Journal article
An estimate of the number of tropical tree species
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol.112, pp.7472-7477
2015
Abstract
The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher's alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e., at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000-25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500-6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa.
Details
- Title
- An estimate of the number of tropical tree species
- Authors
- J W Ferry Slik - Universiti Brunei DarussalamVictor Arroyo-Rodríguez - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoShin-Ichiro Aiba - Hokkaido UniversityPatricia Alvarez-Loayza - Field Museum of Natural HistoryLuciana F Alves - Agronomical Institute of CampinasPeter Ashton - Harvard University PressPatricia Balvanera - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMeredith L Bastian - Duke UniversityPeter J Bellingham - Manaaki Whenua – Landcare ResearchEduardo van den Berg - Universidade Federal de LavrasLuis Bernacci - Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos AgronegóciosPolyanna da Conceição Bispo - University of ManchesterLilian Blanc - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le DéveloppementKatrin Böhning-Gaese - Goethe University FrankfurtPascal Boeckx - Ghent UniversityFrans Bongers - Wageningen University & ResearchBrad Boyle - University of ArizonaMatt Bradford - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research OrganisationFrancis Q Brearly - Manchester Metropolitan UniversityMireille Breuer Ndoundou HockembaSarayudh Bunyavejchewin - Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plant ConservationDarley Calderado Leal Matos - Museu Paraense Emílio GoeldiMiguel Castillo-Santiago - El Colegio de la Frontera NorteEduardo L M Catharino - Instituto de BotânicaShauna-Lee Chai - Alberta InnovatesYukai Chen - Hainan Normal UniversityRobert K Colwell - University of ConnecticutRobin L Chazdon (Author) - University of Connecticut, United StatesSee article text for complete list of remaining 143 authors (Author)
- Publication details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol.112, pp.7472-7477
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Date published
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.1073/pnas.1423147112
- ISSN
- 0027-8424
- Organisation Unit
- Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; Forest Research Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451149402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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