Co-occurrence and community assembly in Amazonian palms (Arecaceae)

TY - ABST

T1 - Co-occurrence and community assembly in Amazonian palms (Arecaceae)

AU - Eiserhardt, Wolf L.

AU - Balslev, Henrik

AU - Kristiansen, Thea

AU - Pedersen, Dennis

AU - Svenning, J.-C.

PY - 2012/1/31

Y1 - 2012/1/31

N2 - Palms (Arecaceae) are a distinctive, diverse and ecologically important element of tropical rainforest. Often numerous palm species co-occur locally in "palm communities" that span all strata of the forest. In South America, the palm family has a centre of diversity in the western Amazon basin where palms abound in all major habitats. Using a dataset including >340,000 palm individuals in 430 transects, we analysed species richness, compositional turnover, and phylogenetic structure of palm assemblages in this region. We found a strong relationship of alpha-diversity and species turnover to habitat, indicating niche assembly. Habitat associations were phylogenetically non- random, leading to, e.g., co-existence of close relatives on flood plains. Dispersal and biogeographic history had a clear effect on alpha diversity, gamma diversity, and species turnover, and to a lesser degree on phylogenetic assemblage structure. The results indicate that multiple drivers interact to determine palm diversity patterns in lowland rainforests. A major future challenge is adding the effect of plant-plant, plant-animal, and plant-pathogen interactions to the equation.

AB - Palms (Arecaceae) are a distinctive, diverse and ecologically important element of tropical rainforest. Often numerous palm species co-occur locally in "palm communities" that span all strata of the forest. In South America, the palm family has a centre of diversity in the western Amazon basin where palms abound in all major habitats. Using a dataset including >340,000 palm individuals in 430 transects, we analysed species richness, compositional turnover, and phylogenetic structure of palm assemblages in this region. We found a strong relationship of alpha-diversity and species turnover to habitat, indicating niche assembly. Habitat associations were phylogenetically non- random, leading to, e.g., co-existence of close relatives on flood plains. Dispersal and biogeographic history had a clear effect on alpha diversity, gamma diversity, and species turnover, and to a lesser degree on phylogenetic assemblage structure. The results indicate that multiple drivers interact to determine palm diversity patterns in lowland rainforests. A major future challenge is adding the effect of plant-plant, plant-animal, and plant-pathogen interactions to the equation.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

T2 - Oikos 2012

Y2 - 31 January 2012 through 2 February 2012

ER -