthews, Emanual H. Martin, James Franklin Maxwell, Irina Mendoza Polo, Edi Mirmanto, Kazuki Miyamoto, Franklin Molina, Sam Moore, Pantaleo K. T. Munishi, Helen Murphy, David M. Newbery, Vojtech Novotny, Navendu Page, Karla Pedra de Abreu, Maria C. Peñuela-Mora, Ghillean T. Prance, John Proctor, Wilfredo Ramirez Salas, Adela Reatigui Ismodes, Eliana Riascos, Terhi Riutta, Nelson A. Rosa, Philippe Saner, Lars Schmidt, Marcela Serna, Michael Swaine, James Taplin, Peguy Tchouto, Johan van Valkenburg, Peter van de Meer, Cesar Velasquez, Jason Vleminckx, George Weiblen and Roderick Zagt. We also depend on the centuries of work completed by palm taxonomists. W.L.E.'s contribution was supported by a research grant (00025354) from VILLUM FONDEN. J.C.S. considers this work a contribution to his VILLUM Investigator project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World” funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549). R.M. was supported by Vetenskapsrådet (2019-03758). This work was supported by the Danish Council for Independent Research Natural Sciences (grant 4181-00158) to H.B, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 706011, and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. This paper is a product of the RAINFOR, AfriTRON and T-FORCES networks and other partner networks in ForestPlots.net, which together support long-term forest science and monitoring across tropical countries. These initiatives have been supported by numerous people and grants since their inception. We are particularly indebted to >1,400 field assistants for their help in establishing and maintaining the plots, in addition to hundreds of rural communities and institutions. Collection and management of data analysed here from the RAINFOR, AfriTRON and T-FORCES networks have been supported by multiple grants, most notably the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant 291585, “T-FORCES”), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (#1656, “RAINFOR”), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the European Union's Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Framework Programme (EVK2-CT-1999-00023, “CARBONSINK-LBA”; 283080, “GEOCARBON”; and 282664, “AMAZALERT”), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC grants: NE/D005590/1, “TROBIT”; NE/F005806/1, “AMAZONICA”; E/M0022021/1, “PPFOR”; NERC Urgency Grants and NERC New Investigators Grants), the NERC/State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) consortium grants “BIO-RED” (NE/N012542/1, 2012/51872-5) and “ECOFOR” (NE/K016431/1, 2012/51509-8), the Royal Society (University Research Fellowships and Global Challenges Awards “FORAMA”, ICA/R1/180100), the National Geographic Society, the Centre for International Forestry (CIFOR), Gabon's National Parks Agency (ANPN) and Colombia’s Colciencias. We thank the National Council for Science and Technology Development of Brazil (CNPq) for support to the Cerrado/Amazonia Transition Long-Term Ecology Project (PELD/403725/2012-7), the PPBio Phytogeography of Amazonia/Cerrado Transition project (CNPq/PPBio/457602/2012-0), PVE grants, and Productivity Grants to several colleagues. Atlantic Forest plots in Brazil were supported by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP 2003/12595-7 and 2012/51509-8, BIOTA/FAPESP Program) and by the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq/PELD 403710/2012-0; Universal 459941/2014-3) under COTEC/IF 41.065/2005 and IBAMA/CGEN 093/2005 permits. Some of the data were provided by the Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) Network, a collaboration between Conservation International, the Smithsonian Institution and the Wildlife Conservation Society, and partially funded by these institutions, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and other donors. RAPELD plots in Brazil were supported by the Program for Biodiversity Research (PPBio), the National Institute for Amazonian Biodiversity (INCT-CENBAM) and BDFFP (INPA-STRI). Grant USM-RUI-1001/PBIOLOGI/8011031 also supported fieldwork. This is publication 788 of the BDFFP Technical Series and is an outcome of the ForestPlots.net approved research project #2, “Global Patterns of Palm Abundance”. We acknowledge the support of the European Space Agency. We thank several anonymous reviewers and the editor for help improving our manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. Global Ecology and Biogeography published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - Aim: Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location: Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period: Current. Major taxa studied: Palms (Arecaceae). Methods: We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co-occurring non-palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results: On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long-term climate stability. Life-form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non-tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above-ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions: Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests.
AB - Aim: Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location: Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period: Current. Major taxa studied: Palms (Arecaceae). Methods: We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co-occurring non-palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results: On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long-term climate stability. Life-form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non-tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above-ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions: Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests.
KW - above-ground biomass
KW - abundance patterns
KW - Arecaceae
KW - local abiotic conditions
KW - Neotropics
KW - pantropical biogeography
KW - tropical rainforest
KW - wood density
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087650501&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/geb.13123
DO - 10.1111/geb.13123
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087650501
SN - 1466-822X
VL - 29
SP - 1495
EP - 1514
JO - Global Ecology and Biogeography
JF - Global Ecology and Biogeography
IS - 9
ER -