Hyperdominance in Amazonian forest carbon cycling

Fauset, Sophie, Johnson, Michelle O., Gloor, Manuel, Baker, Timothy R., Monteagudo M., Abel, Brienen, Roel J.W., Feldpausch, Ted R., Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela, Malhi, Yadvinder, ter Steege, Hans, Pitman, Nigel C.A., Baraloto, Christopher, Engel , Julien, Petrónelli, Pascal, Andrade, Ana, Camargo, José Luís, Laurance, Susan G.W., Laurance, William F., Jerôme, Chave, Allie, Elodie, Núñez Vargas, Percy, Terborgh, John W., Ruokolainen, Kalle, Silveira, Marcos, Aymard C., Gerardo A., Arroyo, Luzmila, Bonal, Damien, Ramirez-Angulo, Hirma, Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro, Neill, David, Hérault, Bruno, Dourdain, Aurélie, Torres-Lezama, Armando, Marimon, Beatriz S., Salomão, Rafael P., Comiskey, James A., Réjou-Méchain, Maxime, Toledo, Marisol, Licona, Juan Carlos, Alarcón, Alfredo, Prieto, Adriana, Rudas, Agustín, van der Meer, Peter J., Killeen, Timothy J., Marimon Junior, Ben-Hur, Poorter, Lourens, Boot, Rene G.A., Stergios, Basil, Vilanova Torre, Emilio, Costa, Flávia R.C., Levis, Carolina, Schietti, Juliana, Souza, Priscilla, Groot, Nikée, Arets, Eric, Moscoso, Victor Chama, Castro, Wendeson, Honorio Coronado, Euridice N., Peña-Claros, Marielos, Stahl, Clement, Barroso, Jorcely, Talbot, Joey, Célia Guimarães Vieira, Ima, van der Heijden, Geertje, Thomas, Raquel, Vos, Vincent A., Almeida, Everton C., Davila, Esteban Alvarez, Aragão, Luiz E.O.C., Erwin, Terry L., Morandi, Paulo S., De Oliveira, Edmar Almeida, Valadão, Marco B.X., Zagt, Roderick J., van der Hout, Peter, Alvarez Loayza, Patricia, Pipoly, John J., Wang, Ophelia, Alexiades, Miguel, Cerón, Carlos E., Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau, Di Fiore, Anthony, Peacock, Julie, Pallqui Camacho, Nadir C., Umetsu, Ricardo K., Barbosa de Camargo, Plínio, Burnham, Robyn J., Herrera, Rafael, Quesada, Carlos A., Stropp, Juliana, Vieira, Simone A., Steininger, Marc, Reynel Rodríguez, Carlos, Restrepo, Zorayda, Esquivel Muelbert, Adriane, Lewis, Simon L., Pickavance, Georgia C., and Phillips, Oliver L. (2015) Hyperdominance in Amazonian forest carbon cycling. Nature Communications, 6. 6857. pp. 1-9.

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Abstract

While Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, the abundance of trees is skewed strongly towards relatively few 'hyperdominant' species. In addition to their diversity, Amazonian trees are a key component of the global carbon cycle, assimilating and storing more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Here we ask, using a unique data set of 530 forest plots, if the functions of storing and producing woody carbon are concentrated in a small number of tree species, whether the most abundant species also dominate carbon cycling, and whether dominant species are characterized by specific functional traits. We find that dominance of forest function is even more concentrated in a few species than is dominance of tree abundance, with only ≈1% of Amazon tree species responsible for 50% of carbon storage and productivity. Although those species that contribute most to biomass and productivity are often abundant, species maximum size is also influential, while the identity and ranking of dominant species varies by function and by region.

Item ID: 39329
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 2041-1723
Additional Information:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Funders: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, European Union (EU), European Research Council (ERC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Projects and Grants: NERC grant NE/F005806/1, NERC grant NE/D005590/1, NERC grant NE/I028122/1
Date Deposited: 03 Jul 2015 01:25
FoR Codes: 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0501 Ecological Applications > 050102 Ecosystem Function @ 40%
06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060202 Community Ecology (excl Invasive Species Ecology) @ 60%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9603 Climate and Climate Change > 960301 Climate Change Adaptation Measures @ 40%
96 ENVIRONMENT > 9603 Climate and Climate Change > 960303 Climate Change Models @ 60%
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